This curious handgun is marked as a Mauser, model name M2, but what the heck is that? And why is it import marked by SIG Arms? When it had that name, that company only existed to import the products of SIG Sauer in Germany.

Well, there's vanishingly little information that I could find online about this gun, but from the bits and pieces I did run across, it looks like this is a SIG-made gun. Sometime around the turn of the century, SIG bought the rights to use the Mauser name and logo on handguns. It appears that this one here is the only one they did with it, or at least I haven't found any other at this point.

Mechanically, this gun is a striker-fired semiauto with a pseudo-double-action-only firing mechanism, à la the Glock "Safe Action" system. It's chambered in .45 ACP, with single-stack magazines that seem to hold seven rounds despite their chunky appearance. Interestingly, the locking system it uses is of the rotating-barrel type, which relatively few handguns use. The only others I can think of offhand are the Steyr-Hahn and the Beretta PX4 Storm, though I'm sure there are at least a few others.

With a steel slide and an aluminum alloy frame, this gun is heavier than it looks compared to a modern polymer-framed handgun, but not as heavy as it could be if it was all steel. It's chunky and blocky and feels nice and substantial in the hand. All that slide weight makes it pretty docile even for a .45, which is not the most rambunctious cartridge despite its large caliber.

It came with this cool plastic case, which is neat, since it's from the era when a lot of new guns came in cardboard shoe boxes.

It looks like the foam was cut to fit either this gun or another with slightly different dimensions and a spur hammer. Not sure what the other one was; maybe one of the FÉG Browning clones that were also sold under the Mauser name? Although those were from before the SIG deal, so... I dunno. I also don't know what's supposed to be in that rectangular slot. Probably a clearing rod and maybe some other tools, bits, and pieces. I think the oval one held a Legally Required Trigger Lock.

I didn't get the manual either, but I ordered a replacement from Numrich, so that should be along any time.

So that's pretty cool! A nice modern oddity to start rebuilding the collection with. It's nice to be back in (cautious) acquisition mode after so many years of saying farewell.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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