A classic Original DWM "mauser" sporting rifle 7x57 naturally

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

       After adding comments to the other thread on a sporting Mauser I thought some of you might like to see this one. It's a DWM Special Sporting or "Plezier" as the Boers called it made about 1895-1897 and is of course on the Mauser M93 design and has the square bolt face and guide rib in the left wall of the action. Barrel is full octogon and it has a windage adjustable fore sight:-







And the reinforced raised panels to the stock side which were so fashionable at the time





You can see the foresight here, it's a shame but the bead has been broken off the blade, made weak by rust the blade is only 0.025" thick.

Fairly rare now and not common when it was made beign expensive. Less than 1000 were made and the rifle cost almost twice the price of a std Long full stock military trim rifle of the same M93 model.

Hope you like it

[mike@nds]

Absolutely beautiful.

[kyelkhunter3006]

Just like ALWAYS....... I love it.  You and your rifles, I'm green with envy.

[GatCat]

VERY NICE!
Now all you need to do is cut the barrel to 18" or so, drill & tap for scope, and weld on a new bolt handle!!!

Just kidding, of course. Heart, be still!!

If only that Rifle could talk..the tales...the tales...

Mark

[Brithunter]

Thank you for the kind comments. Sorry about the poor photos but they are scans of prints  really must take soem better oens of it soemday.

The silver oval plate is inscribed to a J. P. Du Plessiss Jnr but even with the help of the Boer Museum it's not been possile to get it down to less than 13 Du Plessiss's. Seems it was a commmon name. I thought due to the expense of these when new it would be easier to trace but it seems not to be the case  . Now the story I was told and I don't have much faith in the source so .............  just how close to the truth it is? well the rifle was one of three I brought at the same time the others being a DWM Carbine with all matching numbers and still with it's sling attached and an DWM OVS marked Rifle again all matching including clearing rods. The story is that they were brought back to Scotland by an officer who put them into a small private museum. Due to changes in the requirements of firearms held in museums the rifles were sold and the dealer I got them from brought them. I am sorry to say they all had rust on them from poor storage and care. It took over 20 hours to remove the rust from this Plezier.

I no longer have the other M93's mentioned as I had to raise funds to replace the car after it was written off by a White van driver/ The insurance pay out was pitiful and most of my collection is sporting not military so it seemed logical to sell those plus witht he interest in shooting classics they sold easily. In fact I now have have only one military trim rifle and that's an Martini Enfield AC11 303 carbine.

I did shoot the Plezier with some commercial 7mm amo but it shot very high, it was then I discovered through researching about it that there should have been a bead on the foresight blade. After speaking with several gunsmiths about making a replacement none are willing to tackle the job. It's a fiddly one and will take time. I even tried contacting the South African firm making the re-productions of these about obtaining a foresight blade but never got a reply. So I will have to have a got at making one myself via the trial and error method. Perhaps the Boer Museum can help again with the measurement of height of the blade. we will see it's not a rush right now as due to our stupid local police making up the rules as they go along so they have listed it for "Collection only" so I am not allowed to shoot it.

Now I will be away for a few days so no puter access as we don't ahve a laptop nor wireless internet so catch up with you all next week.

[One Eye]

I am sorry to say they all had rust on them from poor storage and care. It took over 20 hours to remove the rust from this Plezier.

Can you share with me what you did to accomplish this?  I have a similar challenge.

Thanks for sharing the great pics.
Dan

[grvj]

RifleShooter has an on-line article explaining that 'plezier' stands for 'pleasure' with the term used to make the distinction between a commercial military rifle and one for personal use. The photos look very similar.

If 173g/175G commercial loads were used maybe it would hit closer to sight regulation. I would think if it is shooting high at 100 yds, perhaps the load is slower that what it is iron-sighted for.

The article has shooting and load detail as well. I have a Steyr in 7x57 and have used it in multiple hog hunts-great caliber.

[Brithunter]

I am sorry to say they all had rust on them from poor storage and care. It took over 20 hours to remove the rust from this Plezier.

Can you share with me what you did to accomplish this?  I have a similar challenge.

Thanks for sharing the great pics.
Dan

  Sorry for the delay but I have been away for a few days. I soaked the the rust with "White Spirit" (Turps) they carefully scraped and lifted the rust off useing a wood chisel. This barrel has flats on it if it was round I would use a razor blade. By laying it at a shallow angle it lifts the rust without scratching the surface, of course extreme care is required, and time ...................... it takes time.

[Swampman]

A local shop has one quite like that in 8X57.

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

   Oh I forgot to answer this :-

If 173g/175G commercial loads were used maybe it would hit closer to sight regulation. I would think if it is shooting high at 100 yds, perhaps the load is slower that what it is iron-sighted for. 

Ahhh the problem is that the fore sight blade is too short after having the bead come off due to rusting  it should ahve looked like this:-



This photos is of the reproductions made by a South African company and from their web site you can see the bead but on mine it's missing like this:-



   So I need to make a new blade with a bead on it then I shoud be able to get the sights to be in "regulation" but until I repair/replace the fore sight blade it ain't going to happen  .