My Gunsmith has a persian mauser barrelled action at his shop. He refers to it as a BRNO and it is chambered in 8mm mauser. It has the rear sling swivel mounted in front of the triggerguard as well as persian writing on the reciever. The action is very smooth . Can anyone identify what it is and if so are they worth the effort to customize ? I am talking replacing bottom metal and the trigger and probably the safety. Any opinions on this rifle. Thanking you in advance for the information.

Persians Mausers are easy to spot look for the lions crest:



The model is a 98/29 and yes they were made by BRNO circa 1930's.

These are one of the finest quality military mausers made anywhere in my opinion. Yeah you will hear lots about the older German Loewe and 1909 Argentines. I like these better, these used modern heat treating methods, quality was top notch, and yes they are worth as much effort towards a custom as any other military mauser.

Be careful on price Samco Global has them as complete rifles for around $240, don't know how long they will last.

The only thing I don't like about them is it seems almost a shame to drill and tap that crest for scope mounts. By the way my wallpaper on my work computer has the same pic so I see it every day, I just love the crest real old school craftsmanship there.

PS:

The prettiest of these were the parade rifles left in the white, these were used by the Royal Guard for the Shah, these are rare, and beautiful. IF you find one of these in good shape don't change anything, KEEP IT ORIGINAL.

Yep very nice Mausers made by BRNO.

Some were made by BRNO and some were made by the Iranians... there's a difference in the markings for each (in Arabic) on the LH receiver wall. Search online and you'll find pictures of the two types.

The BRNOs are obviously more desirable than the Iranian made Persian mausers.

new_guy

Language in "Persia" Iran is Farsi, NOT Arabic. Persians would not like to be called Arabs, a great insult for many "Persians" Iranians

I agree, Persian mausers are very sweet and deserves to be taken care of.

Cheers
/JOHAN

viva persian mausers!!!! well at least the brno ones

quote:

Originally posted by JOHAN:
new_guy

Language in "Persia" Iran is Farsi, NOT Arabic. Persians would not like to be called Arabs, a great insult for many "Persians" Iranians

I agree, Persian mausers are very sweet and deserves to be taken care of.

Cheers
/JOHAN

Cheers
/JOHAN

Yes, Johan you ARE correct about the language being Farsi. I din't call any Pesians(Iranians) Arabs.

Isn't modern Farsi written with Arabic characters?


Nevermind... a quick search answered my own question.

The Persian language has been written with a number of different scripts, including Old Persian Cuneiform, Pahlavi, Aramaic, and Avestan. After the Islamic conquest of the Persian Sassanian Empire in 642 AD, Arabic became the language of government, culture and especially religion. "Modern Persian appeared during the 9th century. It is written in a version of the Arabic script and is full of words of Arabic origin."

source:http://www.omniglot.com/writing/persian.htm

Apparently I was correct and that the writing is Arabic.

Unless the gun was made before the ninth century - in which case it should not have Arabic script engraved on it.

new_guy

Do you have pictures of the two mauser models, what type of floorplate do they have? How can to identify those who been used by Shah's Royal Guards?

I would very much like to have an action but never seen one for sale...

Been there and done that Once, by mistake I called a Persian Arab. It was not popular Among "Persians" Iranians there are lots of prejudices about Arabs in general.

Cheers
/JOHAN

The bottom metal is the same as regular "push-button" release bottom metal of typical mil. mausers, but it has a sling swivel built into the front of the trigger guard, which is visible here...


Here's a pic of the markings on the LH side...



You'll notice there is a character space between the characters (it almost looks like two words)... that is a BRNO mfg.

No space between the characters is Iranain made.
example here...

Heres a link to some history on these:

http://www.aliparsa.com/brno/brno.html

No mention of the guard rifles though, if I run across it I will post.

Samco Global has them for sale now.

Edit here are some goods pics:

http://public.fotki.com/ptrthgr8/mausers/persian/

New Guy; From my research on the Persian, the Iranian made mauser was refered to as the "Best of the lot" because they were made on Swedish equipment, swedish steel and work was supervised by the swedes. What's your opinion?
I have a Persian that I picked up from a local dealer (came thru Samco) and its in very good shape. Its always up to the owner, but I would hesitate chopping the Persian, too many other actions out there that with minor work will be as good.

If you keep the bottom metal, that sling swivel is ideal for a Ching Sling.


Okie John

quote:

Originally posted by Lost Oki:
New Guy; From my research on the Persian, the Iranian made mauser was refered to as the "Best of the lot" because they were made on Swedish equipment, swedish steel and work was supervised by the swedes. What's your opinion?
I have a Persian that I picked up from a local dealer (came thru Samco) and its in very good shape. Its always up to the owner, but I would hesitate chopping the Persian, too many other actions out there that with minor work will be as good.

I don't know that much about them... other than the fact that they are regarded by many (for many of the reasons listed here) as being the "best of the best" for military mausers, and in all of those cases I've understood the opinion to be based on the fact that they were made by BRNO, which is obviously somewhat just in their arms-making heritage.

In truth, there's probably not a nickel's worth of difference between the two, but my limited experience on the open market has favored the BRNOs.

I'm not opposed to "chopping up" a Persian, but I am opposed to drilling and tapping the crest or grinding one... they are just too unique. They are, however, IMO above being bubba-ized and deserve a proper "sporterizing" of one chooses to do that.

A nice sporter being built on a military action is as much a part of the history of guns as the military guns are themselves... in some rights, it should be expected.

the only iranian/persian mausers worth having are the ones made by the fine brno arms

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
the only iranian/persian mausers worth having are the ones made by the fine brno arms

So we hear. Why is that?