Old World Iron

Kaiser Bill & Bumbling Bismarck's Big Boltie

One of my favorite turnbolt rifles just showed up at Collector's Firearms recently. It's an 1871 Mauser, in the extremely obsolete 11mm Mauser caliber (aka .43 Mauser)




Rockhauler's father had one of these tucked in the gun closet once upon a time, and it was in much better condition than the one pictured. It was quite the specimen. You could shoot it, club a whale to death with it, or use the whole thing for a circus tent ridgepole if needed. In extreme emergencies, you could remove the barrel and use it for a municipal water main. We're talking a hefty-sized rifle here!

I recall taking it out to the range once back in the mid-90's, and shooting some black powder rounds ginned up out of some brass cases of another caliber. Lacking proper sizing dies, the cases been modified through a judicious application of Congolese engineering. Somehow the reloading formula was off, as rounds sighted in at the 100 yard target were plowing into the dirt somewhere around the 60 yard hashmark. Still, it was a hoot to actually fire the old smokepole.

I've got an original 11mm Mauser round, courtesy of Rockhauler. It's got a paper-patched bullet somewhere around 350 grains, and by now the mercury priming and the black powder have combined to form something truly nasty inside that case. It looks like this:



The Old Western Scrounger has some repro rounds for sale for the low low price of $70 for a box of 20. For that price, it'd be cheaper to reload the primers only and use the thing as a muzzle-loader!

I'd like to shoot one again, if for no other reason to just fantasize about the proper use of these boomsticks... putting 11mm holes in the backs of retreating Frenchmen!