German 1871 Mauser Ammo & Cartridge Pouches

Here’s the cartridge pouches and ammunition relating to my previously posted Model 1871 Mauser.

The Model 1871 Mauser fired a cartridge known in some parts of the world as the .43 Mauser and in other parts as the 11mm Mauser. Gotta love that metric system. The cartridges shown are original military ammo, and the cases are dated 1887. There is a paper “patch” rapped around the bullet to reduce fouling and improve accuracy. Horrifying as it is to cartridge collectors, I just had to take one apart. It contains about 77.6 grains (5 grams) of black powder covered by a glazed board disk. The bullet weighs about 385 grains (25 grams) and my research says it would achieve a velocity of 1443 feet per second.

The cartridge boxes contain fabric webbing, that’s now too brittle to actually store ammo. I just put in a few for show. As you can see from the curve of the pouch and the belt loops, the tops open outward, away from the body. I picked these up from an Army Surplus store in Galveston Texas for less than ten bucks – Ah, the good old days.

One of my pouches has the manufacturer’ stamp “W. JAGER, ELBERFELD” and is marked on the inside to the 124th Regiment, which I believe is a Württemberg Infantry regiment, followed by WLB, which I’m sure is part of the unit designation but I haven’t deciphered.

The other pouch has part of the manufacturer’s stamp obscured, but was located in Bonn. The inside is marked to the 119th Regiment, also I believe Württemberg Infantry, and the date 1888.