Third Party Press

Koln & Kustrin Reworked 1907 DWM Gew 98

cj556

cj556

Senior Member
Picked this one up from a well known dealer at a very fair price. This rifle is interesting to me as it’s been through two depots (Kustrin “2” cancelled out and later Koln “4”). Due to the first depots location I have to wonder if this one spent time on the Eastern Front. The rifle has a renumbered bolt similar to other Koln reworks I’ve seen with a line through the original number and the rest of the bolt parts left with their original numbers. The barrel, stock, rear sight and bottom metal appear original matching. (Bottom metal is C/P marked much like the the RR). Barrel was counterbored too and marked with a crown ag some point during its service life. Rear band is mm but appears to have been with the rifle a long time. Front band is matching I am curious if it is original or depot matched, as other Koln reworks that I have seen have had their bands renumbered. The right side of the stock took some sort of damage perhaps battle damage or perhaps something from later abuse. No unit marks on the disc unfortunately but a very neat rifle all in all.
 

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That's a cool one Marc. The butt plate is a little hard to see, but it looks like a Danzig D on there as well. Admittedly I can't see the "4" or "2", but line out seems to be standard for both Koln and Danzig-- at least on the ones I have. Front band looks original to me.

I knew it wouldn't last long when it was listed. I'm glad someone I know got it.
 
That's a pretty sweet rifle, congrats on picking it up! I like the Koln bolt renumbering, very helpful for me to see a nice example of it. Are there any other depots that handled mostly Eastern Front rifles like Kustrin? Is the parade hook on the front band broken off on this one? One picture shows it intact, the other does not unless it was a cropping error.
 
AN-94 said:
I like the Koln bolt renumbering, very helpful for me to see a nice example of it. Are there any other depots that handled mostly Eastern Front rifles like Kustrin?
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Not necessarily Köln; It could possibly be Danzig as well because I have a few Danzig reworks that were also lined out. Danzig appears to have had an extensive rifle refurbishment operation. I'd have to go back and compare fonts on my Köln and Danzig reworks.

There were several and looking at a map of Germany at the time can be helpful: Königsberg, Küstrin, Danzig, Thorn and Posen all come to mind.
 
On the subject of the stacking hook it is indeed intact. As you guessed AN-94 it just got cropped due to an app error.
 
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chrisftk said:
Not necessarily Köln; It could possibly be Danzig as well because I have a few Danzig reworks that were also lined out. Danzig appears to have had an extensive rifle refurbishment operation. I'd have to go back and compare fonts on my Köln and Danzig reworks.
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Good to know, thanks for the info. I'd definitely be interested in seeing a comparison between the two just to help further my understanding of depot renumbering.
 
chrisftk said:
Not necessarily Köln; It could possibly be Danzig as well because I have a few Danzig reworks that were also lined out. Danzig appears to have had an extensive rifle refurbishment operation. I'd have to go back and compare fonts on my Köln and Danzig reworks.

There were several and looking at a map of Germany at the time can be helpful: Königsberg, Küstrin, Danzig, Thorn and Posen all come to mind.
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I'll ask you but this is targeted fairly broadly at anyone who might have an answer: Is there a decent reference on the various depots that reworked guns? I don't recall Storz touching on it, and I don't think I've run across it in any other references. Or is this a situation where it's just time to take notes?

Realized a few days ago when cleaning some rifles that I don't have a good reference for the depots, beyond just throwing up pics here and getting an answer from someone who does.
 
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Cyrano4747 said:
I'll ask you but this is targeted fairly broadly at anyone who might have an answer: Is there a decent reference on the various depots that reworked guns? I don't recall Storz touching on it, and I don't think I've run across it in any other references. Or is this a situation where it's just time to take notes?

Realized a few days ago when cleaning some rifles that I don't have a good reference for the depots, beyond just throwing up pics here and getting an answer from someone who does.
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Unfortunately, no. A few of us are compiling a bunch of data, but your best bet is still here. There is a dearth of primary documents and most of what we know is simple observation. That's why I always encourage people to post stuff that they find here so that it gets added to the data bank. There are some pretty broad observations for most of the depots, but we also get exceptions that pop up. The other confounding factor is that many rifles have had several depot trips, not to mention possible regimental or company level reworks.

Some of these broad truths will be compiled in the near future, so stay tuned.
 
chrisftk said:
Unfortunately, no. A few of us are compiling a bunch of data, but your best bet is still here. There is a dearth of primary documents and most of what we know is simple observation. That's why I always encourage people to post stuff that they find here so that it gets added to the data bank. There are some pretty broad observations for most of the depots, but we also get exceptions that pop up. The other confounding factor is that many rifles have had several depot trips, not to mention possible regimental or company level reworks.

Some of these broad truths will be compiled in the near future, so stay tuned.
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Thanks. I look forward to seeing it compiled, and in the meantime Imperial_German_Depots.docx it is
 
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Cyrano4747 said:
Thanks. I look forward to seeing it compiled, and in the meantime Imperial_German_Depots.docx it is
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Here is the thread Marc started where we are compiling examples: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/research-project-imperial-reworked-98-rifles-and-carbines.46371/

Right now it is difficult to say much with any certainty. There seemingly are trends, but we need more examples. As is it's hard to say that the Depots themselves are consistent even; it may have been up the armorers themselves if--and if so how--parts were restamped.
 
Neat rifle Marc, and thanks for sharing.

What's neat is every single rifle that we have come across. That has some repair by a depot. They're all unique one way or another. Every depot has a different characteristic to them. Some of the work can be quite crude, and some of it can be very good quality.
 
PrayingMantis said:
Here is the thread Marc started where we are compiling examples: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/research-project-imperial-reworked-98-rifles-and-carbines.46371/

Right now it is difficult to say much with any certainty. There seemingly are trends, but we need more examples. As is it's hard to say that the Depots themselves are consistent even; it may have been up the armorers themselves if--and if so how--parts were restamped.
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Thanks Cyrus. If I may make a suggestion, I think you outta update your post in there for Rastatt with my 1905 DWM and Chris’s recent 15 VCS.
 
Gorgeous example! Hopefully I'll find one of these at the right time myself when the funds are available. Congrats on your latest grab!
 
cj556 said:
Rear band is mm but appears to have been with the rifle a long time. Front band is matching I am curious if it is original or depot matched, as other Koln reworks that I have seen have had their bands renumbered.
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While it is a guess, I think the band is good, went through trends search for something to compare 1907/DWM 4239 d was the only candidate that showed bands and they (RB & numeric fonts) are fairly supportive for "original" but you be the judge. 1908 DWM 7710 (May 2018 featured on this forum if interest) is a better match (IMO)
 

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