Who made my HSc??

[flinch]

Hello,

Can anyone say who made my post war HSc .380 that was imported by Interarms? The slide says made in Germany, and original Mauser. Two gun referance books say "the Interarms imported HSC's were made by Gamba in Italy". Any ideas? If it says made in Germany is it not made in Germany?

Thanks for the help.

 

[dfariswheel]

Mauser reintroduced a slightly modified HSc in 1968 and imported them through InterArms until 1981.

The Mauser marked HSc's were made in Germany, and so marked. The guns marked Gambia, weren't.

In 1983 Mauser sold or leased the rights to Gambia, who made the original model until at least 1985.
Sometime around then, Gambia modified the design in an attempt to ride the High capacity craze.

They added a double column magazine, and greatly extended the grip frame. The front of the trigger guard was changed to a less streamlined shape.

Not only did this ruin the "art deco" look of the gun, the huge grip destroyed the intent of the original Mauser as a pocket auto.
The Gambia high-cap failed to sell, and the gun was discontinued.

The post-war Mauser-made guns are high quality guns, BUT several top gunsmiths had the opinion that the post war HSc was a "2000 round gun".
There apparently was a problem with the frames cracking after several thousand rounds.

Since few people ever shoot 2000 rounds through a pocket auto, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Erich]

off-thread-topic - just nostalgic

I had a wartime civilian HSc (not in the best shape, but good enough) that I wish I never sold.



(Sigh)

 

[flinch]

Thanks Dfariswheel for the information. I can not believe the gun is not rated for more than 2000 or so rounds!! I too remember hearing the self destruct story but I still see writers praising the gun more than not.
Flinch

 

[HankB]

In the original .32 ACP caliber, it's hard to see a Mauser HSc not lasting indefinitely. Even in .380, service life should be quite long with standard ammo - the design looks robust.

On the other hand, H&K's cheap knockoff of the HSc, their HK4, was a POS. IIRC the frame was sheet metal, tack welded into shape. A friend's HK4 was the ONLY pistol I've personally handled with a broken frame.

 

[dfariswheel]

flinch,
Don't misunderstand, the post-war HSC wasn't "rated" for only 2000 rounds. That was an opinion held by several good gunsmiths.

There MAY be something to this, since of the "big three" in German pocket pistols, the Walther PP series, the Sauer 38H, and the HSc, I've seen more cracked frames on the HSc.
The cracks were always directly in front of the slide rails, and the frame is rather thin in that area.

To be fair, they were ALL war time or earlier guns. I never saw a cracked post-war HSc, but then I didn't see many post-war HSc's.

They were high quality, and didn't have too much in the way of problems requiring a trip to the "doctor".

 

[flinch]

Dfariswheel,

Many thanks for the clarification and your knowledge,

Best flinch

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I've had a Mauser/Interarms HSc for about 20 years now as a supplemental pistol. Aside from a horrific double action trigger and the locking slide when the mag is removed I don't have too many complaints about it. It doesn't bite one's hand as bad as a PPK, either.

The single stack Mauser models are much more graceful than the Gamba double stack models. One table dealer tried to talk me out of mine for a Gamba and I had to break his heart.

Regards,
Rabbit.