Mauser HSc. New to me

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Hello everyone.

Mostly I am a S&W N frame collector among other interesting Smith and also Colt vintage pistols and SAA
I stopped in an out of the way pawn shop in a city about 50
Miles away. I rarely get to this pawn shop as it is a very clean and upscale pawn shop and only open 8-5 M-F
They always have super nice firearms in there but hard for me to get over there often to see what they have
Today I walked in and was looking through a nice selection and spied a super clean Mauser HSc in .380 still in the original blue plastic covered box complete with all the owners manuals and papers including the factory target showing accuracy from the factory
It is marked Interarms on the right side and Mauser-Werke Oberndorf on the left side
The serial number is 01.383XX
My research shows this version was made between 1969 and 1977.
Can anyone narrow it further down.
Always loved the look of an HSc. But have not seen one since the 1970s. I made a deal and took it home. Very happy and cant wait to shoot it.
 
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The Mauser HSc is a neat pistol.
Kinda like the lesser known cousin of the PPK also with roots going back to WW2.
Has several neat features like the takedown button in the trigger guard and shrouded hammer, also how it locks on an empty magazine but the slide can be released by pulling the trigger.
H&K offered a varient called the HK4 , Not sure but heard it was their first pistol, it's unique feature was it could fire 4 different calibers by changing the barrel and magazine.
I dont track their serial ranges but you probably know its post 68 because it is Interarms marked.
Usually they have an Elkhorn acceptance stamp on the barrel hood and or frame with a two digit date stamp, that would likely be a hint.
 
Recall some postings here and on another board which noted the disassembly of the HSc can be a little tricky. A couple of springs that require careful removal and installation.
 
I can see where a S&W collector would be drawn to such a pistol. Always thought they were classy looking, just overshadowed by their PPK neighbor,
 
Here's a pretty good run down of the early production traits of the post war HSc. Along with some info on small changes along the way, ser# ranges and special groups of pistols.

The Post War Mauser HSc pistol: A closer look. | Jan C. Still Lugerforums

The Ulm, W. Germany Proof House post War mark, the Elk Antler stamp that Engine49Guy makes reference to has the year of proof in 2 digits under it.
That is generally taken as the Yr of Mfg'r for the post war Mauser and Walther guns that went through there,,Gov't mandated proofing.

The Post-War Hsc has a few changes inside from the pre-WW2 edition.
The firing pin in the post war model is changed to a stronger design.
The original was/is quite fragile and many are broken,,most when owners try to dis-assemble/reassemble the slide componenets,,removing and replacing the FP.

IIRC the orig had a one piece grip/backstrap. The post war guns have a 2 piece grip.
A coupleof the internal springs are slightly diffrent form. The overall design is pretty much unchanged though.
It's main competition during the pre-war and war-time production was the JP Sauer 38h pistol and Walther PPk and PP.

The Post war Mauser HSc frames and slides were made at the Manurhin, France facility where Walther had their post war PP & PPk pistol parts made as well.

Mauser also marketed a 'Super HSc'
post war,,a Hi-Capacity model of the pistol with some external design changes as well to try and capture the pistolero crowd market of the day.
Those pistols were made in Italy for Mauser by Gamba.
Mauser had Gamba already making a Single BBl Trap shotgun for them at the time.
 
One of the coolest-looking pistols of the era, for sure. But the Hsc has always been a crapshoot in the reliability department. If you find one that works, it works well; if you find one that won't feed/fire/eject, you have a neat Art Deco paper weight...
 
When I turned 18 I went shopping for my first handgun. There was a PPK and an HsC side by side. Same price if I recall just over $125. I liked the Mauser wood grips and the styling caught my eye. There was a sharp edge under the hammer cut out that bit my hand a couple times. Traded it for something down the road.
 
Many years ago, there was a picture of such a gun on the cover of some paper back spy novel. I thought what a neat looking gun. As I got older, I read many reviews of them and they could have lots of problems. I settled on a couple of Walthers.
 
Yep. I always like the PPK as well and always looked to get one to add to the collection.



petepeterson said:
I can see where a S&W collector would be drawn to such a pistol. Always thought they were classy looking, just overshadowed by their PPK neighbor,
Click to expand...
 
Still have a post war blue and nickel version but sold the WW2 gun years ago.

Iirc both war and post war grip frame straps are exposed with flat wood grip panels but the mounting screw is in slightly different places so can't be interchanged but thats from memory.

The checkering styles are different so you can tell them apart , war era guns checkering kinda tapers fwd to a point where the post war Mauser grips have checkering that has a squared top line that has a slightly larger checkered area.

The only thing that's difficult about disassembly is remembering the procedure ,
It's been long enough that I can't remember but since the slide just pops off when you activate the slide release in the trigger guard front it matters if it's cocked or not , what position the safety is in and if the magazine is in or out, if those three things aren't in the right position the slide won't come off but it's a quick trial and error.
I I had only one try to win a prize it would be hammer cocked, safety off, mag out but the safety position is a 50/50 guess.
 
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Definitely has the cloak-and-dagger, Humphrey Bogart classic look. Beautiful lines, really. But, like the Walther PP series centerfire models, not the most comfortable gun for extensive shooting. Of course, it wasn’t designed with that in mind.
 
I have one of the post-war HSc pistols, manufactured in 1975. I bought it because I could not get my hands on one of the wartime guns. The manual of arms is a bit tricky, resembling the characteristics of the old 1910 Mauser pocket pistols. This one is chambered in 9mm Kurz (.380 ACP). The HSc is covered in detail in my book 101 Classic Firearms.

John


(Click for larger image)
 
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Cool guns, the Mauser HSC. Congratulations on your purchase and surely you got a picture of your new gun.
You know what they say—No pictures?——Did it really happen?

Here’s my Mauser HSC from the middle 70’s, Original box, test target and literature.
 

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I always thought they were a cool looking gun. Way back when I had a Nazi-proofed .32. I don't even remember what I did with it. I really liked the hooked trigger.
 
I always wanted the two barrel set HSC (380 & 32) when they made them, but never got around to buying one.
 
A .32ACP model was on my "buy" list but I never could find a decent one selling for less than $700 or so. Haven't heard good things about the trigger pull either.
 
I've had a postwar 380 for years. Shoots great, and I like the looks, feel, and pointability. The quality and reliability are first rate. The trigger does feel a little odd, especially if you have big hands like mine.
 
diyj98 said:
I always wanted the two barrel set HSC (380 & 32) when they made them, but never got around to buying one.
Click to expand...

I have a "One of 5 Thousand" model - nothing really special about it with so many made. I wasn't aware of the 32/380 kit. Made me think of a gun inspired by the HSC - the HK Model 4.

HK's first pistol was the Model 4 and they rather openly modeled it after the HSC. Took it a step further, offering kits and barrels in 22lr, 25 ACP, 32 and 380.

I like the HSC hammer set up better than the PP series- no hammer bite.
 
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