Early Weimar K98 Mauser Rifle……(f 567) SOLD

An interesting K98 Mauser Rifle

An early and interesting Model 98 Carbine which is 43.1/2″ in overall length.  The round barrel is 23.1/2″ long and the trigger pull is 13″ in length.  The dark walnut stock is 38″ long and there is a short 7.1/2″ handguard in front of the rear sights.  The stock is one of the early solid walnut types which were fitted to all Mausers made in Germany before the allies had made it impossible to move timber around the country by rail.  Later in the war the Germans started to use a laminated stock as they could produce this from the abundance of ruined timber which lay all over Germany.  So, early stock on early rifle.

This K98 has a plain receiver with the simple marking of “S/42G”.  This is the production code for the Mauser plant in Oberndorf, Berlin.  The “G” is the code for the year 1935,  the year the K98 was officially first used by the army.  The buttplate is an early shaped steel example and unmarked.  The butt has the strip-down disc so useful in the field for the average German soldier. Running vertically from the strip-down disc to the butt-plate, on the RHS of the butt, are the original Weimar army acceptance cartouches.  The LHS of the action is marked in simple capitals “MOD. 98.”  Chambered in the German Army’s standard 8mm cartridge with a 5-shot internal magazine.

The serial number for this K (Karbiner) is marked on the LHS of the receiver and is “571 e” beside this is the acceptance stamp of the Weimar eagle ( with wings lowered ).  This is repeated in exactly the same manner between the receiver and rear sight on the barrel.  The only other markings on the receiver are on the obverse and are once again pre-waffenamt acceptance stamps.  The bolt is numbered in its entirity for rifle number 9170 d.  All other components on the rifle are matched to the 571 e receiver.  The rear sight base has the extra “K” mark, once again to differentiate between use on the Gew 98 and this model the K98 and is also matched to the rifle.  To tie-in-with the “K” on the rear sight, the front of the fore-sight block is also marked with a “K.”

The age of this K 98 gives strong quallification to the lack of finish on all the metal components on this rifle.  No part of the original rifle appears to be refinished.  Its condition can only stand as testament to what this weapon may have been through.  “H”-type milled front band and milled mid-band both lacking in finish but numbered “571.”  The keeper screws on the main fastenings for the trigger guard and magazine are still in place but the cleaning rod is absent.  One can imagine that after a long and tortuous war-time career the last soldier who carried this rifle was told upon his surrender, that the rifle and bolt were to be separated: rifles on the pile to the right,  bolts out and on the pile to the left.  The fate of many combat rifles surrendered at the end of their use.

If fitted with a bayonet it would be correct for it to be used with the bayonet shown in the photo, with the wooden grips.  The action is mechanically fine but the bore is dirty.  Uninterrupted rifling can be seen with the eye but the rifling does look fairly “used”.  It is possible that regular use and good cleaning may drag some of the dirt out.   A survivor from the defunct Wiemar and the vanquished Third Reich.  Freshly proofed and ready for you to try your shooting skills out with.  (Bayonet to be sold separately or by arrangement with this rifle.)

Stock No’  f 567

£ 675………SOLD

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