Evolution of the Military Mauser HSc Pistol
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Mauser had been at the forefront of military self-loading pistol design with its C96 pistol, but by the 1930s it had lost major market share to Sauer and Walther in police and commercial guns. The Mauser 1910/1914/1934 line of compact pistols was getting a bit old, and the Sauer 38H and Walther PP/PPK were very popular. Mauser want to produce a new offering, and they tasked a very young (25 at the beginning of the project) engineer named Alex Seidel with it. Seidel would go on to be one of the founding partners of Heckler & Koch, and his work on the HSc would heavily influence the HK4 pistol several decades later.
The HSc was carefully designed to avoid infringing on other patents, particularly Walther's. It was a double action, blowback system chambered for .32 ACP (and later .380). The initial guns were ready in 1938, but it took until 1940 to secure government permission to put them into production. Once available, they were sold to the German Army, Navy, various police forces, and on the commercial market - with a total of about 272,000 made by the end of the war (including about 15,000 made under French occupation of the Mauser factory complex).
Today, we will be looking at a preproduction prototype, early low-screw model, standard early and late war production (to exhibit the decline in finish quality as the war progressed), and a 1942 stamped slide experimental version that would inform later Volkspistole designs.
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The first gun I repaired when I first started working in a gunshop was an HSc. It had been sitting in a box of broken pistols for years and no one knew how to function test it. All I had to do was replace the trigger spring with a Wolf spring (they were the only one who made HSc trigger springs) and it worked perfectly. I liked it so much I bought it for $200.
jonathan english You think Ian should do his reviews without wearing a shirt and pants?
@@carcole3994 do we have any proof he doesn't?
You are one lucky ba$terd, that is a phenomenal price on a exceptional pistol.
🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻
My Dad brought one back from WW2. I still shoot it every few years. Great pistol. Gave it to my daughter a few years ago for my granddaughter. 4 Generations same pistol.
Family heirloom
My friends father brought one back also, I remember shooting it, very hard to find ammo at the time, 32 cal. Very nice weapon.
I have one as well. Gift from my dearly departed great grandfather. It's a Kreigsmarine variant. I think he got it in a West German pawn shop in 1946.
Where do you get spare parts and magazines for guns like these 🤔
"Strikers weren't cool anymore, all the cool kids wanted hammer fired pistols"
Oh the irony.
@@3eightiesopinion524 Except at least two major militaries use striker-fired, the US among them.
Your argument is invalid because US.
@@3eightiesopinion524 Eh...the M14 wasn't a mistake, it was the right gun for the wrong war. Had it been around in Korea, it could've been great, and even today there are some circumstances where you'd want a full-sized battle rifle rather than an assault rifle or carbine.
@@3eightiesopinion524 As long as we're fighting asymmetrical urban warfare against insurgents, yes. That may change if we end up fighting a proper war against an actual trained military like China's, especially in the more rural, mountainous areas, or in other, more open areas. There's a reason they dusted off old M14s and issued them to the Marines during the Persian Gulf War.
@@3eightiesopinion524 Look, the point is that, under some circumstances, a battle rifle is preferable to an assault rifle. Most assault rifles are only really effective out to 300-400 yards (not even that in automatic mode for most shooters), and short of 800-900 yards a sniper rifle is overkill, not to mention inefficient against multiple targets. The modern battle rifle is basically just a select-fire DMR for dealing with targets between those ranges if you think about it. Are they situational? Absolutely, but not useless.
Z3ro, a full sized battle rifle just isnt better than a modern day assault rifle, theyre the definitition of "Too much" if it comes to the size of the round, and "Too little" if it comes to the practical maximum capacity these rifles come with.
And no, theyre not made for precise fire at long range either, the job you are talking about got given to something like the Dragunov, and we dont call that a battle rifle now do we.
And a large group of enemys visible to you at 400-800 yards, your best bet is probably a machine gun anyway.
Nicely made gun. I cannot imagine the extent of 'fireplace collection' guy's collection is. It must be immense beyond belief.
the fireplace is a cardboard set that Ian can take with him to various locations
Sorry, it's not.
I want to be adopted by fireplace guy. Or Hell I’d marry the man if that’s what it takes. Good gravy he has an amazing collection.
@@thedamnyankee1 I thought I was the only one who noticed that. In fairness, he did a really good job with the fake shadows, giving it that 3D look
@@nobudgetcomments2742 its not a 2D picture, but its still a cardboard fireplace.
Me: I need to go to bed earlier to get more sleep.
Also me: *Watches Ian talk about German WW2 pistols at 1AM*
Have to be at work at 730
... Its 7:23 "i got time" .. to finish the video.
Woord
This is the most beautiful pistol ever made. They were used after the war by police in Norway and are stamped with a big "POLITI" on the slide along with many other German pocket pistols like the Mauser 1934.
Arguably yes, as a pocket pistol. To me the most attractive pistol ever made was/is the Luger 08. Just a great looking gun.
@@prof.m.ottozeeejcdecs9998 exactly what I was thinking, the nothing beats the Luger
Mauser: makes a pistol similar to the PK.
Walther: Wait a minute, thata illegal. [Sues in 1942]
*allied bombs dropping in the distance*
LOL, exactly what I was thinking. They must have buying in deeply to the propaganda machine.
**factory explodes**
Walther: _OBJECTION!!!_
D-Day was June 6th 1944, even the Italian Campaign didn't start until July 1943, this was before Midway and shortly after Pearl Harbour by all accounts in 1942 Germany and the Axis were still winning, in 1942 even the eastern front wasn't going that badly just going very slow things would start turning quite badly for them in 1943 tho...
@@DOGMA1138 Oh yes, the American war profiteers that were funding Hitler and the NAZIS were very successful at stopping the US from entering the war.
The gentlemen starting the week on my most wanted pistol.....
Good luck getting one know!
Suspending search for awhile now. Sigh.
My dad had a pistol in his safe box but I never new what it was. To my surprise it was this beauty!
They are cheap i picked one up a year ago for like 250. It was in 380 and wasn't a bad shooter. Very slick 👌. My gf is like 10lbs and could carry it with a barrel plug cc holster in yoga pants and a loose t-shirt and you couldn't tell she had it on.
The test pistols V numeration potentially stands for "Versuch" which means atempt/trial.
My dad was an artillery mechanic in the Navy during WWII. He always carried a Mauser HSc in his leathers (Artillery mechanics wore same grey leather outfits as the submariners (nice looking). He liked the gun, but said, the Walther was better, because it had a fixed barrel, therefore being more accurate, which is not really an issue when shooting at a target a few yards away... ;-)
"WE OWN ALL METHODS OF DECOCKING!!! IF YOU DECOCK WITH YOUR FINGER YOU OWE US ONE REICHSMARK!!!"- Walther
@@Sableagle *Germanic screeching litigious noises*
Imagine filing a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany in 1942... Some real dedication there
@@OriginalEric Notice that he mentioned Walther was buddy buddy with the higher ups... I imagine that went a long way toward not having your suit thrown out as idiotic.
I just inherited one of these. A limited run of 5000 to be exact. Came with a paper target that has 3 rounds fired through it. I didn't know anything about it. I've been doing some research and stumbled across this video. Super insightful! I didn't realize how special this piece really was until I watched this!
In Resident Evil 2 the FBI character carrys that exact "limited edition" 5k made version. Does yours have the finger extension on the magazine?
I think we can all agree on one thing: Owner of this fireplace has an awesome collection and we would like to see all of it.
4 or 5 at a time or remember back to the long Mannlicher Pistol series thah went on that went on for it seamed months
My goodness, you're doing too good of a job! So much so, that I'm considering becoming a patron. I was just going to watch your videos on Finnish firearms, and here I am with literally 20 tabs open for all kinds of videos to be watched... You, sir, are truly a master of your craft!
If memory serves me correctly (can't find the bloody book!) Renato Gamba produced these under licence in the 1980's and 90's with a 12 round double stack magazine. One of the most popular small pistols the general public don't seem to know about!!
There was one sitting around in my local fun-store, and after a few hard looks, it came home with me. It may be a spaghetti German pistol, but I like that kind of mixed heritage, especially since the HSc design had always appealed to me anyway.
Just need to clean it up and get it on the range.
1934: Strikers aren't cool anymore. All the cool kids want hammers.
1980s: Glock says hold my striker.
🤣🤣🤣
Cool kids still want hammers.
yea don't get me wrong, you can't argue the success of the Glocks, but you can argue that they are ugly as hell
Can’t stand Glocks and Striker-fired Pistols.
Zachary Peterson I will buy as many as possible and sell my Glocks.
@@MatthewBaileyBeAfraid striker-fired Sigs are excellent
I love these videos, they're very informative, not just on the weapon's mechanism or the history surrounding the weapon, but both. rather comprehensive and well thought out.
Thanks Ian! I remember seeing ads for the HSc in the general interest gun magazines in the mid '70's, and new guns for sale at the LGS. Even tried one out at the back of the store. I don't know why I didn't buy it... a stupid mistake.
Looking into purchasing an HSc was what brought me to the Forgotten Weapons website around 2012 stumbled onto the youtube videos from there. Content just keeps getting better every year!
Mauser's ad campaign, should they ever bring these back. "Mauser. Producing only the best in style and quality! Thoroughly tested by Ada Wong and Sheriff Daniel Cortini under the harshest of conditions. No firearm will plant those freedom seeds into the undead better! Buy yours today!"
Great video!! I'm eagerly awaiting the reintroduced commercial pistol video. I have been wanting an HSc for some time. I missed out on one in perfect condition a few years back a a local gun show. I will find me another some time soon. Thank Ian. Keep up the good work!!
I've got one of those Interams imported HSc's that was made in 1971 and came with the neat blue box and everything. I really like it. Bought it completely on a whim too. Went to a gunshow specifically looking for a K31 and ended up buying my HSc and a Remington Model 8 instead lol, got a K31 sometime later.
Once again thanks Ian for show us such a neat gun. Hard to imagine it was desinged by a 25y old.
I think many of the young people at that time had a keen sense of art and design, you might say it post art deco, but i do believe it was part of the bauhause design school.
Excellent presentation and very a informative video. The Mauser HSC is beautifully designed and engineered pistol. Thank you!
Good to see you on Gun Stories last week. I’m so tired of actors and novelists trying to look like they have knowledge about guns on that program. It was refreshing to see someone with actual experience and understanding of these things.
Marvelous Ian. I have always had an interest in these pistols. Very esthetic.
I had this Mauser same identical style, I showed it to a friend he fell in loved with it , I traded it for a Smith & Wesson mod 27-2 . Mauser’s are great 👍 looking 🇺🇸
So glad this video was finally made. Just picked up an Interarms Commercial Import about a week and a half ago and was so sad to see that Ian didn't have a video on the HSc already. Looks like I worried for nothing.
I was told that the HK Model 4 in .22LR, .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP was a similar design to this pistol. Well, since the designer was Alex Seidel it makes sense! After seeing you tear down this little pistol I can see how similar. It is almost identical from the hammer, to the safety, to the method of removing the slide from the frame. Thank you for this video. I love my little Model four and have all four barrels and magazines, with three being matching numbers.
My dad brought one of these back, with a holster but only one magazine. I never had a problem getting the slide to go forward without the magazine. Pull the slide all the way back, and let it go sharply.
I've been waiting so long for a HSc video, I have a small collection of WW2 German pistols and the HSc with Heer waffenanpfs and holster is the jewel in my collection.
Another fine, detailed video as always. Thank you Ian.
When i was doing patent research on my automatic slide release (fundamentally different than on this as mine has a "no release" option), i found this little booger along with the Jericho 941. Interesting seeing how it worked. The Jericho version is basically the same thing except it's a removable component.
I actually like the ramp under the barrel on practical grounds as it can help prevent the gun getting caught on things. It's a pretty gun overall. I wish they made a more powerful version of it.
I have an HSc that my Dad brought back from the war with two magazines and the original flap holster. From the numbers Ian gives it must have been between half and 3/4 of production, and everything he points out fits that except it has the wedge-shaped mag release. I have shot it, but it mostly stays in the safe. I don't like the fact that you have to insert a magazine to close the slide, but I can why they did it.
As always Ian great video and content, thanks for sharing.
The best and eloquent gun reviews, well spoken and totally enjoyably informative. I do believe I had a hungarian version issued to luftwaffe, a showpiece of design ergonomicallly beautiful pistol, and a blast to shoot. Broken hearted Canadian shooter.
Extremely well made, slightly larger than a Walther PP. thanks for the video.
Mauser wanted nice, they got nice. That's nice.
ok i got confused you said down for fire up for safe with the safety then when you said you disassemble you need to engage the safety you flicked it down.
Yeah he got it wrong way around there. I thought it would be weird to have the red dot showing for safe and the S for fire.
Ian has never projected himself as being perfect, just extremely gun knowledgeable and humble enough to adit errors when aware of them. We all know what he meant to say.
@@ron827 I wasn't sure I'm from the UK so don't have much to do with guns. Didn't say he was perfect just explaining what had confused me
I was just surprised there was no text edit for correction.
yeah thank you, I was also confident that when you expose the red dot you are in the fire position, but he clears it out in the disassembly portion of the vid
Great video Ian, thanks!
One of my uncle used the Mauser HSc Pistol in french army in Vietnam war in 1951/52. He was a Adjudant-chef
Interesting handgun. Thank You for the video presentation.
I like the lines of those pistols; i didn't knew about 'em, but they look nice to me.
Just a quick note on pronouncing "V" in German:
"Volkspistole" ist pronounced like "Folkspistole".
Same goes with Volkswagen, Vogel, Versicherung etc.
So "V" is (mostly) pronounced like an "F" in follow, find, father etc.
A rare Exception would be Varianz, which is pronounced with a "W", like wagon, war, worth etc.
Anyways, great and interesting video as always :)
Always wondered why these didnt demand as much of a premium as other german side arms.
I suspect that the gun looks a bit too modern for a pre-WWII design. I always wanted one but availability and price have never coincided sufficiently.
Probably because the HSc wasn't as widely issued as the P.08 or P.38.
Essentially what the other two were saying but it simply is not as iconic
One of the most beautiful pocket pistols ever designed. I have one and love it.
Because of this pointless ugly wedge ?
Thank you, Ian .
I always wanted one of these. Such a handsome weapon.
Very nice presentation.
I have one of these. It’s a late war model and it still does pretty well for it having original parts
Very cool! I'm a bit more of a PPK sort, but the Mauser always interested me. Love the German craftsmanship in either- it was almost sad to see the same gun "dressed down", with thin to no bluing, several nice features deleted, etc. I know why, you explained it, but it seemed wrong to do so. Thanks Ian
Really glad to have seen this video! My grandpa got a hold of one of these in IMMACULATE shape and when he died my dad got it. It's a lovely little pistol to handle and shoot.
Edit: His was one of the simplified finished guns with no German Eagle marks on it.
Nice looking gun movements and firearms always think of clock makers enjoyed thank you
That slide lock system flummoxed me *and* the counter lady at the Fun Store where I was looking at one of these. After I cleared the pistol, neither of us could figure out how to drop the slide again, and she had to call her dad to tell her how. LOL
I was givin one of these by a friend pawn owner not working, 30 something and cleaning later I enjoy it more than ppk. I had no idea it was this rare thanks GUNJESUS
Oh, it's that gun ada uses in resident evil 2 remake
Ada Wong
@@akromawrath7353 ?
@@raiwserkoopa2221 Ada Wong is the one using that Handgun
It's amazing just how nice looking these old pistols are compared to modern ones
Just picked one up at a gun show today. Mine is a very late war one that was done with the parkerized instead of blued.
Beautiful.
I inherited an Interarms Hsc from my father-in-law years ago. Though he rarely fired it, he always talked about how accurate these pistols were. Not really expecting too much, I took it to the range to see how accurately I could shoot it. Wow! Amazing! But that little blowback sucker does pack a punch.
When I was a kid I had a bb gun like this one. I shot it soo much it fell apart. Wish I still had it. Anyway I have been keeping an eye out for one of these. They are not common.
Très instructif.Merci beaucoup.
Hello veer ki hal a Bohat vadia pistol ne sare baki Mauser ta Mauser a thanks for your all videos
Very nice looking old Mauser handgun
You'd think that one of the first things they'd drop to make it cheaper eould be that aesthetic web piece in front of the trigger guard. That's less material used right there.
I have a later one (SACO import). I got it from my father in a trade sometime in the 1970s. It is still one of my favorite concealed carry guns chambered for the .380 cartridge. Despite my having carried it for almost 30 years the beautiful deep blue finish is still almost new and it still functions like a dream. Accuracy is good although it shoots low, but consistently. My only complaint is that the sights are not adjustable so you just have to learn where to aim to hit your desired target. It is an excellent 'pocket pistol' and because it is so streamlined I like it better than my PPK/s for pocket carry. One final thing... despite mine being a postwar model it DOES decock with the safety. Not sure what is going on there. Maybe they used some earlier parts when they built mine?
me : looks like ppk. whew.
me, in intellectual : *ADA WONG PISTOL*
It suits Ada. classy gun, classy woman.
Stolen from me.
@@GunsNGames1 check the date that i make this comment first and crying about your "copyright of comment" after. sir.
@@GunsNGames1 and beside, i don't give a single care about steal someone's comment or someshit. don't you have any idea that i also play RE:2 Remake? if you really gather hard someone's "thumbs up" that hard. go crying out more louder.
Secret weapon time.
Most beautiful pistols ever made.
Huh. I could swear I remember reading somewhere (Ezell, maybe? my copy is in storage while my living room gets remodeled, or I'd check) that it was called the HSc because the version that went into production was preceded by two unsuccessful prototypes designated HS (retroactively HSa) and HSb.
I've got one of these, seems to be civilian, early enough that it still has its lanyard hole; it has synthetic grips, which I've never seen on any other one. They look just like the factory wood ones on all the examples in this video and others I've seen in photos, same checkering layout and everything, but they're black plastic (or Bakelite, or maybe hard rubber--not wood, anyway).
I happened upon one many years ago at a lgs. Mine is a 1944 production Waa135 with spare mag and holster. I paid about 200 for it in 97% condition. No import marks.
One of the few firearms on this channel I’m lucky to own, thanks to my grandfather.
He managed to sneak one back after world war 2. During the deconstruction following the war, his job was to drive a “deuce and a half” between sites hauling equipment and supplies to be melted down in foundries.
He managed to snag one of these as well as an original K98 bayonet.
Love my little early Heer issued HSC. Fun gun to shoot.
That #000 looks sooooo cool!
Just bought one today. Looks like it was an Army one. No lanyard loop or top of slide matting, but has the older style mag release.
Sweet looking pistol.
5:25 - "safety DOWN is fire, UP is SAFE" - actually, it is other way around, as per your own information, just a minute later in the video :)
I had a very clean one with accessories in origional box. Sadly traded but still love the Ruger 357 magnum i traded for.
I recently inherited an HSC from my grandfather recently and didn’t know anything about it so this video is very helpful. One thing I’ve noticed that’s different between mine and the one featured in the video is the function of the slide lock. My father and I were messing with it and couldn’t figure out how to get the slide to release. You mentioned in the video that a new magazine must be inserted before it will allow the slide to drop, but when we were trying to figure it out on our HSC, I just happened to try slingshotting it (not sure if that’s the “proper” term) and was able to get it to drop. I repeated it multiple times and just assumed that was how it was done, but now I’m wondering if mine is either worn/broken? Has anyone else encountered this?
Nice! Thanks Ian.
Rich.
I had a 9mm Kurz HSc a long time ago and traded it off for something I liked better. I have another now, in7.65 Browning.
Other than my nearly mechanical dismissal of DA/SA pistols - a matter of taste, so to speak - the only complaint I have is the trigger curve abrades my trigger finger. Such is life.
According to your lecture, mine seems to be a commercial pistol. It has the right side proof mark, but nothing on the left side (bottom-rear of trigger guard). I knew it didn't have the military markings; I suspected (past tense) it was a police pistol.
Serial number is in the higher 700.000 range.
That webbing in front of the trigger guard looks so nice.
I wonder if the webbing was meant to make holstering easier.
Another utterly fascinating video from Gun Jesus.
My dad bought me one of these for my high school graduation in 1972. New .380 reissue (at the time) Choice between that and a Walther PPK/s. It was a jam-o-matic, so bad - even with ball - I sold it for a bit more than what my dad paid, $100.
Shoulda got the Walther, and eventually did, multiple times over. They actually work.
I've heard the some of the 380s will do that the originals in 32 should work fine
@@jimmyconway2800 I have heard that as well but that ship, for me, has long sailed. The .32's, as well, are largely wartime collector's items. the few postwar guns are as well, too expensive to shoot.
Thank you Gun Jesus, my HSc is sn#757xxx and it has the lanyard loop and the 135 under the eagle but no checkering on the grip pannels. Please do an episode on the Sig Sauer P230 sl.
My first hand gun given to my by my grandfather who’s father carried when in war.
Growing up, I always wished I could buy one of these. They are so beautiful.
I inherited a Mauser HSc pistol. According to the serial number and the proof marks it was manufactured fairly early in the war for the German Army. I'm looking forward to shooting it. If it proves reliable and accurate, it will be used for a CCW sometimes. Oddly mine is nickel plated with black grips. I have no idea if small runs were nickel plated by Mauser or if it was done afterwards.
Really interesting, thank you.
I remember seeing an HSc Super .380 being reviewed back in the early 90's before the ban here, the USP had just hit the market at the time, commanded an RRP of around £800 or so. The HSc was a steal at £300.
All in it appeared to be a well rounded pistol with a reasonable price tag. Stateside it appears they're now worth almost double.
The Renato Gamba HSc Super .380? It's an interesting firearm, for sure. And I guess technically it's the same system, but man, some of those were downright ugly up front, and certainly none of them had the sleek lovely lines of the Mausers.
@@Celebmacil Unsure of that name but google-fu does confirm to me that you might be right. Old ass memory on my part. =]
The consensus in the review was nice piece but old-af basically.
Cool, so my Dad bought a high screw, police model between 810 and 808k... Famous sauce... Thanks Ean
From my understanding in the post war model they also made a HSc in 9x18 police or ultra. Is this a accurate? If so that would be absolutely awesome!
Great video! I always enjoy your content and learn a tremendous amount from them. Thank you for that!
Very good video on that pistol. I have a 1970 HSC in 380 ACP nickel finish.
@Forgotten Weapons I had a chance to get one of the low grip screw models it was beautiful every was perfect 👌 I couldn’t buy it though at the time because I was in high school which sucked
I would like to see a video about the post war commercial German production HSc. I just got one in a pawnshop and I can't find much info on the post war German guns.
Looks like a sturdy gun
That private collectors got a hell of a collection. Prototype, early version....stamped sheet metal slide version... navy version .... dang.
Very nice pistols.
Ah. Seidel being the HSc designer and H&K producing the HK4. The penny drops.
How did the patent-conflict-induced loss of the hammer-drop feature affect the gun's popularity? Do you know to what extent were potential buyers informed of this difference in capability in the later models?
Did I miss it, or did Ian not discuss the de-cocking mechanism? With the safety on safe, load the gun. Pull the trigger. Yes pull the trigger. That safely drops the hammer. Got to wonder how many accidental discharges have occurred when people loaded the gun with the safety on fire and then tried to de-cock it.
Bet that artistic webbing element would do great on a skull