This is one of those blogs that I've been planning for a while and for some reason or another, time has conspired against me. I've finally found a bit of time and also procured a macro lens for some detail work that I couldn't get before. So let's go on a little trip back in time...
You probably all know that I have been a fan of guns and shooting since who knows when. It always strikes me as strange since my parents were not gun people and yet I still managed to pick up the disease somewhere. I remember how much I had to beg my parents for my first BB gun and the joy that I had when they reluctantly purchased it. So you can imagine my excitement when one day back in PA, my grandfather retrieved something from his room and brought it out to show me. A real gun! Not just any gun, no this was one that he had captured from a pilot that surrendered to him near the end of WWII.
As you can imagine, this gun has a lot of meaning to my family. It was passed on to my uncle by my grandfather since he would actually shoot it. My grandfather had promised me that eventually it would become mine. Years went by and I never forgot the little .32
ACP that I hoped to have some day. Then last fall I happened to speak to my uncle and he informed me that he wasn't really shooting much these days and when my parents came out for Thanksgiving, they could bring the pistol back for me.
When it arrived I had quite a time figuring the little gun out. Being more than 65 years old and minus a manual meant that I had to do quite a bit of
internet searching to learn its intricacies. Once I finally figured out how to disassemble it, I spent several hours cleaning it and making it look like new. It really wasn't all that hard to get it looking good as it really hasn't seen too many rounds go through it, but 65+ years of grime can get pretty gross.
The
worksmanship on this thing is amazing. It is hard to imagine all the work that went into making it before the days of
CNC machines and computers. It's heavy duty and typical German mechanics, but it still has the old-school warmth of hand craftsmanship to it. So here is the Mauser
HSc Caliber 7.65mm (.32
ACP) manufactured according to the serial number in 1943:
This is the gun with the extra magazine and leather holster. Everything is sitting on the oiled rag that has kept this gun in great shape for all these years.
This is the German Army proof mark. Many of these pistols were purchased privately and then sent to loved ones for use in the war. This one was military issued.
Barrel and chamber with last three digits of the serial number stamped. These numbers were also
electro-penciled by hand onto the slide. There is also a proof mark on the chamber in the far lower left.
