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Dfariswheel · May 7, 2010, 07:28 PM

There's no comparison between the Mauser and the Bersa as far as quality goes.

The Mauser was one of the "big three" pre-war German pocket autos that set the standard for the next 60 years.
The Walther PP series has been the most successful, the Sauer 38h never survived WWII, and the Mauser HSc had some success after the war.
It was once described as an Art Deco pistol for the attractive design.

Personally, I think the Walther grip feels better.
The Mauser has a rather odd slide stop design. When the slide is pulled back with an empty magazine or NO magazine it locks open.
It can only be closed by inserting a loaded or UNLOADED magazine, which causes the slide to automatically close.
The safety is a good one in which the firing pin is lifted entirely out of the hammers path, but the hammer doesn't de-cock like the Walther.

There's some question as to whether the post-war Mauser was actually made in German, or in Spain.
The Walther PP series were almost all produced in France, shipped to Germany, proof fired and stamped "Made In Germany".
In Europe, the country in which a gun is officially proof tested is considered to be the country of manufacture.

There's some discussion as to whether Mauser had the guns made in Spain and proofed in Germany in the same way.
Later, Mauser either sold or licensed the design to the Spanish Gamba company who first made exact copies of the HSc, then modified it to a long gripped, double stack magazine design that ruined the original concept of a pocket sized auto.

For what it's worth, one famous gunsmith once said the Mauser HSc was a "2000 round gun". He said that after about that many rounds, the frame would develop cracks in front of the slide rails.
There may be something to this, because I'd seen several war time and one high round count post-war version with frame cracks in that area.

Whatever, the Mauser HSc was a fine quality pistol with some excellent features.

May 7, 2010, 07:28 PM	#3
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	There's no comparison between the Mauser and the Bersa as far as quality goes. The Mauser was one of the "big three" pre-war German pocket autos that set the standard for the next 60 years. The Walther PP series has been the most successful, the Sauer 38h never survived WWII, and the Mauser HSc had some success after the war. It was once described as an Art Deco pistol for the attractive design. Personally, I think the Walther grip feels better. The Mauser has a rather odd slide stop design. When the slide is pulled back with an empty magazine or NO magazine it locks open. It can only be closed by inserting a loaded or UNLOADED magazine, which causes the slide to automatically close. The safety is a good one in which the firing pin is lifted entirely out of the hammers path, but the hammer doesn't de-cock like the Walther. There's some question as to whether the post-war Mauser was actually made in German, or in Spain. The Walther PP series were almost all produced in France, shipped to Germany, proof fired and stamped "Made In Germany". In Europe, the country in which a gun is officially proof tested is considered to be the country of manufacture. There's some discussion as to whether Mauser had the guns made in Spain and proofed in Germany in the same way. Later, Mauser either sold or licensed the design to the Spanish Gamba company who first made exact copies of the HSc, then modified it to a long gripped, double stack magazine design that ruined the original concept of a pocket sized auto. For what it's worth, one famous gunsmith once said the Mauser HSc was a "2000 round gun". He said that after about that many rounds, the frame would develop cracks in front of the slide rails. There may be something to this, because I'd seen several war time and one high round count post-war version with frame cracks in that area. Whatever, the Mauser HSc was a fine quality pistol with some excellent features.