The Mauser 1912/14 automatic pistol was the final stage of a dead-end development track for a military sidearm in 9mm Parabellum made by Mauser. The program began as a plain blowback pistol in 1909, which did not work effectively, and was replaced by a series of different locked or semilocked systems culminating in this, the 1912/14. The same 1909 design was also the basis for a parallel development track that resulted in the smaller .25 and .32 caliber Mauser pocket pistols, which were quite successful. I had the opportunity to examine a 1912/14 model thanks to Rock Island Auctions (although I couldn’t shoot or disassemble it), and I made this video:
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That is interesting. Thanks Ian.
The inability on this occasion to disassemble the gun leaves more more questions than it answers
like why the open front end to the slide, then a puny little bridge in front of the ejection port? It almost has the layout to allow a tip up barrel – but not quite, and really doesn’t seem to gain anything in reducing the number of machining operations.
It also managed to have a striker firing system around eighty years before Colt failed to get one right for the 2000.
I think I read it in one of Ferdinand Manlicher’s early auto pistol patents, that he aimed to provide the same balance and feel as a revolver.
Could that aim still be explaining the high bore axis of the Mauser pistol in 1910?
For a striker fired pistol with no hammer to bite the firer’s hand, it looks like the web of the hand could quite feasibly be half an inch to an inch higher, without risking it getting bitten by the slide, but the opportunity to lower the bore axis wasn’t taken.
I am just looking at Handguns of the World, starting page 400. There is short explanation on barrel mounting (barrel was intended removable for cleaning and that relates to the top clearance), but not much detail on “friction break”. It part remains sort of enigma.
Where the magazine catch would be on a modern pistol there is a button that is obviously not the mag catch since the gun is obviously a heal release. So what does that button do? Is it on of the double redundant safeties that some people tried in the early days?
If it’s anything like the Mauser pocket versions and the CZ-27, it’s the safety release. Press down on the lever to lock the safety on; press the round button to release it under spring pressure.
Mauser’s HSc also closed on insertion of a new magazine. Apparently Mauser considered that a good idea. The rest of the HSc was so good I just put up with it.
i believe that button is a slide release like the pocket mauser pistols of that era.
This is a recoil operated locked breech pistol with a fixed barrel working on the same principle with today’s “Inertia Driven” shotguns with a difference that, inertia block delocking the action on its initial, relative front travel. The unlocker block is located in front of the trigger guard inside the bulged section as a spring forced slide being in connection with twin flaps at both side placing inside the locking recesses of slide and when the pistol recoils during firing, unlocking slide retains its location through inerta, relatively moving forwards as
driving twin flaps inside the receiver, releasing the same to go rearward for ejection and cocking and since the unlocking slide works solely by force of recoil, a manual actuator is provided in front of the trigger guard for unlocking the slide during manual retraction. The button located where today’s magazine button installed is safety lever releaser retaining that lever on sear locking position which is another manual lever moving on vertical plane.The pistol has no
positive kind disconnector but an escaping type working only one time for each trigger pull. Blowback versions made after 1914, are equıpped with a disconnector lever being effective all the times but the slide on fully forward position. Slide stays at rear after last shot by risen magazine follower and after taking the magazine with somewhat respsctable force, the ejector lever rolls forward following the descending magazine body and a lug at rear of it locates into a recess under the slightly forwarding slide. Only a magazine, loaded or empty, can force that ejector lever lug out of engagement with slide. This lever is under tension of an upward extention of magazine catch and it stops the slide on its backward travel when the magazine is out. The mini bridge in front of the ejection port is a spectacular preference even copied by Beretta on its 1915 models but deleted at follow on types giving no functinoal advantage.
Ah, now reading your explanation; would there be any picture, you would know of? Thanks.
There are four US Patents relating this pistol with serial numbers; 1091857/1125578/1130312/1150611 and there is a very well written text of Ed Buffaloe’s “Unblinking Eye Gun Pages” as “A Comparison of the 1910 and 1914 Versions of Mauser 6.35mm Pocket Pistols” explaining the trigger and safety mechanisms which is nearly same with this pistol.
Fixed barrel, inertial block unlocking pistols and rifles are very sensitive against to the gun weight and holding and though some experiments were made at beginning decades of the last century, manufacturers did not find it as a potential action until the presence of smooth bore Benelli which proved satisfactory only at hunting and sporting fields.
“Fixed barrel, inertial block”
That principle was used in early 20-th century Sjögren shotgun and rifle? If true then the Sjögren is the first successful to utilize this principle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sjögren_shotgun states that about 5000 was produced. For comparison FN produces 4913 of Model 1900 self-loading rifles (the FN Model 1900 differs only in minor details to Remington Model 8). By modern standard these numbers may look miserable, but remember that in early 20-th century the semi-automatic shotgun (aswell rifle and pistol) was something nothing and not proven.
is: something nothing
should be: something new
I believe that is so; relative inertia of gun and lock block are important since they play “catch-game” with each other.
The attached page is really good!
In 1974 I owned for a very short time a Mauser 12-14 in 9mm Luger It was serial # 4 . It was all matching except the clip that was missing and replaced with a P 38 mag that functioned well. . The GI that brought it back also sent home a case of 9 MM Luger ammo with the truncated cone bullets When they were shot up over the years Hr didn’t believe round nose 9 MM was the same so He wanted to sell the Mauser and get a shooter. I think there are 3 variations of locking systems used in these 12-14 Mausers. My gun used long flapping lugs and a stud under the barrel. It had fixed rear sights and was cut for a shoulder stock. One really weird thing was it had an Eagle N proof on the rear of the frame . That came into use long after the 12-14 s were made. A few years ago Rock Island auction Co. sold a 12 -14 that was in 45 ACP.