42 1940 o block Luftwaffe K98k Questions

I recently took a bit of a gamble on this 42 1940 K98k that popped up at an auction online and with what I thought was a lowball bid, won it. I'm normally never lucky and should never gamble to begin with but this rifle seemed like it had potential though it's turned out to be a mixed bag. From what I can tell, the stock and most of the bolt are original but the firing pin is somehow mismatched and doesn't properly fit the cocking piece. The bore is frosted throughout and slightly dark with somewhat worn though strong rifling. The stock is not duffle cut but the handguard numbering is questionable to me. I have a fair few questions regarding this rifle, primarily the use of several seemingly random E/77 parts and of which 2 are numbered to the rifle. The other questions I have are the numbering of the handguard which appears renumbered in my eyes though not sure if possibly factory or faked and the "B" on the buttplate. Starting to wonder if I got a turd with all the oddities this one has considering I can't find any depot markings on the stock. Any insights/thoughts along with a lead on another firing pin would be much appreciated on this one! Rifle breaks down as follows:

Receiver: 5841o, E/655 x 3 on right receiver
Barrel: 5841o, 39Do685, E/655 x 3
Bolt: 5841o, E/655 x 2
Bolt Shroud: 5841, E/655 x 2
Safety: 5841, E/655
Cocking Piece: 5841, E/655
Extractor: 41, E/655
Firing Pin: 9220 (no acceptance of any kind)
Ejector Box: 41, E/655
Ejector Box Screw: E/77
Ejector Spring: E/655 (faint)
Trigger Guard: 5841, E/WaA655 x 2
Floorplate: 5841, E/WaA655, WR acceptance on inside
Follower: 41, E/655, WR on bottom
Magazine Spring: E/655
Floorplate Release Button: E/77
Front Action Screw: 41, E/77
Rear Action Screw: 47?, E/655
Sear: 41, E/655 x 2
Trigger: E/77
Rear Sight Slider: 5841, E/655
Rear Sight Leaf: 5841, E/655 x 2
Rear Sight Button: 41, E/77
Rear Sight Ramp: 5841, E/655
Rear Sight Base: E/WaA655 x 3
Rear Sight Spring: E/77
Front Sight: 41
Front Sight Base: E/655, E/WaA655
Front Band: 5841, E/655
Rear Band: 5841, E/655
Bayonet Lug: 41, E/655
Handguard: 5841 (appears numbered over 7840), E/WaA655 (faint on top)
Stock: 5841 internal, 4 19 40 in stock channel, E/L on right, E/WaA655 x 2 right, E/WaA655 x 2 behind trigger guard, 5841o external serial, E/WaA655 x 2 beneath external serial
Buttplate: 5841o, "B" next to punch mark?
Bolt Takedown Disc: E/WaA63
Band Spring: 5841, E/655

Rest of bolt components and rear sight.

Bottom metal and bands, the trigger is also E/77 as is the floorplate release button which seems odd to me.

Stock and handguard for last, buttplate is the main confusion for me with the "B" along with the handguard numbering.

A couple thoughts but don't take this for gospel. The firing pin is obviously not original but who knows why it was swapped. None of the parts look faked or altered, at least to my eye. The handguard looks like it's an error where they stamped a 7 for the 1st digit and then overstamped the correct 5.

As to the e/77 small parts, the only thing I can think of is Erma had an excess amount and some were sent to MO to use up. Maybe someone with more Mauser specific knowledge will chime in.

I've never seen that B or Bo on the butt plate, but it does have the correct serial number and suffix.

My stock proof looks like this

I like it… a lot. I think you got a winner.

The hg serial looks to be just a factory error. Guy stamped ‘7’ first and then corrected it to ‘5’.

The only thing that is obviously off is the mm firing pin.

Just my opinions of course.

heavy_mech said:

A couple thoughts but don't take this for gospel. The firing pin is obviously not original but who knows why it was swapped. None of the parts look faked or altered, at least to my eye. The handguard looks like it's an error where they stamped a 7 for the 1st digit and then overstamped the correct 5.

As to the e/77 small parts, the only thing I can think of is Erma had an excess amount and some were sent to MO to use up. Maybe someone with more Mauser specific knowledge will chime in.

I've never seen that B or Bo on the butt plate, but it does have the correct serial number and suffix.

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That's an interesting thought on the E/77 parts being Erma rather than Radom, I didn't consider that possibility. I would have thought most of Erma's spare parts would have been transferred to Feima when they started production but since E/37 parts have ended up on Feima rifles, it seems plausible. Thanks for the input!

a j s said:

My stock proof looks like thisView attachment 405982

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Damn, those proofs are in excellent shape. Same style of L though the eagle above mine took a ding. Thanks for the comparison.

hale1940 said:

I like it… a lot. I think you got a winner.

The hg serial looks to be just a factory error. Guy stamped ‘7’ first and then corrected it to ‘5’.

The only thing that is obviously off is the mm firing pin.

Just my opinions of course.

Click to expand...

Thank you! This is the first time seeing a handguard serial error in person for me so wasn't quite sure if it's was a legit factory mistake or not.

I think you gambled and won.

I would bet that the rear sight blade spring was a field replacement.
I have no record of any interaction between Erma and Mauser anytime during the war.

bruce98k said:

I would bet that the rear sight blade spring was a field replacement.
I have no record of any interaction between Erma and Mauser anytime during the war.

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Interesting, is Erma the only contractor that Mauser had 0 interaction with? It seems they were in contact with every other firm at some point during the war. Back to the rifle, would it be safe to assume that the rear sight button is a field replacement as well? Doesn't explain the B on the buttplate but would at least explain those parts being E/77.

Gringo said:

I think you gambled and won.

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Thanks, still got questions about this rifle, but at least the handguard seems to check out.

bruce98k said:

I would bet that the rear sight blade spring was a field replacement.
I have no record of any interaction between Erma and Mauser anytime during the war.

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Thanks Bruce. I know Erma, did use small parts from others, and thought this may have happened at MO. I should have figured they'd use all their own parts exclusively.

Let me check the ledger pages for activity with other K98k mfgs. will post up a summary

bruce98k said:

Let me check the ledger pages for activity with other K98k mfgs. will post up a summary

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Thanks Bruce, looking forward to seeing it!