MAUSER IN CHINA

毛瑟在中国：M1904步枪合同 Mauser in China: Model 1904 rifle by Aaron J. Zou      This article studies the contract of Model 1904 rifle that Mauser Company sold to China in 1907 and probable commercial sales of Mauser Model 1904 rifles and carbines to China. It first appeared on Chinese language magazine  Small Arms  ( Qingbingqi , 《轻兵器》) of  January 2023. The English version in the title of Mauser in China: Model 1904 rifle has been printed by BANZAI of  Issue 492 (June 2023).      《毛瑟在中国》(Mauser in China) is a series of articles studying the contracts of rifles and pistols that Mauser Company sold to China between 1880 and 1939.

Months ago a friend in china sent me a picture of this Ludwig Loewe made Russian S&W No.3 revolver, which belongs to his college's reference room collection.  This reminds me of some archives I'd read about  China acquisition of Ludwig Loewe manufactured S&W No.3 revolvers.  In 1878, LI Hongzhang asked China Embassy in Berlin to buy 200 pistols for his army. The ambassador visited Ludwig Loewe Company in Berlin twice in 1878, Ludwig Loewe presented Chinese ambassador S&W No.3 revolver which they were producing for Russian contract. A letter from Berlin Embassy to Tianjin Arsenal stated some opinions of the ambassador about the revolver. He said this "very delicate revolver" disassembles into 66 components and does not suit for Chinese soldiers. This letter also mentioned that t he unit price is 60 Marks and Loewe Company had an top break design revolver which costs 42 marks. Li Hongzhang The ambassador sent a broker named Muller from Diers...