Spanish M93 The Spanish Model M1893 is commonly referred to as the "Spanish Mauser", though the model was adopted by other countries in other calibers, most notably the Ottoman Empire. The M93 introduced a short staggered-column box magazine as standard, holding five smokeless 7×57mm Mauser rounds flush with the bottom of the rifle, which could be reloaded quickly by pushing a strip of rounds from the top of the open bolt. It still had only two locking lugs. The new 7×57mm round, which used a 173 gr (11.2 g) full metal jacket bullet developing 700 m/s (2,300 ft/s) from a 29 inches (74 cm) barrel, became the standard infantry arm for the Spanish armed forces, as well as for the military of several Latin-American nations. It is known as the "7mm Mauser". 1893-95 Mauser rear sights The 1893 Mauser was used by the Spanish Army in Cuba against U.S. and Cuban insurrectionist forces. It gained a deadly reputation particularly from the legendary Battle of San Juan Hill (1898), where only 750 Spanish regulars significantly delayed (but did not halt) the advance of 15,000 U.S. troops armed with a mix of outclassed .30-40 Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifles and older single-shot, breech-loading Trapdoor Springfield rifles, inflicting 1,400 U.S. casualties in a matter of minutes. The Mauser's 7mm cartridge gave some 300 ft/s (91 m/s) higher velocity and a resultant flatter trajectory over the .30 Army cartridge used in the U.S. Krag–Jørgensen rifle. This extended the effective range of Spanish defensive fire. The use of smokeless powder gave the Spanish a major advantage over the single-shot, black powder Springfield that was issued to many U.S. troops. The M93's stripper clip system allowed the Spaniards to reload far more quickly than could be done with the Krag, whose magazine had to be loaded one round at a time. A U.S. Army board of investigation was commissioned as a direct result of this battle. They recommended replacement of the Krag. By 1903, U.S. authorities had adopted the M1903 Springfield, which copied the 1898 Mauser's bolt and magazine systems, along with a higher-velocity .30 caliber cartridge, the .30-03 (later the more potent .30-06 Springfield). The 1893 Mauser was also used by the Spanish Army in the Philippines against the Philippine Revolutionary Army and U.S. forces. The main weapon of the new Filipino Army was the Spanish M93, also the standard infantry arm of the Spanish, and the Remington Spanish rifle. Serbian Mauser M1899 from the Swedish Army Museum. During the 1899 Battle of Paye, U.S. Army major-general, Henry Ware Lawton, known for leading the expedition that captured Geronimo, was in the midst of the fighting. A team of elite Filipino sharpshooters known as the "Tiradores de la Muerte" ("marksmen of death") using Spanish M93 rifles, set up position 300 yards (270 m) away, under the command of a general named Licerio Gerónimo. Having shrugged off cautionary warnings from his officers, Lawton walked up and down the line, rallying his men. Marcelo Bonifacio, a Filipino sharpshooter, shot Lawton and killed him instantly. He was the highest-ranking American officer to fall in battle in either the Spanish-American or Philippine-American wars.

• published: 04 Dec 2015
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