1916 Simson 1596a with some wicked damage

Hi Guys,

Here's a fun one for Armistice Day -- Bought this one last month from an auction (shockingly cheap for a matching Simson- $900 hammer)

This is a nice salty and closet- looking gun that came back to the US still factory matching, save the cleaning rod. It's otherwise a nice early 1916 Saxon contract Simson. The rifle had a thick coat of dried gunk on the metal, but this cleaned off with some brass and elbow grease, leaving nice metal underneath. Someone buggered the front screw, but otherwise pristine.

The real showstopper to me (aside from it being a solid Simson) is the extensive shrapnel (best guess) damage to the left side of the stock. Something hit the rifle, dislodging a large chuck of wood and warping the floorplate enough to prevent it from sitting flush against the triggerguard. There is also some clear damage to other areas of the stock as well (see pics), though nowhere near as extensive.

Anyway, here are the data points:

Receiver SN: 1596 a
Barrel SN: 1596 a (Bi 583)
Front sight SN: 96
Rear sight SN: 96
Sight Slider SN: 96
Ejector box SN: 96
Trigger Sear SN: 96
Front barrel band SN: 96
Rear barrel band SN: 96
Trigger guard SN: 1596
Trigger guard screws SN: 96, 96
Floor Plate SN: 96
Follower SN: 96
Stock SN: 1596
Handguard SN: 1596 (faint)
Buttplate SN: 1596 a
Bayonet lug SN: 96
Bolt body SN: 1596 a
Extractor SN: 96
Safety SN: 96
Cocking piece SN: 96
Bolt sleeve SN: 96
Firing pin SN: 96

More pics

I'm the first one to be skeptical about battle damage claims but yowzers, no real way that's anything but.

chrisftk said:

More pics
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Was this a GB find?

Congrats on picking up a nice salty Simson! That one took a hell of a hit! I hope that shrapnel happened when it was sitting on a rack and not when the poor guy was holding it.

I am so glad some one such as yourself snagged that! I wanted it bad but had other commitments so no funds. Excellent score Chris!! thanks for the awesome pics so we can really see this beauty!

I think the damage was done by the guy who tried to remove the action screw! Looks like a precision hatchet in use.
That rifle is cool as hell on a number of levels! That is a great grab Chris. I wish more damaged ones like this were in circulation. Really exhibits the savagery of war.

That’s a neat one Chris…. Gotta love that stock.. definitely the been there done that look! It would be hard to claim another matching 16 Simson for that price…. Congrats

Cyrano4747 said:

I'm the first one to be skeptical about battle damage claims but yowzers, no real way that's anything but.

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Yeah, I'm with you on being a bit skeptical regarding damage. This one is pretty much a smoking gun though. The savagery of the hit and the way it wounded/ warped the floor plate screams shrapnel.

garrom_56 said:

Was this a GB find?

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No, small auction house.

AN-94 said:

Congrats on picking up a nice salty Simson! That one took a hell of a hit! I hope that shrapnel happened when it was sitting on a rack and not when the poor guy was holding it.

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Thanks-- yeah I was thinking the same thing when I unboxed it. If it did that to the rifle, imagine how bad the guy holding it would look. I'm just telling myself it was sitting propped against the wall of a trench lol.

Jdt said:

I am so glad some one such as yourself snagged that! I wanted it bad but had other commitments so no funds. Excellent score Chris!! thanks for the awesome pics so we can really see this beauty!

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I was prepared to go a good bit higher, but it was just some floor bidder (probably a flipper) against me and he bailed after $850. I'm really surprised; I view the damage as a positive to value and the fact that it's a factory Simson would usually mean a feeding frenzy. Sometimes you just get lucky I guess.

biggymu said:

I think the damage was done by the guy who tried to remove the action screw! Looks like a precision hatchet in use.
That rifle is cool as hell on a number of levels! That is a great grab Chris. I wish more damaged ones like this were in circulation. Really exhibits the savagery of war.

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Lol! Yeah it was hard to get that front screw out. I'm wondering if the hit may have warped the threads a little bit. Whoever did it was a long time ago though, there was very heavy patina and oxidation on the screw and some dry grease.

joryfreeburg said:

That’s a neat one Chris…. Gotta love that stock.. definitely the been there done that look! It would be hard to claim another matching 16 Simson for that price…. Congrats

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Thanks man, This was a nice treat and upgrade to my current 16 and the perfect "welcome back" after being in Germany for almost 2 weeks.

Really dig the conciseness of the shrapnel hit. Looks like it staked the floorplate in place after dinging the triggerguard! Compared to some other photos of damaged rifles, this one got off easy. Artillery makes these guns look so fragile in comparison. Definitely a battlefield capture

Wow, excellent gewehr Chris! Talk about a warhorse...

OnlyMil said:

Really dig the conciseness of the shrapnel hit. Looks like it staked the floorplate in place after dinging the triggerguard! Compared to some other photos of damaged rifles, this one got off easy. Artillery makes these guns look so fragile in comparison. Definitely a battlefield capture

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Yeah, it definitely has that feel to it.

feldmütze said:

Wow, excellent gewehr Chris! Talk about a warhorse...

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Thanks Mike, lots of character, this one.

Such a unique Simson, Chris, glad you got it. I know it's morbid, but shrapnel damage is fascinating, i think it adds a lot to the piece.

That's so great, well done !

PrayingMantis said:

Such a unique Simson, Chris, glad you got it. I know it's morbid, but shrapnel damage is fascinating, i think it adds a lot to the piece.

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Thanks Cyrus; This one checked several boxes, needed a bolt matching Saxon Simson, but didn't mind all the extra flair too. It's a nice side by side with my Prussian contract one.

Wonderful Simson, Chris. Glad you were able to upgrade your old one. Love the shrapnel strike, they’re rarely that brutal.

mauser1908 said:

Wonderful Simson, Chris. Glad you were able to upgrade your old one. Love the shrapnel strike, they’re rarely that brutal.

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Thanks Sam. Glad we all landed another nice Gewehr last week too. Looking forward to seeing you and Cyrus's latest conquests.

Cyrano4747 said:

I'm the first one to be skeptical about battle damage claims but yowzers, no real way that's anything but.

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I'm also skeptical when someone claims that to explain damage, but I agree. As soon as I saw the nature of this hit I thought a fairly large chunk of shrapnel. Front part shows the 'cutting' of the jagged metal while the rear just tore off with it. Fantastic pickup!