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Mauser Vernier depth gauge

wdTom

Aluminum
Joined
Jan 21, 2005
Location
Rhode Island
At a swap meet a couple of weeks ago I purchased a Mauser no. 1774 vernier depth gauge graduated in inches. It is labeled as a 6" but is graduated to over 7". It was brand new still wrapped in anti rust paper and in a leather case. The seller opened the wrapping so we could see what it actually was. I never knew that Mauser made measuring tools. Can anyone add anything about Mauser measuring tools? I only know the company in relation to firearms. It has a inspection certificate initialed by the inspector also so it would seem that with the leather case and certificate it was a production item.
 
Mauser make a whole range of measuring tools. I have a very nice 125-150 micrometer that I picked up for
cheap with several Mitutoyo metric mics. If I think about it today I'll grab a couple pics and post them tonight...
 
Mauser had a slide lock on their vernier calipers that made them the nicest I've ever used. While its been a long time since I've heard the stories, I believe production of measuring tools was a result of Allied restrictions on armament production following WW2.
 
Mauser made all sorts of tools. Will post more tomorrow. Please post pictures if you get a chance.

Interwar, like most concerns that manufactured armaments, scrambled to produce anything and everything. From adding machines to type writers to bicycles and more.
 
The Mauser calipers had a feature that no one else seems to be aware of. The lock was on the same side as the outside jaws and the side with the inside ones was clear, allowing you to place the instrument on a plate square and you only had to rock them a bit to insure that you were actually on the diameter of a hole. Everyone else's calipers have the lock screw on the inside blade side, the top as you normally hold it, preventing this simple function.

Bill
 
Here's some pics of my 125-150 mic. This thing is in excellent shape--sure hasn't been used much. The
thimble is nearly 1" in diameter; each graduation represents .01 mm. Very easy to read, The ratchet is the
larger black wheel and has a very nice feel to it. Too bad I don't do anything in metric...
 

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The Mauser calipers had a feature that no one else seems to be aware of. The lock was on the same side as the outside jaws and the side with the inside ones was clear, allowing you to place the instrument on a plate square and you only had to rock them a bit to insure that you were actually on the diameter of a hole. Everyone else's calipers have the lock screw on the inside blade side, the top as you normally hold it, preventing this simple function.

Bill

Not so - I have a set of Mitutoyo calipers with the screw on the outside. They're my favourite for just the reason you state.

PDW
 
The name changed in 1924 from Waffenfabrik Mauser to Mauserwerke Oberndorf,this is an easy way to date them....I have seen lots of the cheap sheetmetal ones at gunshows with big prices......always termed "Mauser Banner" with the crest on them.
 
Thanks for the replies. I know more now than I did. This tool is not a caliper though. I don't know about posting pictures, not too computer literate, but doing a google search on Mauser no. 1774 vernier depth gauge will bring up one picture among many others not related. It looks like a dial or vernier caliper with the depth measuring foot and without the caliper arms and dial. A little like a small "T" square. Thanks again. Tom
 
Between WWI and WWII Mauser changed with the times and tried to adapt and expand as much as possible. They introduced whole new product lines and expanded one of their mainstays, Commercial Rifles. Expanding and updating, the most notable being the B Series 22 Mauser Rifles. It wasn't until 34/35, that Germany began pushing the envelope and Re-armament began. Mauser Oberndorf played a key role in this producing their Standard Modell.

Non firearms products included adding machines, sewing machines, gauges and inspection tooling, custom machine tools, and more.

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The forum is giving me a hard time about uploading photo's so I will continue to attach more as I have time.
 
From Jon Speed's book Mauser Archive pertinent sales information from the Annual report.

You can see that these items, especially sewing machines were a considerable part of Mauser's sales. You can also see how the sales of the non-firearms items decreased as war approached and armaments took priority.


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One of the more interesting products of the works was the "einspurauto "...a gyro stabilized car.I think one still exists..........Mauser was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ludwig Loewe Co/DWM,until around 1934,when Hermann Goering grabbed it for his empire.There was no bomb damage in WW2,but the French gutted the place in 1945........in the Allied Armaments Comission days,Mauser produced no military rifles..........however they produced lots of sewing machine spares,exported the spares to Switzerland,and a Swiss factory managed to produce large quantities of Mauser rifles......from sewing machine spares......now thats amazing.
 
One of the more interesting products of the works was the "einspurauto "...a gyro stabilized car.I think one still exists..........Mauser was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ludwig Loewe Co/DWM,until around 1934,when Hermann Goering grabbed it for his empire.There was no bomb damage in WW2,but the French gutted the place in 1945........in the Allied Armaments Comission days,Mauser produced no military rifles..........however they produced lots of sewing machine spares,exported the spares to Switzerland,and a Swiss factory managed to produce large quantities of Mauser rifles......from sewing machine spares......now thats amazing.

I thought Lowe became DWM in 1898-99, this is one of the ways we date early Mauser rifles, Lowe marked guns are all pre-1899 antiques, DWM marked guns are not and are thus regulated by GCA 1968
 
1896.....and you are correct......however Ludwig Loewe &Co continued to trade up until some time in the 1960s,when the company was bought by MAN..(I think).......when I was a lad ,an old German guy used to tell the story how a group of British officers representing the Armaments Comission came to Loewes offices in Berlin,looking for the machinery Loewes had invented to mass produce diesel injector pumps to a millionth of an inch,...packingless .The board room was the scene of a sumptuous banquet,and the British given the special supply of the directors booze........Well schickered ,they then toured the factories in Berlin ,on the list they had.......but the Loewe director took them to the same factory twice,and the secret machinery remained in German hands.......
 
This thread reminded me that I have a fairly modern deep jaw Mauser Vernier gauge in my "must get round to selling" box. Says stainless hardened throughout. Very clear markings for a 1" scale length vernier.

Interesting in that its 30 cm but only 11 1/2" range but has all the 1/64" to decimal conversions nicely stamped on the back, to 6 decimal places, so clearly intended as imperial first. Internal steps are 0.4" - 10.15 mm wide but there are no size markings on the instrument itself.

Pictures attached.

Mauser Vernier 1.jpg Mauser Vernier 2.jpg

If anyone in the UK wants it PM me.

Clive
 








 
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