7.92x57mm. 21.5" barrel. SN: 6419. Blued finish with bright cup style buttplate in walnut semi-pistol grip stock with half length upper handguard and mounting standard tangent rear notch and front blade sights. Gas trap piston driven rotating bolt semi-automatic rifle featuring a pseudo bolt-action operating handle fed by an internal magazine charged with stripper clips. Receiver struck G.41(M)/1942 below an {Eagle/135} waffenamt marking. Stock has been sanded, weakening the original E mark, {Reichsadler/WaA135} waffenamt marking, and a serial number of 536. The majority of the parts on the rifle match the serial number of the receiver, but the stock, muzzle cap, and front sight numbers are mixed. All show {Eagle/135} waffenamt markings, appropriate for a Mauser prototype. No importer markings visible.

Though Germany had experimented with self loading rifles multiple times prior to World War II, it possessed no designs suitable for mass production by the time the war began. Beginning in 1940, the Heereswaffenamt approved a competitive contract for semi-automatic rifles, for which this firearm was designed. The requirements were stringent, insisting that the rifle could not use a gas port, use no external moving components, and that it had to function as a conventional bolt-action in the event the action failed. Two designs submitted by Walther and Mauser used similar gas traps at the muzzle, but in all other respects they were very different rifles. Mauser's design closely followed the initial requirement, including a pseudo-bolt action to operate the rifle in the event that gas-operation failed, and shifted the operating rod below the barrel to avoid exposing a moving part externally during operation. In contrast, Walther presented a rifle with a reciprocating exposed bolt carrier and no bolt-action operating system. Nevertheless, both designs were tested, and Mauser's design proved far more complicated to clean, operate, and manufacture. Walther's design further surpassed Mauser's prototype in reliability testing. As a consequence, the Walther G.41 was selected for mass production in December, 1942 while further Mauser orders were canceled. According to McNab, a total 6,673 Mauser G.41 rifles were manufactured for trials with the prototypes sent primarily to the Eastern Front afterword. They proved just as cantankerous in combat as they had been in testing, and few examples remain. A rare and desirable prototype rifle for the advanced collector. {C&R}

Good. Bore is dirty with some residues and verdigris that should clean to Bright with strong rifling throughout. Metal finish retains a strong blue on the receiver with some brown spots. Muzzle elements primarily brown patina with some blue. Thin blue on trigger plate and magazine fading to brown in spots. Buttplate shows a mottled gray to brown appearance. Stock has been sanded and shows handling dents, scratches, and abrasions.