dou 42 K98 Mauser………………….(f 716) SOLD

A K98 rifle packed with historical hints

The main battle rifle of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War The Mauser K98.  This example has the manufacturers code “dou.” on the receiver ring, and below the date “42” The code stands for Waffen Werke Brunn AG Bystrica. This was this contractors first year of production. Chambered in the standard 8mm Mauser (7.92 x 57mm) with classic Mauser bolt system.  Curved down bolt arm with flag safety at rear.  The internal magazine holds 5 rounds.

Very strong laminated stock and handguard over barrel.  Cupped steel butt-plate with steel strip-down disk and rectangular sling hole through the butt.  This allowed the leather sling to be side mounted as it connected with a side bar on the mid-barrel band.  There is a indentation below the bolt handle giving space between the stock and bolt knob for easy cycling of rounds.  The short hand-guard runs from in front of the rear sights to the mid band.  The fore-end is retained also by an”H”-shaped milled band within which is the nose-cap.  The nose also has the bayonet fixing bar and a hole for the short cleaning rod which stores below the barrel.  The front sight is protected by a sprung steel cover.

The serial number on the LHS of the receiver is “9508a”  This number is not a match to the numbers on the bolt.  The bolt has the number “8525”.  This rifle is loosely known as a bolt mismatch.  In fact it a stage further removed, as it is a Russian capture.  One of the tragedies of war; a rifle built and manufactured by the Germans that was later used to kill Germans.  The Russians being highly suspicious of their foe would not accept anything at face value and installed a policy to thoroughly overhaul anything that fell into their hands. However we are not talking about a few hundred being picked up after skirmishes with the enemy.  The numbers involved are immense.  Apart from the regular battle-field policing which occurred after contact and pitched battles, there are stories of train loads of equipment arriving in stations occupied by the Red Army.  This was just a terrible tragic error on the part of the Germans, but the Soviets wouldn’t believe that this equipment was genuine and insisted on their system of checking. So every weapon that arrived was stripped  down completely and checked then reassembled.  For the more damaged items there was even a process of refinishing. The Russians probably couldn’t believe their luck to have trainloads of rifles arriving when they didn’t have enough arms for their own troops.  How do we know this; there are several give-aways on the rifle itself.

Directly above the serial number is a crude “X” marking – this is a Russian mark. Sometimes the actual Swastikas underneath the eagle’s are stamped out.  On this example they are not.  It was almost impossible to get all the factory’s doing the same thing at the same time and there were as many overlaps in practice as there were omissions.  Another screaming pointer to he Russian capture evidence is the complete mix of numbers.  Knowing the German reputation for thoroughness and attention to detail and their obsession bordering upon the obsessive for matching numbers – there is no pattern of matching numbers upon this rifle.  they are all completely mixed.  This does raise an observation; These rifles were so well made that you practically mix any parts together and still end up with a fully functioning but deadly rifle! This rifle has just been to proof in the UK and passed with no alteration needed to the head spacing – that says something about the consistency and quality of the rifle itself.

Two other items also point to this rifle having undergone treatment by the Russians.  On the LHS of the  butt-stock between the strip-down disc and the cupped steel butt-plate there is a flat patch on the surface of the timber.  This is where we usually find the acceptance marks and eagles put there by the various branches of the army or services that were going to hold them. The Russians had a health dislike of the Swastika – it had cost them many lives – so they sanded it off.  They replaced it with information pertinent to the rifle it was on.  This one has changed again in later life and has the numbers “1534” clearly marked into it.  Another sign is on the underside of the pistol grip where another Swastika has been struck out with an “X”.

The balance of the rifle is still pure K98.  The rear sights are the same, graduated from 100 to 2000 meters.  The steel trigger guard and furniture all have mixed numbers on them.  The trigger-guard frame still retains the lock screws, that stop the main bolts from moving.  There is a short cleaning rod in the front, under the barrel.  The laminated stock is in good condition with o signs of delamination or splitting.  The bluing on the rifles metal parts varies but this is not surprising as many of the parts came from different contractors.  So what we have here is a rifle that may have changed hands during the hard fighting of the eastern front.  One thing is sure – its been to the gates of Hell and back. It is now the privilege a civilian shooter to own it.   The  bore is strong with no visible pitting and it is the opinion of the author that this will make a very good shooter.

Stock No’  f 716

£  965.  SOLD

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