Some of the most beautiful work of this craftsman are in this book “The Francotte Dynasty”.
For more detail see: The Francotte Dynasty
Auguste FRANCOTTE
Here is a Mauser hunting rifle "for the colonies"
manufactured by
FRANCOTTE in
several calibres (275, 318, 375 magnum, 404, 416 etc.) It is here in the hunting
version of the military calibre 7.92x57.
Its lucky owner knows that
FRANCOTTE
made 7x57 Mauser rifles for Finland.
But as he
admits very well, this rifle has nothing to do with the Finnish rifle: a bent
bolt, a classic back sight instead of a diopter, a shortened barrel, etc. So I
don’t see the relationship between this rifle and the military rifle at all. It
doesn't matter.
Markings
On the
lock:
Lion on
PV: smokeless powder test, in use since 1898;
K and A
under asterisk: countermarks of controllers, in use since 1877;
Perron:
inspection by the profhouse of Liège, in use since 1853.
On the
barrel
Mr:
Mauser ?? suggests a member of the team;
R
crowned: rifled barrel, in use since 1894;
K under
asterisk: controller countermark, in use since 1877;
Perron:
inspection by the proofhouse of Liège, in use since 1853;
Lion on
PV: smokeless powder test, in use since 1898;
ELG on
star in crowned oval: acceptance, in use since 1893;
76 : the
number of the weapon, which can also be found on other parts, but not on the
lock (it’s another, which I can’t distinguish well, but it’s not important);
8.2x57 :
calibre 7,92
B.
BLINDEE: armoured bullet (followed by a 7 and other digits that I cannot
decipher): rifled barrel with a caliber greater than .22 for blasted bullets, in
use since 1910.
I can't
decipher the marking above the screw on the buttplate. At least it comes from
the German Mauser 1898, a member of the team told me.
The big
screw on the magazine plate got a little smashed... too bad.
In our
humble opinion (that of the whole team), this rifle has nothing to do with a
Finnish rifle (so certainly not the bolt) and is in fact a conversion/reuse, as
we have done thousands of them in Liège and elsewhere. At the time, nothing was
thrown away, we reused... "Because as the Duke of Elbeuf said, it is with old
that we make new" (Thanks to Jacques Brel).
The
mention of the calibre 8.2x57 is not common, in my humble opinion at least.
GP and PHL.
