The Mauser Model 1935, officially the ''Fusil Modèle 1935'', was a

Belgian Mauser The Belgian Mauser can describe many Mauser rifles used by the Belgian Armed Forces or produced by the Belgian plant of FN Herstal. * The Model 1889 rifle and carbine, including Turkish Model 1890, Model 1916 and Model 1899/36 variants, all chambe ...

bolt-action rifle. Derived from the Belgian

Mauser Model 1889 The Mauser Model 1889 is a bolt-action rifle of Belgian origin. It became known as the 1889 Belgian Mauser, 1891 Argentine Mauser, and 1890 Turkish Mauser. History After the Mauser brothers finished work on the Model 71/84 in 1880, the design t ...

and the

Mauser 1898 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Kar ...

, it was used during World War II.

History and design

The

Belgian Armed Forces The Belgian Defense Forces ( nl, Defensie; french: La Défense) is the national military of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became indepen ...

had adopted the

, locally produced. After the First World War, the defeated Germany gave numbers of Mauser G.98 and Kar 98AZ to the kingdom. In the late 1920s and early 1930s,

Fabrique Nationale Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. ...

was manufacturing the

FN Model 24 and Model 30 The FN Model 24 series is a line of Mauser Gewehr 98 pattern bolt-action battle rifles produced by the Belgian Fabrique Nationale. They are similar to the Czech vz. 24 rifle, featuring open sights, 8×57mm IS chambering, carbine-length barrels ...

, but lack of funding prevented the Army from buying these modern short rifles. In 1935, a new rifle was designed to replace all the rifles and carbines used in the different units. The Model 1935 combined elements of the Mauser 1889 (breach, magazine and stock) and of the Gewehr 98, but it was shorter. Some Model 35 rifles were modernised Mauser 98. Both the Manufacture d’Armes de L’Etat and the FN Herstal produced it between 1935 and 1940. A sniping version was also developed before the war. After the war, some Model 35 rifles were modified to fire in

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

, the cartridge of the American weapons used by the post-war Belgian Army. They were known as Model 35/46.

Service

The Belgian Army adopted it in 1935 but the Model 1935 never went into large scale production. It served during World War II alongside the ''Fusil Modèle 1936'', a Model 1889 upgraded with some features of the ''Modèle 1935''. Nazi Germany captured many rifles after the invasion of Belgium. The standard ''Fusil 35'' was designated ''Gewehr 262(b)'' and the sniping rifle ''Zielfernrohrgewehr 264(b)''. These rifles were used by second-line German units. The Argentine government purchased a batch of slightly modified Model 35s to equip the

Buenos Aires Provincial Police The Buenos Aires Provincial Police ( Spanish: ''Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires'', informally ''Policía Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is one of the biggest po ...

. Delivered in 1935-1936, they were kept in service into the 1960s.

Users

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References

Bibliography

* {{FN Herstal firearms 7.65×53mm Mauser rifles Bolt-action rifles of Belgium Rifles of Argentina Sniper rifles of Belgium World War II weapons of Belgium Mauser rifles