7 mm Rifle Shell casing. It is head stamped and probably fired by the Boers. During the Second Boer War in South Africa, British authorities were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with the Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7×57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite type smokeless powder. The British modernized the previous .303 British cartridge variants to the Mark 7 variant that like the 7×57mm used smokeless propellant, and updated their rifle to the Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III. The armies of Brazil and Sweden were issued the Mauser Model 94 rifle. The similar Model 1895 was sold to Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, China, Persia, and the South African states of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (Boers). A safety feature offered by the Model 1895 was a low shoulder at the rear of the receiver, just behind the base of the bolt handle, which would contain the bolt in the unlikely event that the front locking lugs sheared off due to excessive pressure. South African Mausers were highly effective against the British during the Second Boer War; these proved deadly at long ranges, prompting the British to design their own Mauser-inspired high-velocity cartridge and rifle. These rare Mauser carbines and rifles—especially the Model 1895—can be easily identified by the letters "OVS" (Oranje-Vrijstaat [Dutch for "Orange Free State"]) either marked on the weapons' receiver ring and the stock directly below, or otherwise carved into the right side of the buttstock.