I have an e-mail from Don S about a very special Mauser that he narrowly missed. Is the new owner a member here? Don thinks he might be. A request to the gentleman - please don't be shy and do post more pics here. We would all be grateful for this.

Don's e-mail says:

Hello Mehul: Attached is a photo of a very special one-of-a-kind Mauser that was auctioned off at RIA earlier this month. There are some glass plate negatives of similar rifles in Speed's Archive book on pg.76, but this is the only known example to have surfaced. They were probably built to display at trade shows some time around 1911. Unfortunately, my bid was insufficient. Some lucky individual now owns a rare piece of Mauser history. Thought the Mauser aficionado's on NE would be interested in seeing this rifle. Is the new owner a NE member??? Regards, Don

Here is a picture of the beauty that got away, unfortunately, from Don's gunsafe: