Founded in Oberndorf, Germany, in 1874 as Königliche Waffen Schmieden, the company was an effort started by the Mauser brothers, Peter and Wilhelm, several years earlier when they designed and produced rifles for the Prussian military.įrom the end of World War II through the late 1990s, many thousands of Mauser rifles hit American shores via the surplus market. The name Mauser is one of the oldest names in firearms.
