1877 Danzig B Mod71 Jägerbüchse 3495a

Hi all,

I've had this one for quite a while, but never really did a full documentation on it.

The Jägerbüchse 71 were part of a long tradition of a special model of weapon for Jäger units. This was the last where there was truly a big distinction between the standard infantry version and Jägerbüchse (the 71/84 Jägerbüchse had only a sling swivel as its distinguishing trait.) Based upon rough information provided in Storz work, less than 10% of 71 production were Jägerbüchse, making these relatively scarce (particularly given the low survival rate of 71s in general). Steyr is by far the most common maker, with Danzig much lower in observations and Mauser quite rare. This variant was shorter than its infantry cousin and has several differences in construction. I'll outline these comparisons in photos within this post. I have several of this model, and I enjoy how handy they are relative to the infantry rifles.

The condition of the example is pretty excellent with only some minor distractions. Interestingly, there is a duffelcut behind the rear band.

In any case, here are the photos.

More pics

Here's a good comparison side by side with a Danzig Infantry Gew 71

You'll note the stock, barrel, rear sight, triggerguard, band arrangement, rear sling loop and other parts are different. In addition, the legend on the siderail reads B. Mod 71, rather than I.G. Mod 71.

Nice little looking rifles and informative write up Chris. Nice work

Great comparison. That one is in very nice shape.

Nice rifle Chris! I've wanted to add one to the collection but they are elusive at times. I do have a question regarding the jäger model, how come the muzzle is turned down to have a smaller diameter? Did they have a specific bayonet that had a muzzle ring? Just was a curiosity as the regular 71s don't have this feature.

That’s a wildly nice B71, Chris!

That's an excellent Jägerbüchse 71, love how strong the markings are on it! Thanks for the comparison, it's interesting that even the front bands with bayonet lugs are different between the 2 patterns.

Thanks guys!

Gew 98 said:

I do have a question regarding the jäger model, how come the muzzle is turned down to have a smaller diameter? Did they have a specific bayonet that had a muzzle ring? Just was a curiosity as the regular 71s don't have this feature.

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That's a good question-- I've seen nothing in writing that I can recall about this trait-- the hirschfanger bayonet issued with these had a ring just like the standard M71 bayonet and both are interchangeable. My only thought was that this notch was possibly to steady the bayonet a little more. Just a guess though.

Great post Chris, not too many could have done as well or even supplied the rifle match-set in #3... Only the "Rain Man" could decipher a meaning of the coding shown in post #2, great you could and did post the coding but I suspect it is pointless to trend them, even if we had enough to start a trends sheet (at least it wouldn't take long as I doubt we could come up with two comparisons!)

I modified the research thread to reflect the new data you provided and linked it to this thread for future reference. Great rifle, the comparison pictures are especially welcome!

Awesome thread Chris. Very informative. The Imperial thread has had a lot more pre-98 stuff recently, which I have been enjoying learning about. Getting the itch to pick something up lol. Thanks for sharing!

Just wondering if the same length barrels were used for both at the start and when shorting the barrel to Jägerbüchse length, the diameter was simply thicker making a reduction in diameter for the bayonet necessary.
It would be interesting to see if barrel diameters were similar at the same distance from the breech end

biggymu said:

Just wondering if the same length barrels were used for both at the start and when shorting the barrel to Jägerbüchse length, the diameter was simply thicker making a reduction in diameter for the bayonet necessary.
It would be interesting to see if barrel diameters were similar at the same distance from the breech end

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That's actually a great thought Rick; and I'm inclined to believe it might be the case. The barrel is actually a little thicker there so it would make sense that that ring was reamed out to accommodate the bayonet.

Loewe said:

Great post Chris, not too many could have done as well or even supplied the rifle match-set in #3... Only the "Rain Man" could decipher a meaning of the coding shown in post #2, great you could and did post the coding but I suspect it is pointless to trend them, even if we had enough to start a trends sheet (at least it wouldn't take long as I doubt we could come up with two comparisons!)

I modified the research thread to reflect the new data you provided and linked it to this thread for future reference. Great rifle, the comparison pictures are especially welcome!

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Thanks Paul!

Gorgeous example Chris and great comparison. I do love the little “finger stop” of these.

Wonderful Jaeger Chris. Updated the reference, had your original photos from 2015.