Opinion on Mauser Hsc

[cruzans]

Bought a Mauser Hsc .380 a couple days ago - used but in mint condition. Took it to the range today, and had a ftf about every other magazine, about halfway through the magazine. Any issues with the Mauser ? Think maybe it's just never been broken in ? Think I need to just clean her up and polish the ramp a bit ? I know it's hard to give advise on such little info., but just curious.
Thanks !

[King 5.45]

Go to gunsprings.com and see if Wolff has magazine springs and a recoil spring first. Cheap fix if it's what's needed, and they most likely haven't been swapped out in forever anyway.

[Dave_n]

First thing to check. Does the gun lock back when the last round is fired? Secondly, when you put a magazine in, does the slide come forward and chamber a round. All Mausers of the pre WWII design (and the HSc was the last one of that vintage), are designed to chamber a round on insertion of the magazine. The mag's follower has a slotted back piece that triggers the slide lock. If it does not or if it looks very shiny and cheap, then you have an after-market mag. Another point, There were effectively three different makers/importers of HScs. Mauser (and I have one with the Waffenampt stamps in 7.65 mm), then post war Gamba in Italy also made them and then Mauser made a series that had 01.XXX or 02.XXX serial numbers usually imported via Interarms. The Gamba's are not anything like the quality of hte Mausers. I also have one of the last ones made in 9 x 17 with the 01. serial number series and no problems with either. The magazines are the relatively weka link in Mausers of this vintage and also of the Model 1910 and 1912 (I have one of each) and are at times very expensive and rarer than hen's teeth. Do not bother with aftermarket ones, with a lot of diligence, you can find originals if the mags are the problem. Dave_n

[cruzans]

Thanks King and Dave. I wanted an older model with waffen's, but my ffl had a modern one - 01. models, and it was in such great shape and very cheap, I bought it. Everying works fine, holds back after last round, chambers fine when magazine is inserted.
I field stripped it today ( might I add the only gun I have that is a greater pain in the ass is the 1911's ). It's not all that difficult, just everything has to be exact to get it appart and/or put back together. Taking the slide off I twisted it a bit and it jammed half on and half off - had to work it for 5 minutes to get it to budge ! I cleaned her up, polished the feed ramp a bit, and will take her out again next week. It will due until I get a nice waffen stamped one that I really want !

[Kramer]

Those are real neat pistolas, I would like to pick up a nice one some day.

[jcarter34]

Bought a Mauser Hsc .380 a couple days ago - used but in mint condition. Took it to the range today, and had a ftf about every other magazine, about halfway through the magazine. Any issues with the Mauser ? Think maybe it's just never been broken in ? Think I need to just clean her up and polish the ramp a bit ? I know it's hard to give advise on such little info., but just curious.
Thanks !

I have had a similar experience. Problem seems to be a light hit by the firing pin on the primer. It is aggravated by the fact that the firing pin is very small in diameter. From what I can tell the pin is an inertia type. That is, the hammer shoots it forward beyond direct contact with the hammer face. Obviously anything that impedes the firing pin motion will reduce the hit. I would like to be able to remove the firing pin to examine the track that it runs in. So far, I haven't been able to remove it, My immediate thought is that a custom made firing pin would probably work better than the factory pin and would not be hard to make. I would be interested in knowing if you have gotten any useful input from other owners.