View source for Mauser Model 1871

{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Mauser Model 1871 / Gewehr 71
| image              = Infanteriegewehr m-1871 Mauser - Tyskland - kaliber 10,95mm - Armémuseum.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = Mauser Model 1871
| origin             = [[German Empire]]
| type               = [[Bolt action rifle]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged          = yes
| is_bladed          = 
| is_explosive       = 
| is_artillery       = 
| is_vehicle         = 
| is_missile         = 
| is_UK              = <!-- Service history -->
| service            = 1872–1888 (as the standard German service rifle)<br/>1881–1945 (limited and foreign use)
| used_by            = [[German Empire|Germany]]<br/>See ''[[#Operators|Operators]]''
| wars               = {{ubli|[[Argentine Civil Wars]]|[[First Boer War]]|[[Serbo-Bulgarian War]]|[[Second Franco-Dahomean War]]|[[First Sino-Japanese War]]|[[First Italo-Ethiopian War]]|[[Greco-Turkish War (1897)]]|[[Revolution of 1897|Uruguayan Revolution of 1897]]|[[Second Boer War]]|[[Boxer Rebellion]]|[[Balkan Wars]]|[[World War I]]|[[Easter Rising]]|[[German Revolution of 1918–19]]|[[World War II]] (limited)}}
<!-- Production history -->| designer           = [[Mauser]]
| design_date        = 1867–1871
| manufacturer       = {{ubli|[[Mauser]]|[[Steyr-Daimler-Puch|Steyr]]}}
| unit_cost          = 
| production_date    = 1871–1890
| number             = 3,000,000
| variants           = {{ubli|{{lang|de|Jägerbüchse}}|Carbine|M1878/80 (Serbia)|G.A.G. M1879 (Border Guards)|M71/84|M1887 (Turkey)|M80/07C (Serbia)}}
<!-- General specifications -->| weight             = 4.5 kg (9.92 lbs)
| length             = {{cvt|1,350|mm|in}}
| part_length        = {{cvt|855|mm|in}}
| width              = 
| height             = 
| diameter           = 
| crew               = <!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
| cartridge          = {{ubli|[[11×60mm Mauser|11.15×60R]]|11.15×37R|10.15×63R (Serbia)|[[11×59mmR Gras|11x59R Gras]] (Serbia)|[[7×57mm Mauser|7×57]] (Serbia)|9.5×60R (Turkey)|[[7.65×53mm Argentine|7.65×53]] (Trial)|6.5×53.5R (Uruguay)}}
| caliber            = .43
| action             = [[Bolt action]]
| rate               = 
| velocity           = {{cvt|1,430|ft/s|m/s}} (11×60mmR)
| range              = 
| max_range          = {{convert|1600|m|yd|1|abbr= on}} (maximum setting on sights)
| feed               = {{ubli|[[Single-shot]] | M71/84: 8-round [[tube magazine]]| M80/07: 5-round stripper clip, internal magazine}}
| sights             = [[Iron sight]]s graduated from 200 to 1,600 meters
}}

The '''Mauser Model 1871''', adopted as the '''{{lang|de|Gewehr}} 71''' or '''{{lang|de|Infanterie-Gewehr}} 71''', or "Infantry Rifle 71" ("I.G.Mod.71" was stamped on the rifles themselves), was the first rifle model in a [[Mauser rifle|distinguished line]] designed and manufactured by [[Paul Mauser]] and [[Wilhelm Mauser]] of the [[Mauser]] company and later mass-produced at [[Spandau arsenal]].<ref name="militaryrifles1">{{cite web|first=Keith W. |last=Doyon|url=http://www.militaryrifles.com/Germany/71Mauser.htm|title=71 Mauser|publisher=MilitaryRifles.com|access-date=2011-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414130042/http://militaryrifles.com/Germany/71Mauser.htm|archive-date=14 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
Paul Mauser developed his bolt-action rifle from 1867 to 1871. In 1870–71 trials with 2,500 test rifles took place, with the [[German military rifles#M1869 and M1869 "Aptiertes" Werder (Bavaria)|M1869 Bavarian Werder]] being the Mausers' chief competitor.<ref name="French"/> The Mauser was provisionally adopted on 2 December 1871, pending the development of an appropriate [[Safety (firearms)|safety]]. With support from the government's [[Spandau arsenal]],{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} the improvements to the safety mechanism were completed and the rifle was formally accepted on 14 February 1872 as '''Infantry Rifle Model 1871''' by the [[German Empire]], excluding [[Bavaria]] that adopted the Werder.<ref name="French"/> The rifles were issued to the German Army from late 1873 to 1875, with approximately 1.82 million rifles and Jägerbüchse and 80,000–100,000 carbines produced.{{sfn|Storz|2011}} The Mauser 1871 was replaced by the [[magazine (firearms)|magazine]]-fed, [[smokeless powder]] using [[Gewehr 1888]] from 1888 through 1890.{{sfn|Grant|2015|p=12}}

==Design==
The action was not based on its predecessor, the [[Dreyse needle gun]] which had seen service during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–71, and which was found to have a number of weaknesses.<ref name="militaryrifles1"/>{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=8}}{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=147}} The now well known Mauser "wing" type safety lever was developed for the ''Gewehr'' 71.<ref name="French"/> The ''Gewehr'' 71 is a conventional-looking [[bolt action]] chambered in 11mm using [[Gunpowder|black powder]] [[cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]]. The action included only a bolt guide rib as its single locking lug, locking forward of the receiving bridge. The original design was a [[single-shot]].

After troop trials in 1882 and 1883, the design was updated in 1884 with an 8-round tubular [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] designed by [[Alfred von Kropatschek]], making this the German Army's first repeating rifle (a prototype of an M1871 with a tubular magazine was displayed to [[Wilhelm II]] as early as September 1881<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.germanhuntingguns.com/feature-articles/the-hunting-guns-of-the-german-kaiser | title=The Hunting Guns of the German Kaiser – German Hunting Guns }}</ref>). This version was designated the '''Gewehr 1871/84''', of which over a million examples were produced.{{sfn|Grant|2015|p=10}}{{sfn|Grant|2015|p=11}} A version of this repeater was adopted by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Designated  '''M1887''', it differed from the M71/84 in that it had a side-mounted cleaning rod, a second locking lug on the rear of the bolt and that it was in 9.5×60mmR,{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=377}} which Paul Mauser touted as the most efficient (black powder) cartridge. In the early 20th century, a few were converted to 7.65×53mm [[Smokeless powder|smokeless]] by the arsenal in [[Ankara]].{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

A short version, the '''M1871 Jägerbüchse''' was developed for the [[Jäger (infantry)#Imperial Germany|Jäger]] or light infantry{{sfn|Grant|2015|p=10}} and served with engineers, fortress and navy units. It was a shortened and lightened M71.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=152}} A '''Karabiner 1871''' was also developed to equipped the German cavalry but did not enter full-scale production until 1876.{{sfn|Grant|2015|p=10}} A shorter version of the Model 1871, the '''M1879 Grenzaufsehergewehr''', was issued to the border guards in 1880. It shot a unique 11.15×37.5mmR cartridge, a trimmed down version of the full-power military cartridge.{{sfn|Ball|2011|pp=154-155}}

Various German arsenals and the Austrian company [[Steyr-Daimler-Puch|Steyr]] also manufactured the M71 rifle.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=82}}

[[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] adopted a more up-to-date version of the rifle in 1881, the '''M1878/80''', still single-shot, but chambered in its own 10.15×63R caliber. It had unique additions in that it had a bolt guide (much like the [[M1870 Italian Vetterli]]) and the "progressive [[rifling]]" (rifling which increases in twist rate as the bullet travels up the bore, to more gradually impart spin) developed by the Serbian Major Kosta "Koka" Milovanović (Коста "Кока" Миловановић), and it is commonly known as "'''[[Mauser-Koka]]'''", "Mauser-Milovanović", or "Kokinka" ("Кокинка"). The muzzle velocity of the Mauser-Koka was {{convert|1,680|ft/s|m/s}}. It saw first combat in the [[Serbo-Bulgarian War]].  Approximately 110,000 Mauser-Koka rifles entered the Serbian arsenal.  Starting 1907, about half of these were converted in [[Kragujevac]] to shoot the [[7×57mm Mauser|7×57mm]] from a 5-shot box magazine; the new barrels were purchased from [[Steyr]]. Both the old and new guns (designated M80/07) saw action in the [[Balkan Wars]] and [[World War I]].<ref>John Sheehan, [http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/GUNS/GUNS0513/?Page=36 1 of 110,000. The Serbian M78/80 is one of the Rarest of Mauser Rifles", ''Guns'' magazine, May 2012, pp. 36-39]</ref> The converted M80/07 are often referred to as "Đurić Mausers" (Ђурић-Маузер).{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=314}}

== Service ==
The M71 was used by the [[Korean Empire]] Army (especially Guard units—this rifle replaced the Russian [[Berdan rifle]]). The number of rifles used is uncertain but the Korean Empire manufactured ammunition for them, which means that the Korean Empire used a respectable number of them.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} From 1876, the Chinese [[Qing dynasty]] bought M71 rifles and carbines from Mauser, Steyr and Spangenberg & Sauer.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=82}}{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=83}} After the Germans adopted the Gewehr 1888, over 1,000,000 discarded{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Model 1871 and 1871/84 were put into Chinese service.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=82}}

The [[South African Republic]] secretly received many M71 rifles, which saw combat during the [[First Boer War]],{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=373}} the [[Jameson Raid]]{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}} and the [[Second Boer War]].{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=269}} Some rifles were smuggled to [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] and they were used during the [[First Italo-Ethiopian War|1894–1896 war against the Italians]].<ref name="Adowa"/>

In 1894, [[Uruguay]] had their stockpile of M71 rifles converted to smokeless 6.5×53.5mm SR (Daudeteau system) by [[Société Française d'Armes Portatives Saint Denis]] in France.<ref name="French">{{cite magazine|title=Le Mauser 1871 ou l'après Dreyse |pages=36–40|url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-226-octobre-1992/page-36-37-texte-integral|date=October 1992|issue=226|magazine=[[Gazette des Armes]]|language=fr|first=Henri|last=Vuillemin}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Un mousqueton militaire Rival: Système Daudeteau de la Manufacture d'armes et cycles de Saint-Étienne|pages=32–37|url=http://fr.1001mags.com/parution/gazette-des-armes/numero-420-mai-2010/page-36-37-texte-integral|date=May 2010|issue=420|magazine=[[Gazette des Armes]]|language=fr|first=Hervé |last=le Gof }}</ref> They were given new stocks, barrels, sights, bands, and side-mounted cleaning rods. However, the initial batch of ammunition that was sent with the rifles was incorrect and unusable in the guns.<ref name="Spanish">{{cite magazine|title=Diario de sesiones de la Cámara de Representantes, Volume 18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WcIAQAAMAAJ&dq=mauser+dovitis&pg=PA369
|date=1895|magazine=Diario de sesiones de la Cámara de Representantes, Volume 18|language=es}}</ref>

The M71 saw service during the [[Boxer Rebellion]]. The Chinese units used the old M71 while German forces used the M71/84. The Chinese also used the M71 during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Xinhai Revolution]].{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}}

Serbia and Turkey used their M71-based Mausers in the [[Balkan Wars]] and during [[World War I]].{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}} The M71 {{lang|de|Jäger}} rifles saw service in [[African theatre of World War I]], being the standard rifle of the {{lang|de|[[Schutztruppe]]}}.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=152}} At the same time, the {{lang|de|Gewehr}} 71 with incendiary bullets were used to shoot down [[observation balloon]]s<ref name="French"/> and German home-guard units were still equipped with M71/84 rifles. Some of these rifles were used during the [[German Revolution of 1918–19]] and surviving rifles were distributed to the {{lang|de|[[Volkssturm]]}} units in 1945.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}}

The M71 was also exported to [[Japan]] for testing and was used to improve the design of the [[Murata rifle]].{{sfn|Ball|2011|pp=245–246}} [[Uruguay]], [[Thailand|Siam]] and [[Honduras]] also fielded the M71 from the 1880s.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=390}}{{sfn|Ball|2011|pp=370–371}}{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=241}} [[Venezuela]] bought 27,000 M71/84 rifles after they were retired from front-line German service,{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=395}} while [[Ecuador]] acquired 12,000 M71/84s.{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=127}}

[[Irish Republican]]s imported some 1,500 single-shot 1871 Mausers in the [[Howth gun-running]] for the nationalist militia called the [[Irish Volunteers]] in 1914. They were used in action by the Volunteers in the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916, the rebellion aimed at ending [[British rule in Ireland]] which began the [[Irish War of Independence]].  The 1871 Mauser became known in Ireland as the "Howth Mauser".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/easterrising/sunday/|title=The uneasy calm before the coming storm |work=The 1916 Rising|publisher=Irish Times|access-date=2011-03-26|archive-date=30 June 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630191034/http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/easterrising/sunday/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Comparison with contemporary rifles ==
{{Comparison of 1880s rifles}}

==Operators==
*{{flagcountry|Colombia}}: Model 71<ref>{{Cite web |title=The military rifle cartridges of Panama de conquistadores al Canal |website=Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+military+rifle+cartridges+of+Panama+de+conquistadores+al+Canal.-a0302299695 |access-date=2022-12-28}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Qing Dynasty}}: Model 71<ref name="Imperial China">{{cite book|title=Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911|series=Men-at-Arms 505|first= Philip |last=Jowett|date=21 April 2016|isbn=9781472814272|page=20}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Dahomey|variant=File:Royal banner of Béhanzin of Dahomey.svg}}: Model 71<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kea |first=R. A. |date=1971 |title=Firearms and Warfare on the Gold and Slave Coasts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/180879 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=185–213 |doi=10.1017/S002185370001063X |jstor=180879 |s2cid=163027192 |issn=0021-8537|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Dominican Republic}}: Model 71<ref>Hernandez, Edwin. {{lang|es|italic=no|"Armas de fuego usadas en las luchas civiles y por los cuerpos armados dominicanos (siglos XIX y XX)"}} [Firearms used in the civil wars and by the Dominican armed forces in the 19th and 20th centuries]</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Ecuador}}: Model 71/84{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=127}}
*{{flag|Ethiopian Empire|1897}}: Model 71<ref name="Adowa">{{cite book|title=Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia|series=Men-at-Arms 471|first=Sean |last=McLachlan |date=20 September 2011|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=9781849084574|pages=36, 44}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Canada}}: Models 71/84, Quebec Home Guard use (rifles marked Q.H.G.) 
*{{flagcountry|German Empire}}: Models 71,b79 and 71/84{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}}
* {{flag|Nazi Germany}}: Model 71/84{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}}
*{{flagcountry|Honduras}}: Model 71{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}}
*{{flag|Irish Republic|1916}}: Model 71{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}}
*{{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}: Model 71{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}}
*{{flagcountry|Korean Empire}}: Model 71
*{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Serbia}}: Model 71 and Mauser-Koka{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=307}}
*{{flagcountry|Ottoman Empire}}: Model 87{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=148}}
*{{flagcountry|South African Republic}}: Model 71{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}}
*{{flagcountry|Thailand|1855}}: Model 71,{{sfn|Ball|2011|pp=370–371}} Model 71/84<ref>{{Cite web |title=Siamese Thai: Military Rifle cartridges |website=Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Siamese+Thai:+Military+Rifle+cartridges.-a0342772783 |access-date=2022-12-26}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Uruguay}}: Model 71{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=150}}
*{{flagcountry|Venezuela}}: Model 71/84{{sfn|Ball|2011|p=395}}

== In fiction and popular culture ==
''11-mm Mauser'' is the service rifle of the [[Martian]] Army in ''[[The Sirens of Titan]]'' by [[Kurt Vonnegut]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1MLAQAAIAAJ|title=The Sirens of Titan |author=Kurt Vonnegut |location=Indiana|publisher=Delacorte Press|date=1959 |isbn=9780385333498 |access-date=2011-03-26}}</ref> However, the book states these were bought as surplus from the [[Spanish–American War]], which would in fact make them [[Mauser#Spanish M93|Model 1893]] [[7×57mm Mauser]].

In the film ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', the Japanese Imperial Army carries German bolt-action Mauser M1871/84 rifles. The 1884 models were altered in appearance by the filmmakers to resemble the more period-accurate 1871 models.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Infanteriegewehr m-1871 Jägertruppen Mauser - Tyskland - kaliber 10,95mm - Armémuseum.jpg|Mauser Model 1871 for {{lang|de|Jäger}} units
File:Karbin m-1871 Mauser för kavalleriet - Tyskland - Armémuseum.jpg|Mauser Model 1871 cavalry carbine
File:Infanteriegewehr m-1871-84 Mauser - Tyskland - kaliber 10,95mm - Armémuseum.jpg|Mauser Model 1871/84
File:Infanteriegewehr m-1871 Mauser - Tyskland - kaliber 10,95mm - Armémuseum.jpg|Mauser Model 1871
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA6364, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Polizeiaskaris.jpg|[[Askari]] troops in [[German East Africa]] armed with Model 1871s
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of firearms]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Ball |first=R. |title=Mauser Military Rifles of the World |year=2011 |edition=5th |publisher=[[Gun Digest|Gun Digest Books]] |location=[[Iola, Wisconsin|Iola]] |isbn=978-1-4402-1544-5 }}
* {{cite book|title=Mauser Military Rifles|series=Weapon 39|first=Neil |last=Grant|date=20 Mar 2015 |isbn=9781472805942 |publisher=Osprey Publishing}}
* {{cite book |last1=Storz |first1=Dieter |title=Deutsche Militärgewehre Band 1: Vom Werdergewehr bis zum Modell 71/84 |date=2011 |publisher=Verlag Militaria |isbn=978-3-902526-43-4}}

==External links==
* [http://stevespages.com/pdf/mauser_71.pdf Official Manual]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{in lang|de}}
* 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180128084542/http://www.militaryrifles.com/serbia/80milova.htm Mauser-Milovanović (many photos)]
* [http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=656]
{{Mauser Firearms}}

{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Early rifles]]
[[Category:Bolt-action rifles]]
[[Category:Rifles of Germany]]
[[Category:Mauser rifles]]
[[Category:Single-shot rifles]]
[[Category:Weapons of the Ottoman Empire]]