I came into possession of, what for the life of me appears to be a mint/like new condition, 1895 Ludwig and Loewe Chilean Mauser,Calvary Saddle Ring Carbine. It has on the stock, what appears to be a light strike but unsanded cartouche of Chile dated 1895 on the left side of the buttstock. It may be arsenal refinished but it doesn't look it. It is from the "A" block of rifles and 1041 serial number. The blue is 100% and other than 2 or 3 bumps from handling, so is the stock. The barrel is bright and sharp. My question, since I don't do Military Weapons, I wondered what is this worth? Any help would be appreciated.

when it comes to questions about military Mausers, www.gunboards.com is the best, I've asked questions there
and sometimes John Ball the author of "Military Mausers of the World" has offered his opinion. This forum is great for custom
rifles, maybe not quite as great since the passing of Michael Petrov, but the gunboards forums are great for military rifles.

Ludwig Loewe & Co. Chilean Model 1895 long rifles in close to mint condition are not unusual. If all original and in essentially unissued condition, a sale price of $1,000 to $1,200 or so is typical. Here is link showing an unissued long M95 rifle, still partially covered with cosmoline, http://www.antiquearmsinc.com/1895-mauser-near-mint-unissued.htm.


Ludwig Loewe M1895 cavalry carbines, on the other hand, are typically well-used. They sell for a few hundred dollars and would be worth little or no more if re-finished. A carbine in essentially original, un-issued condition would be quite rare. Potential buyers would probably suspect a refinish somewhere along the line, unless they could be convinced otherwise.

No comparable recent sales probably exist to predict market value for an original, unissued condition carbine. It should be worth more than an unissued condition long rifle, but how much more depends on what an individual interested buyer would be willing to pay. A Gunbroker auction may be the only way to find out. To obtain true value at auction, numerous high-quality photos fully documenting original, un-refinished condition would be required.

All Ludwig Loewe Chilean Mausers, both long rifles and carbines, are recognized by the BATF as antiques because Ludwig Loewe was absorbed into DWM prior to 1899 and M95 receiver production after this occurred had DWM, rather than the typical Ludwig Loewe, "Manufactura Loewe Berlin", stamping. I have seen an official BATF letter verifying this.

Are you sure that you have a carbine, and not a short rifle? Both have the saddle ring. Barrel length on the short rifle is 21", on the carbine it is 18.25".

It is the Carbine Model, as the BARREL LENGTH MATCHES, and the one in the photo you linked has more wear on the BLUE AND STOCK than mine. Mine also has a turned down bolt handle that is blued and the one thing I noticed, is there is no serial number stamped on my stock, UNDER THE RECEIVER RING, AS ON THE LONG RIFLE IN THE PHOTOS. Every single piece of mine has matching SERIAL NUMBERS, INCLUDING THE CLEANING ROD! The metal does not appear to have been polished as the numbers are strong and crisp. The stock is still stained in an oil [linseed?] and then coated in a waxy substance. The only real scratch on my stock, appears to have been made by the rifle adjacent to its' Saddle Ring, WHILE CRATED. However I did make an error in the original posting, THE SERIAL NUMBER IS A1041, NOT THE 86,000 RANGE!!!!! It is one nice 7X57, THAT'S FOR SURE.

Sounds great.

If you ever decide to sell it, a Gunbroker auction with a high reserve might be a good way to go. It could be worth quite a bit to the right collector, as carbines in the condition of yours are rarely seen.

I have collected mauser rifles for years and don't recall seeing a mint/unissued carbine like you described. Unfortunately the pictures aren't working now. Can those be fixed?

Yes, here they are. Obviously the rifle of which we speak; for those who don't know, is the bottom one.

Looks nice. It would help to confirm we're talking apples to apples here re condition without any close up pictures of the markings (siderail, crest, serial number fonts), but I would think you would be in $800-900 range. More detailed pictures would help (or they would at least help satisfy my curiosity!)

BTW, for reference, Swede 1894 carbines are usually $500-800. Persian m49 carbines are $500-700 and Argentine 1891s are sub-$500. Of these, only the Persians are often found in unissued condition.

Swedish M/94 carbines can be found in the $500 to $800 range, but they are in less than collector quality. For a collector quality M/94, $1,000 and up is typical. More for one of the 12,000 or so "antique" M/94 Swedish carbines made in Oberndorf in 1895 in good condition.

They are available with patience, either on Gun Broker, or from dealers like Empire Arms. Empire Arms has sold a reasonable number of collector quality M/94s, some 1895 Oberndorfs, in the last few years for between $1,200 and $1,500. They usually don't last long once they are posted.

Dave:One thing that convinced me I might have something, was I grew up in a gun store and I can't ever recall seeing any Mauser with a matching, serial numbered cleaning rod. Thanks for all the help.

GOD Bless and Merry Christmas Everyone

Jerry

Would it be possible to show close up pictures of the siderail markings and crest?

I'm familiar with the connotations of terms like "unissued" and "mint", but I dislike the term "collector quality" because I find it to be ambiguous, and too conditional on the model in question.

For example, I once sold an extremely rare WW1 mauser to a collector for north of $4K. He was very happy to add it to his collection for that price, even though its condition wasn't unissued or even what I would call 'excellent.' It was clearly a rifle that had been in the field. A similar condition example of a more common rifle, like a 1909 Argentine, would struggle to bring $350-400 at auction.

Wood and metal finishes are either unblemished by use and storage, or they are not. Likewise, these finishes either retain their original factory appearances, or they do not. I'd prefer to describe these finishes and then talk value, rather than use the term collector quality.