Mausers captured in Iraq

[Shooter5]

I was surprised at how many WW2 era, Nazi-proofed Mausers were found. Sorry I did not get close-ups of the Waffenamts and Mfg codes, if memory serves, they were all 1940s mfg, '43ish.
8mm ammo can still be found, many are used to hunt. Some were used to snipe at US forces. Many other Mauser types are found, off hand, I would say the Czech Mausers were most common; the Czech built Persian Mauser is very common-likely captured from Iran during the 1980s war/revolution. Interestingly, many/most Mausers are referred to as "Brno" rifles. Like many Middle Easterners, it seems that they prefer "shiny" guns and the blueing is commonly rubbed off with steel wool.

[dave]

I think it would take a LONG time to remove blue with steel wool. I use it to clean up blued guns (w/oil). I beleive the blue being gone is due to years of handling. I have several rifles from the middle east and they have varying amounts of blue left.