Hi all,
This rifle came to me back in the summer after an unsolicited email on another forum offering it to me.
FV Dreyse (Located in Soemmerda) was the last unique Gew71 maker I needed (counting the Consortium as one), so this was a neat acquisition. FV Dreyse was, as the name suggests, the remnant of the company founded by Nickolas von Dreyse. By this point, the son, Franz was running the company and their fortunes had declined considerably with the obsolescence of the needle rifle, despite a valiant attempt to modernize the system outlined here:
www.k98kforum.com
Acknowledging that the needle fire system was well and truly dead, Dreyse was an early and short-lived contractor for 71s; they also later produced M79 and M83 revolvers for military contracts.
The rifle itself has been rebuilt, probably a few times. The barrelled receiver was originally SN 7481, but was force-matched to the bolt 8070 (overstamped). The rest of the rifle is matching to the former 7481 serial. The stock is a Mauser one; it likely was a prior replacement (though it matches internally). Not sure of the vintage of the reworking, but the brass triggerguard is still there, so maybe pre-war. There are no identifying marks to any particular depot.
The buttplate has faint remnants of a scrubbed unit mark, but it's illegible.
In any case, here are the photos:
This rifle came to me back in the summer after an unsolicited email on another forum offering it to me.
FV Dreyse (Located in Soemmerda) was the last unique Gew71 maker I needed (counting the Consortium as one), so this was a neat acquisition. FV Dreyse was, as the name suggests, the remnant of the company founded by Nickolas von Dreyse. By this point, the son, Franz was running the company and their fortunes had declined considerably with the obsolescence of the needle rifle, despite a valiant attempt to modernize the system outlined here:
M74: The last Dreyse
Trying to make CB proud up in collector heaven. I scored a couple rare Dreyses this week and will share them. Here is the last Dreyse Needle Rifle model adopted by a German state. These are exceptionally rare. The m74 was a last ditch attempt to keep the aged design relevant after the...
www.k98kforum.com
Acknowledging that the needle fire system was well and truly dead, Dreyse was an early and short-lived contractor for 71s; they also later produced M79 and M83 revolvers for military contracts.
The rifle itself has been rebuilt, probably a few times. The barrelled receiver was originally SN 7481, but was force-matched to the bolt 8070 (overstamped). The rest of the rifle is matching to the former 7481 serial. The stock is a Mauser one; it likely was a prior replacement (though it matches internally). Not sure of the vintage of the reworking, but the brass triggerguard is still there, so maybe pre-war. There are no identifying marks to any particular depot.
The buttplate has faint remnants of a scrubbed unit mark, but it's illegible.
In any case, here are the photos:
