Israeli K98/m/40

I finally picked up an Israeli K98 recently, and unpacking it there seemed more to it than I had initially thought. The rifle is a mix master as might be expected. The receiver has been scrubbed/refinished and most of the eagles have been removed. The stock and most of the parts do seem to be of German origin. The rifle itself is a Sauer 147, and while the date is hard to read, the last number appears to be a 0. The side is also marked with the Swedish G.B. mark, which together with the maker and year lead me to believe this was an m/40. The butt plate is marked with Hebrew characters that (I think?) translate to "Arrow", though if anyone knows better please correct me. I do not know the significance of the mark on the stock. Only other things to note are the rechambering to .308 and that it was imported by Century Arms. No idea if it came straight here from Israel or had some other stop(s) along the way.


Anyway, I found it to be an interesting piece and thought I would share.

Interesting on the GB mark. The Israelis were getting guns from a lot of very varied locations early on, before they got more normal supplies from FN and the Czechs. I've also got a 147 coded Israeli 98k (I'll snag a couple pics later) 1940 dated, with fairly faint markings on it.

My understanding is that a lot of the Israeli 98ks that are in rough condition like this one (and mine) came in via Colombia. I'll defer to anyone who knows more specifically because I'm just repeating old gun message board lore that I picked up over the years, but from what I gather the Israelis sold off a bunch to Colombia in the 70s or 80s, where they were stored very poorly and suffered badly from rust. A few decades later Century picked up a bunch of those Colombian rifles, cleaned the worst of it off, and sold them. You also see some surplus coming in straight from Israel which tend to be in much better condition.

Very anecdotally I've noticed that a lot of the more interesting/diverse rifles (Nazi 98k's, I've seen a few Israeli 98ks built up on Gew98 receivers - no idea if it was them salvaging actual Gew98s or getting SS reworked guns etc since the barrels were all replaced) are in pretty rough shape. I wonder if they purposefully pulled out the older guns without the IDF crest etc to send to the Colombians?

As promised a quick and dirty snap of mine. Glare on the receiver is so that I could try and catch the 147, between the fact that they didn't stamp it deep to begin with and the rough treatment/rust this thing saw at some point it's really faded out.

One of the crustiest guns I own, that's for sure. Really only worth having for the novelty of stars of David sitting on a Nazi receiver.

My understanding is that there were two (or three) imports of these guns.

1- The 1968 gun ban - which was supported by the NRA - prohibited the importation of a lot of surplus guns. Because of this, a number of fine condition guns ended up being exported to various non-American countries. This includes surplus Israeli rebuilds. You’ll see these in Australia and Canada. (I believe).

2- Some decent guns came into the US in the 1980s, not quite sure how, but they were in quite nice condition.

3- a number of guns came in from South America in the 1990s. These were generally quite worn. For some reason South American guns are either NOS, or absolutely obliterated. I believe that this batch was probably sent to South America due to the gun ban - then used heavily - and then sent here once surplussed again.

Those SWE/ISR guns have got an interesting story. They were discarded by the Swedish after they'd decided that they wouldn't them anymore as they didn't really fit into the ordnance system. The Israelis made sure they had a caliber they used (8 mm Mauser, later .308).
Those made by Sauer are all from 1940 and I've observed guns in the f-, L- and k-block. They had probably been exported to Sweden directly from the source.
This one here wasn't scrubbed but the receiver is just worn. I'm quite sure that the stock is not German but one of the FN-parts.

Thanks for sharing!

T

Cyrano4747 said:

As promised a quick and dirty snap of mine. Glare on the receiver is so that I could try and catch the 147, between the fact that they didn't stamp it deep to begin with and the rough treatment/rust this thing saw at some point it's really faded out.

One of the crustiest guns I own, that's for sure. Really only worth having for the novelty of stars of David sitting on a Nazi receiver.

Click to expand...

The other K98k was inspected by the Swedish acceptance officer captain Gustav Björkenstam, therefore the "G.B." marking. The siderail is not visible on your K98k, was it also accepted by Gustav Björkenstam? Another officer would be possible, captain Sten Stenmo with "S.S.".

nirvana said:

My understanding is that there were two (or three) imports of these guns.

1- The 1968 gun ban - which was supported by the NRA - prohibited the importation of a lot of surplus guns. Because of this, a number of fine condition guns ended up being exported to various non-American countries. This includes surplus Israeli rebuilds. You’ll see these in Australia and Canada. (I believe).

2- Some decent guns came into the US in the 1980s, not quite sure how, but they were in quite nice condition.

3- a number of guns came in from South America in the 1990s. These were generally quite worn. For some reason South American guns are either NOS, or absolutely obliterated. I believe that this batch was probably sent to South America due to the gun ban - then used heavily - and then sent here once surplussed again.

Click to expand...

While the barrel on this one isn't completely roached out it is definitely on the worn side of things. Outside of that everything seems sound. From my point of view it is nice having a K98 that shoots something that should be readily available for a long while.

Telperion said:

This one here wasn't scrubbed but the receiver is just worn. I'm quite sure that the stock is not German but one of the FN-parts.

Click to expand...

The recoil lug appears to have a Waffenamt 25 on it. Did they reuse those in new stocks? Though truth be told I am not familiar with any Belgian markings and the stamp is worn.

Telperion said:

Those SWE/ISR guns have got an interesting story. They were discarded by the Swedish after they'd decided that they wouldn't them anymore as they didn't really fit into the ordnance system. The Israelis made sure they had a caliber they used (8 mm Mauser, later .308).
Those made by Sauer are all from 1940 and I've observed guns in the f-, L- and k-block. They had probably been exported to Sweden directly from the source.
This one here wasn't scrubbed but the receiver is just worn. I'm quite sure that the stock is not German but one of the FN-parts.

Thanks for sharing!

T

Click to expand...

Do you really mean the "147 1940" with the "f" block? So far I only know Sauer & Sohn K98ks in the "k" and "l" blocks. It could possibly be a Mauser Berlin "243 1940", the K98k of this manufacturer was from the "f" block.

"They had probably been exported to Sweden directly from the source."

These K98ks were not delivered to Sweden directly from the manufacturers or assembly plants. The business was handled through the Army Ordnance Office and if I remember correctly, the K98ks were taken from the Fz.In. stocks around April / May 1940.

Stephan98k said:

The other K98k was inspected by the Swedish acceptance officer captain Gustav Björkenstam, therefore the "G.B." marking. The siderail is not visible on your K98k, was it also accepted by Gustav Björkenstam? Another officer would be possible, captain Sten Stenmo with "S.S.".

Click to expand...

Nope, siderail on mine is just a normal 98k siderail. I always assumed it was just a normal Wehrmacht rifle that got caught up in the post-war arms trade one way or another. I've read that a fair bit of the earliest imports of arms from the Czechs were material that was left there in the big end-of-war surrenders. But it's a big "who knows." All I can say for sure is that it's a beat up 1940 JPS with obliterated German acceptance marks, Israeli star of David stamps, converted to 7.62 by the IDF later on.

My Israeli 98k is marked SWP45. Has that typical Israeli phosphate/concrete gravel looking blue job but the stock is pretty nice. Still has the yellow sticker in Hebrew on it. The bore is what stands out on it. Looks brand spanking new and is one of the most accurate milsurps I own right up there with the Norwegian 98kF1 in 30.06 and the Finn M39. I've seen both almost new/unissued ones and also ratty/dragged through 10 wars kind of condition for the Israelis. They are a cool variant to have

Cyrano4747 said:

Very anecdotally I've noticed that a lot of the more interesting/diverse rifles (Nazi 98k's, I've seen a few Israeli 98ks built up on Gew98 receivers - no idea if it was them salvaging actual Gew98s or getting SS reworked guns etc since the barrels were all replaced) are in pretty rough shape. I wonder if they purposefully pulled out the older guns without the IDF crest etc to send to the Colombians?

Click to expand...

Just thought I'd show these for some reference, pictures are not the best. This was at a local auction a while back. Overall good shape and the bore was fantastic. It just went for more than I wanted to spend.

Honkey Tonk Devil said:

Just thought I'd show these for some reference, pictures are not the best. This was at a local auction a while back. Overall good shape and the bore was fantastic. It just went for more than I wanted to spend.

Click to expand...

Here's one that was on GB just recently. I came really close to getting it but have some other things I want to put the money towards. MWO 1917 receiver with that mysterious intertwined BS stamp.

edit: man, the more I look at it the more I'm kind of annoyed at myself for letting it go. Went for a shade over $450 after shipping I believe. In pretty rough shape plus missing some parts (handguard iirc) but man, what a receiver.

That would a been a good as well. That one didn't really get the phosphate put to it..it seems.

My Kar98 has that BS on it as well

Ok, I took another look at my files and discovered, that I can only assume that some were from the "f-"block.
I have no proof, though. What I found was a 147 1940 b-block from the SWE/ISR connection.*
I never knew how the sales from Germany to Sweden had been executed, but I agree, shipping from the Ordnance System makes more sense.

The overall picture of the SWE/ISR connection gets blurred by the fact that sometimes the Swedish officers marked the guns not on the receiver but on the rear sight base. Those markings are of course gone or at least out of context as soon as the barrel gets changed.

The Israelis took whatever was on hand, so it's not unusual to find parts from one manufacturer on parts from another one.

Greetings

T

*one f-block turned out to be this b-block in reality

Dradzk said:

I finally picked up an Israeli K98 recently, and unpacking it there seemed more to it than I had initially thought. The rifle is a mix master as might be expected. The receiver has been scrubbed/refinished and most of the eagles have been removed. The stock and most of the parts do seem to be of German origin. The rifle itself is a Sauer 147, and while the date is hard to read, the last number appears to be a 0. The side is also marked with the Swedish G.B. mark, which together with the maker and year lead me to believe this was an m/40. The butt plate is marked with Hebrew characters that (I think?) translate to "Arrow", though if anyone knows better please correct me. I do not know the significance of the mark on the stock. Only other things to note are the rechambering to .308 and that it was imported by Century Arms. No idea if it came straight here from Israel or had some other stop(s) along the way.


Anyway, I found it to be an interesting piece and thought I would share.

View attachment 412141View attachment 412142View attachment 412143View attachment 412144View attachment 412145View attachment 412146View attachment 412147

Click to expand...

Dradzk said:

I finally picked up an Israeli K98 recently, and unpacking it there seemed more to it than I had initially thought. The rifle is a mix master as might be expected. The receiver has been scrubbed/refinished and most of the eagles have been removed. The stock and most of the parts do seem to be of German origin. The rifle itself is a Sauer 147, and while the date is hard to read, the last number appears to be a 0. The side is also marked with the Swedish G.B. mark, which together with the maker and year lead me to believe this was an m/40. The butt plate is marked with Hebrew characters that (I think?) translate to "Arrow", though if anyone knows better please correct me. I do not know the significance of the mark on the stock. Only other things to note are the rechambering to .308 and that it was imported by Century Arms. No idea if it came straight here from Israel or had some other stop(s) along the way.


Anyway, I found it to be an interesting piece and thought I would share.

View attachment 412141View attachment 412142View attachment 412143View attachment 412144View attachment 412145View attachment 412146View attachment 412147

Click to expand...

Dradzk said:

I finally picked up an Israeli K98 recently, and unpacking it there seemed more to it than I had initially thought. The rifle is a mix master as might be expected. The receiver has been scrubbed/refinished and most of the eagles have been removed. The stock and most of the parts do seem to be of German origin. The rifle itself is a Sauer 147, and while the date is hard to read, the last number appears to be a 0. The side is also marked with the Swedish G.B. mark, which together with the maker and year lead me to believe this was an m/40. The butt plate is marked with Hebrew characters that (I think?) translate to "Arrow", though if anyone knows better please correct me. I do not know the significance of the mark on the stock. Only other things to note are the rechambering to .308 and that it was imported by Century Arms. No idea if it came straight here from Israel or had some other stop(s) along the way.


Anyway, I found it to be an interesting piece and thought I would share.

View attachment 412141View attachment 412142View attachment 412143View attachment 412144View attachment 412145View attachment 412146View attachment 412147

Click to expand...

Hello,

Lastly all M40's were converted to 8x63 Swedish

Later
Vaughn

Honkey Tonk Devil said:

Just thought I'd show these for some reference, pictures are not the best. This was at a local auction a while back. Overall good shape and the bore was fantastic. It just went for more than I wanted to spend.

Click to expand...

Wow. If only it had visible 3rd Reich markings, then it would be a history of the 20th in one rifle.

nirvana said:

Wow. If only it had visible 3rd Reich markings, then it would be a history of the 20th in one rifle.

Click to expand...

Yeah, 20th century history in a nutshell. Big part of it, at least.