The Portuguese Mauser By Pedro Mateus
The Portuguese Mauser
From Military History To Modern Sport
Competition by Pedro Mateus
Based on the Mauser Gewehr 1898, the Vergueiro (also known informally in collector circles as the Portuguese Mauser) is a bolt-action rifle designed between 1898 and 1903 by Portuguese army officer Captain Alberto José Vergueiro. The rifle was originally chambered for 6.5x58mm cartridge with a five-round internal magazine and with the formal military designation of ‘Espingarda 6.5 mm m/904’.
The Vergueiro rifle was selected as the upgrade and large scale replacement for the former Portuguese army standard issue rifle – the 1886 / 91 Kropatschek, a bolt-action 8 mm Austrian rifle. The selection process started in 1898 with specialized evaluation commission that short-listed the Italian Passavicino- Carcano, the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen, the French Daudeteau, the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher-Schönauer and the German Mauser. The final contenders were the Austrian and the German rifles. The German Mauser was ultimately selected but with Captain Vergueiro’s re-designed bolt-action. The German Mauser platform was chosen following positive feedback from the Anglo-Boer War, plus its superior magazine design and overall production cost evaluation.
The royal crest of King D. Carlos I A very distinctive and prestigious marking on this particular rifle is the engraving on the top of the chamber, of the royal crest from the Portuguese (penultimate) King, D. Carlos I (September, 28th 1863 – February 1st, 1908) – the King’s crown on top of a large ‘C’ monogram, vertically crossed by an ‘I’. Furthermore and coincidently, King D. Carlos I was an important sponsor and decision-maker for opening competitive shooting to the Portuguese civilian community in the late XIX century – therefore his engraving on this rifle, now more then 100 years old, is a shooter-collector’s delight!
Vergueiro and the bolt design José Vergueiro was born in the village of Gebelim, Alfandega da Fé, Bragança, approximately 500 km north-east of Lisbon, on December 8th 1851. He followed a military career within the Portuguese Army reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was the sub-director of the Practical School for Infantry and Cavalry in Mafra, and the director of the Pedrouços Shooting Range and died at the age of 56, on July 5th 1908 in Pedrouços, Lisboa.
Vergueiro designed and developed a new bolt-action, inspired by the Austrian Mannlicher design and easily distinguishable from the Mauser due to its straight bolt-handle. The bolt operates as a ‘slide and rotate’ motion with a three-point lock system, using less parts than the original Mauser model (7 versus 10).
Production of the Vergueiro rifles was undertaken by the prestigious DWM - Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken in Berlin (German Weapons and Ammunition Factory) – under an initial order, signed on December, 21st 1903, by the Portuguese War
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