Post by beczl on Jan 18, 2021 8:25:39 GMT -5
German and Austrian imports aka Mausers and Lugers.
Mauser
******
The FÉG pistol imports by Germany started a decade ago before the FÉG P9 family appeared on the scene. They already bought a lot of PP/PPK clones Walam, 48M, R59, R61, RK59, PA-63, AP7.65, AP9, APK9 pistols beside thousand of long arms for sport and hunting purpose. When the new 9mm Parabellum pistols were released by the FÉG the German market simply did not interested to buy them. This was because the pistols are not DA which was the most welcomed criteria for German gun owners. So only 400pcs of FP9 bought by Carl Walter Sportwaffen Gmbh from West-Germany between 1984-1986. But shortly after, at the same time when the new P-9R S&W type DA models released the German market was drastically changed. The Berlin wall was collapsed, and many of the East-German people who are forbidden to own any weapon appearing as potential customers. FÉG searched for the best way how they can enter the German (and Austrian) market, and seeking the best solution for that.
They have started negotiation with many potential, but small firms from the weapon industry. After a while, one of the biggest weapon manufacturers the Mauser-Werke Oberndorf GmbH, Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany contacted FÉG and want to start a cooperation. This was because as I mentioned the whole market was changed, also people from Mauser who had been the driving force behind the developments of the 80s and 90s had left the company, or simply had passed away. So Mauser had in a deep s**t. Their new model, such as HSc was a failure, only their limited edition engraved versions of Parabellum P-08 which utilized available parts from storage was kept alive by the company. Mauser then took another step, searching other manufacturers producing guns for them, which Mauser sold under their own name. And on some occasions, Mauser tried to license its name to other suppliers with limited success. First, by licensing the design to Renato Gamba in Italy for HSc Super, and Zastava made Mauser 98 for them.
The Mauser inquery was a surprised to the FÉG, because at this time they can not afford a new pistol line for Mauser. In this case offered to Mauser to select models from the existing FÉG production line, this was done in 1990 when Mauser selected four types of pistols for licensed manufacture. Those were:
P9 - Mauser 80 (Mod. 80 SA)
P9L - Mauser 80 Sport (Mod. 80 SP)
P9R - Mauser 90 (Mod. 90 DA)
P9RK - Mauser Compact (Mod. 90 DAC)
Then from 1994, a fifth model selected. This was the P9RC - Mauser 94 (Mod. 94 DA, Improve 90 Model ! sic) which was developed for the Hungarian Army and Police in 1992. But because of the delay in production, those pistols are never delivered to Mauser.
Between 1990 and 1995 30.569pcs pistols made in total then exported to Mauser.
The pistols manufactured and assembled by FÉG, also all serials, and the Mauser roll marks applied by FÉG as well. Except the Mauser 94 which had no Mauser roll mark, instead used regular FÉG markings. All pistols have German acceptance, test, and proof marks, besides Hungarian proof marks as well.
Their serial range:
80000001 - 80009690 9.690pcs Mauser 80 / Sport
90000001 - 90020969 20.969pcs Mauser 90
91000001 - 91002200 2.200pcs Mauser Compact
The initial selling numbers were promising, but a year later in 1992 dropped drastically, which caused Mauser ordered fewer pistols from FÉG. And in late 1995 at the same time when FÉG Fegyvergyártó Kft. (FÉG Arms Factory Ltd.) was reorganized the cooperation was finished.
Interesting to approximately 450-500 leftover Mauser roll marked and partially or mixed serialized parts are remaining in FÉG property, which transferred then assembled by a new FÉGARMY Fegyvergyártó Kft. (FÉGARMY Arms Factory Ltd.) company much later around 2002-2004. Those weapons were sold to Interarms Inc., CAI Inc., and Precision Import Inc. to the USA. This is the reason why some mixed serials weapons are appearing on the scene nowadays.
Rollmarks:
Luger
*****
The German and Austrian market always has cross-connection because of their common historical roots. So when Mauser started a new business, their Austrian executive partner, the Eduard Kettner GmbH, Vösendorf, Austria did the same. Contracted with FÉG to produce them almost the exact same pistols as they produce to Mauser. They advertised those pistols under Luger's name which owned by the Eduard Kettner GmbH, Vösendorf, Austria firm between 1990-1997.
The following pistols are made for them:
P9 - Luger M80
P9R - Luger M90
P9RK - Luger M90K or Luger Compact
.45 ACP - Luger M100
Between 1990 and 1997 23.389pcs Luger pistols made for them by FÉG. The pistols manufactured and assembled by FÉG, also all serials, and the Luger roll marks applied by FÉG as well. All pistols have Austrian acceptance, test, and proof marks, besides Hungarian proof marks as well. They don't have an owns new serial prefixes like in the Mauser case. They used serials from the regular pistol serials pool.
Their serial was:
B 42738 - B 76129 10.000pcs Luger M80
R 02200 - R 83167 10.052pcs Luger M90
K 01726 - K 12904 3.237pcs Luger M90K
AA005251 - AA009508 150pcs Luger M100
Rollmarks:
USA connection
***************
From the 53.958 Mauser and Luger pistols, only 35.899 sold in Germany and Austria because of both the Mauser and Kettner company a bit overpriced those weapons.
Kettner magazine advertisement from 1990: All prices are in AtS - Austrian Schilling
1AtS (Austrian Schilling) = 6HuF (Hungarian Forint)
1US$ = 65HuF (Hungarian Forint)
Those Pistols Hungarian domestic prices
P9 4.200HuF = ~700ATS = ~ 65$
P9M 4.500HuF = ~750ATS = ~ 70$
P9R 5.100HuF = ~850ATS = ~ 78$
P9RK 5.000HuF = ~834ATS = ~ 77$
.45 ACP 5.600HuF = ~934ATS = ~ 86$
while the Austrian prices were
P9 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9M 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9R 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9RK 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
.45 ACP 12.850ATS (equal to ~ 77.100HuF / 1186$)
So you can see how overpriced it was.
The remaining 18.059pcs of pistols are sold and imported by Mauser and Kettner to the US by several companies between 1995-2001. The interesting thing is in the FÉG inventory we had a yearly summary about this reexport. This is the reason why we know when and how many of the pistols reach the US.
- 9.270pcs by Century Arms Inc. / Century International Arms Inc., Boca Raton, Florida USA
- 7.199pcs by Precision Imports Inc., San Antonio, Texas USA
- 1.590pcs by Kleinguenther Distinctive Firearms Inc., Seguin, Texas USA
Above numbers based on the official export records. Real capitalization and importer's license documentation may contain a different dates.
Mauser
******
The FÉG pistol imports by Germany started a decade ago before the FÉG P9 family appeared on the scene. They already bought a lot of PP/PPK clones Walam, 48M, R59, R61, RK59, PA-63, AP7.65, AP9, APK9 pistols beside thousand of long arms for sport and hunting purpose. When the new 9mm Parabellum pistols were released by the FÉG the German market simply did not interested to buy them. This was because the pistols are not DA which was the most welcomed criteria for German gun owners. So only 400pcs of FP9 bought by Carl Walter Sportwaffen Gmbh from West-Germany between 1984-1986. But shortly after, at the same time when the new P-9R S&W type DA models released the German market was drastically changed. The Berlin wall was collapsed, and many of the East-German people who are forbidden to own any weapon appearing as potential customers. FÉG searched for the best way how they can enter the German (and Austrian) market, and seeking the best solution for that.
They have started negotiation with many potential, but small firms from the weapon industry. After a while, one of the biggest weapon manufacturers the Mauser-Werke Oberndorf GmbH, Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany contacted FÉG and want to start a cooperation. This was because as I mentioned the whole market was changed, also people from Mauser who had been the driving force behind the developments of the 80s and 90s had left the company, or simply had passed away. So Mauser had in a deep s**t. Their new model, such as HSc was a failure, only their limited edition engraved versions of Parabellum P-08 which utilized available parts from storage was kept alive by the company. Mauser then took another step, searching other manufacturers producing guns for them, which Mauser sold under their own name. And on some occasions, Mauser tried to license its name to other suppliers with limited success. First, by licensing the design to Renato Gamba in Italy for HSc Super, and Zastava made Mauser 98 for them.
The Mauser inquery was a surprised to the FÉG, because at this time they can not afford a new pistol line for Mauser. In this case offered to Mauser to select models from the existing FÉG production line, this was done in 1990 when Mauser selected four types of pistols for licensed manufacture. Those were:
P9 - Mauser 80 (Mod. 80 SA)
P9L - Mauser 80 Sport (Mod. 80 SP)
P9R - Mauser 90 (Mod. 90 DA)
P9RK - Mauser Compact (Mod. 90 DAC)
Then from 1994, a fifth model selected. This was the P9RC - Mauser 94 (Mod. 94 DA, Improve 90 Model ! sic) which was developed for the Hungarian Army and Police in 1992. But because of the delay in production, those pistols are never delivered to Mauser.
Between 1990 and 1995 30.569pcs pistols made in total then exported to Mauser.
The pistols manufactured and assembled by FÉG, also all serials, and the Mauser roll marks applied by FÉG as well. Except the Mauser 94 which had no Mauser roll mark, instead used regular FÉG markings. All pistols have German acceptance, test, and proof marks, besides Hungarian proof marks as well.
Their serial range:
80000001 - 80009690 9.690pcs Mauser 80 / Sport
90000001 - 90020969 20.969pcs Mauser 90
91000001 - 91002200 2.200pcs Mauser Compact
The initial selling numbers were promising, but a year later in 1992 dropped drastically, which caused Mauser ordered fewer pistols from FÉG. And in late 1995 at the same time when FÉG Fegyvergyártó Kft. (FÉG Arms Factory Ltd.) was reorganized the cooperation was finished.
Interesting to approximately 450-500 leftover Mauser roll marked and partially or mixed serialized parts are remaining in FÉG property, which transferred then assembled by a new FÉGARMY Fegyvergyártó Kft. (FÉGARMY Arms Factory Ltd.) company much later around 2002-2004. Those weapons were sold to Interarms Inc., CAI Inc., and Precision Import Inc. to the USA. This is the reason why some mixed serials weapons are appearing on the scene nowadays.
Rollmarks:
Luger
*****
The German and Austrian market always has cross-connection because of their common historical roots. So when Mauser started a new business, their Austrian executive partner, the Eduard Kettner GmbH, Vösendorf, Austria did the same. Contracted with FÉG to produce them almost the exact same pistols as they produce to Mauser. They advertised those pistols under Luger's name which owned by the Eduard Kettner GmbH, Vösendorf, Austria firm between 1990-1997.
The following pistols are made for them:
P9 - Luger M80
P9R - Luger M90
P9RK - Luger M90K or Luger Compact
.45 ACP - Luger M100
Between 1990 and 1997 23.389pcs Luger pistols made for them by FÉG. The pistols manufactured and assembled by FÉG, also all serials, and the Luger roll marks applied by FÉG as well. All pistols have Austrian acceptance, test, and proof marks, besides Hungarian proof marks as well. They don't have an owns new serial prefixes like in the Mauser case. They used serials from the regular pistol serials pool.
Their serial was:
B 42738 - B 76129 10.000pcs Luger M80
R 02200 - R 83167 10.052pcs Luger M90
K 01726 - K 12904 3.237pcs Luger M90K
AA005251 - AA009508 150pcs Luger M100
Rollmarks:
USA connection
***************
From the 53.958 Mauser and Luger pistols, only 35.899 sold in Germany and Austria because of both the Mauser and Kettner company a bit overpriced those weapons.
Kettner magazine advertisement from 1990: All prices are in AtS - Austrian Schilling
1AtS (Austrian Schilling) = 6HuF (Hungarian Forint)
1US$ = 65HuF (Hungarian Forint)
Those Pistols Hungarian domestic prices
P9 4.200HuF = ~700ATS = ~ 65$
P9M 4.500HuF = ~750ATS = ~ 70$
P9R 5.100HuF = ~850ATS = ~ 78$
P9RK 5.000HuF = ~834ATS = ~ 77$
.45 ACP 5.600HuF = ~934ATS = ~ 86$
while the Austrian prices were
P9 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9M 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9R 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
P9RK 10.750ATS (equal to ~ 64.500HuF / 992$)
.45 ACP 12.850ATS (equal to ~ 77.100HuF / 1186$)
So you can see how overpriced it was.
The remaining 18.059pcs of pistols are sold and imported by Mauser and Kettner to the US by several companies between 1995-2001. The interesting thing is in the FÉG inventory we had a yearly summary about this reexport. This is the reason why we know when and how many of the pistols reach the US.
- 9.270pcs by Century Arms Inc. / Century International Arms Inc., Boca Raton, Florida USA
- 7.199pcs by Precision Imports Inc., San Antonio, Texas USA
- 1.590pcs by Kleinguenther Distinctive Firearms Inc., Seguin, Texas USA
Above numbers based on the official export records. Real capitalization and importer's license documentation may contain a different dates.
