I pulled this relic from the used case of my LGS. It was a filthy mess requiring a complete detail strip followed by a few hours of scraping and scrubbing. The inside was a combination of heavy grease & burnt powder residue while the outside suffered from some long neglected oxidation. The bore however was surprisingly bright and shiny. While cleaning the exterior of the barrel, I discovered a tiny number electro-scribed over the chamber (83226-2) which I assume is a previous owner's ID mark or perhaps an evidence inventory number. These post-war Mauser HSc pistols are notorious for their propensity to malfunction - especially the .380 models. At the range this morning, I was quite relieved when this one digested half a box of GECO 95 gr. .380 FMJ's without a hiccup. Recoil however was quite snappy (even at 22.5 oz.) while the ergonomics and heavy trigger added very little in the way of comfort or controllability. This combined with the rudimentary sights made keeping all shots on paper at ~10 yards a struggle. Between 1968-1977, Mauser produced ~19,000 of these in 7.65mm/.32 ACP and ~39,000 in 9mm kurz/.380 ACP for Interarms. If I'm being honest, I suspect the cool 1930's art deco styling sold more of these pistols than did their performance. Of historical interest, the Mauser HSc was developed by a twenty-something year old Alex Seidel - who in later years went on to become one of the founders of Heckler & Koch.

Interarms Masuer HSc 9mm Kurz/.380 auto.


83226-2 electro-scribed on barrel hood.

Thanks for the interesting post. They ARE sexy looking pistols!

Jerry

Nice that you rescued this piece of history. Thanks for the interesting post.

A pistol I've never owned. You did a great job cleaning it, it really doesn’t look in bad shape.

You mentioned H&K. Wasn't the HK 4 modeled after this Mauser?

Some years ago I bought one from a neighbor for 100 bucks. Box, papers and an extra mag. It felt great in the hand and was very accurate. When it worked. I sent it in to InterArms for a fix. When it came back, no change. I thought at the time it was over sprung, causing it to short stroke. I was told that Euro spec ammo was hotter (at that time, mid 70s) and would function better in the gun. I ended up selling it. Bummer. I really liked it.

I really like the look of this pistol, along with Walthers PPK, and Sig P230/232 pistols. I despise shooting all them all, only actual one I owned was a P232, it soon was sold.

Neat piece of history there.

Your HSc is a nice looking pistol. You beat me to it when you said recoil is "snappy", and that's especially true for the 380 version. You're also right about them for being persnickety as far as reliability. I had a 380 and it was picky enough for me to sell. But I was enamored enough by the pistol to get another in 32 acp! It functions flawlessy.

Just realized my last post was #1776. Nice one for the 4th of July!

I had one in .3800, too.
The only thing I could depend on was that the pistol would malfunction.
Got rid of it.
None of my Walther PPKs jam. .380, .32 , or 22lr.

I'm glad hjs157 mentioned the design was from Seidel. It's an important fact.

Yes, the concept of the HK4 was a refinement of this pistol.

Another interesting fact is that Mauser was forced to re-design the slide mounted decocker on the original pistols, as it was essentially a copy of the Walther PP design.