The Mauser–Vergueiro was a

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

, designed in 1904 by José Alberto Vergueiro, an infantry officer of the

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

, and manufactured by

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book diction ...

(DWM). It was developed from the

Mauser 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated ''G98'', Gew 98, or ''M98'') is a bolt-action rifle made by Mauser for the German Empire as its service rifle from 1898 to 1935. The Gewehr 98 action, using a 5-round stripper clip loaded with the 7.92×57mm Mauser ...

rifle with the introduction of a new bolt system derived from the

Gewehr 1888 The Gewehr 88 (commonly called the Model 1888 commission rifle) was a late 19th-century German bolt-action rifle, adopted in 1888. The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powder ...

and

Mannlicher–Schönauer The Mannlicher–Schönauer (sometimes Anglicized as "Mannlicher Schoenauer", Hellenized as Τυφέκιον/Όπλον Μάνλιχερ, ''Óplon/Tyfékion Mannlicher'') is a rotary-magazine bolt-action rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher for ...

. Outside Portugal, the weapon was also known as the Portuguese Mauser. It used the 6.5×58mm Vergueiro, a cartridge developed specially for it. The weapon replaced the Kropatschek m/1886 as the standard infantry rifle of the Portuguese Army in 1904, remaining in service until it was replaced by the

Mauser 98k The Karabiner 98 kurz (; ), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartr ...

in 1939. In Portuguese service the weapon was officially designated ''Espingarda 6,5 mm m/1904'' ("Rifle 6.5mm m/1904"). A lighter and shorter version of the weapon was classified as a

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and ligh ...

and designated ''Carabina 6,5 mm m/1904'' ("Carbine 6.5mm m/1904"). A total of 100,000 rifles were produced for Portugal. An additional 5,000 Mauser–Vergueiro rifles, chambered in

7×57mm Mauser The 7×57mm Mauser (designated as the 7 mm Mauser or 7×57mm by the SAAMI and 7 × 57 by the C.I.P.) is a first-generation smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed by Paul Mauser of the Mauser company in ...

, were produced in 1906 for Brazil's

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, using leftover components from the Portuguese order and issued in the cities of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. In 1915, 20,000 of Portugal's Mauser–Vergueiro rifles were sold to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, which had insufficient

Lee–Enfield SMLE The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of the ...

rifles to supply all of its troops. In Portuguese and South African service it was used in combat in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and in several colonial campaigns. The German colonial troops in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

also used Mauser–Vergueiro rifles, captured from the allied forces in combat. The

Portuguese Expeditionary Corps The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main expeditionary force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during World War I. Port ...

on the Western Front used British weapons and equipment for logistical reasons, and so did not use the Vergueiro. Although Portugal was neutral in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1942 Portuguese forces briefly fought against the Japanese occupation of

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor () was a Portuguese colony on the territory of present-day East Timor from 1702 until 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the regio ...

using Kropatschek rifles In 1939, after the Portuguese Army had adopted the 7.92×57mm Mauser 98k as the m/937, many of the remaining Mauser–Vergueiro rifles were modified to chamber the new standard cartridge. The modified rifles were called ''Espingarda 8 mm m/1904-39''. Markings on the modified rifles remained unchanged with the exception of the caliber designation "6,5" being stamped over on some rifles with two "X" marks. This was apparently done by individual Portuguese armorers rather than as standard practice. The 8mm variant can be distinguished visually from the 6.5mm variant with the 1939 modifications including a shorter barrel, distinctive front sight protector and ground down rear sight base. The 7.92×57mm Mauser–Vergueiro rifle was kept in limited use in the Portuguese Army until the middle 1960s, mainly in some Overseas units. These rifles are still used in Africa, for example in the

Northern Mali conflict {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Mali War , width = 35% , partof = the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the War on terror , image = MaliWar.svg , image_size = 300 , caption ...

Notes

*http://www.cptpp.com/fotos/2011/Mauser-Vergueiro-october-2011-TargetShooter-magazine-online.pdf

Gallery

File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-right.jpg, Overall view - right side File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-top.jpg, Top view - bolt, action, sight elevation ruler File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-action.jpg, Action File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-s-ruler.jpg, The finger adjustable elevation sight ruler (note ground down sight base) File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-side-marks.jpg, Side markings: "Espingarda Portugueza 6,5 mod. 1904". "Deutsche Waffen - und Munitionsfabriken . BERLIN". (note 6.5mm not stamped out despite being 8mm) File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-top-d-carlos-i.jpg, D. Carlos I royal sign top marking File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-front-sight.jpg, Front sight with side protection guards (Front sight protector is only on the 1904/39 update) File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-bolt.jpg, Mannlicher style Bolt and split receiver bridge File:Dwm-vergueiro-1904-trigger.jpg, Trigger (with magazine release) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauser-Vergueiro Bolt-action rifles Weapons of Portugal