9.3x57
(.450 member)
01/10/09 11:56 PM
Re: Finding Oberndorf Mausers in South America

South America is a big place...a continent in fact, and I suspect the various countries had markedly different approaches to such imports.

I'm not aware of any significant customizing industry of milsurps and in fact believe that one of the common threads of gun law that exist on the continent is the ban on "military" guns and calibers for sporting use. Seems to be a Latin commonality. I'd be very interested to read of a custom gunmaking industry that used milsurp rifles. I hope someone from LA can weigh in.

Application of the law seems to be somewhat arbitrary in some quarters, too... I remember visiting my Uncle in Ecuador when they confiscated his Savage Model 24 combination gun; it was in a "military" caliber you see. The .30-30 was a ".30", and thus, military...

At any rate, this is a very interesting topic. I believe we will find some countries had/have significant hunting traditions, but overall, the use of sporting RIFLES is a drop in the bucket of that existing in the USA for example. And we also need to remember that just because a country has an "importer" or "distributor" doesn't mean they brought in many {or even any} guns. I suspect few Original Mausers were actually brought in to Latin America. For one thing, there is not a large variety of rifle-compatible game to be shot.

If I had to make a wild guess, I'd guess that the guns brought in were purchased by well-heeled types who wanted them for use in Africa or Asia, much less so in the country of their own residence.



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