Two SS Gew98 verification

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

Hello K98kforum.

Recently, two SS Gew conversions went on sale in my area. Those are not something you see everyday, so I went to check them out. One claimed to be matching and that was also the one I was most interested in, however, after closer inspection, I do not think it's fully matching. I could use another set of eyes on my pictures to help gather a feeling of whether the price is fair or not, and even if they truly are legitimate.

My own analysis:

The "matching" one: Deathheads makes sense and the star also. Nitroproofing also makes sense. I cannot make out the serial on the stock, however, it looks like a 1020? Being generous, it could even look like 1323, which is the reverse of the actual serial. Bolt handle serial is definitely not matching, I see 62 at least. The floor plate serial seems to have been altered, not sure if that is typical for the SS conversions. On the safety, I assume the C would be a 1 correct? The magazine follower serial seems to be 33, so that is another part that is not matching. What do you guys say? Next post will have more pictures.

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

More images.

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

"Not-matching" SS Gew: The seller told me that because of gun laws in our country, he had to replace the original action with another because the original action did not have any serials. He still has the original action pictured as real_action. Once again, the deathheads definitely exist, however, unsure if the progression makes sense, considering it skips SS2 in the Dachau progression timeline. As it is being sold as not matching, I will not focus on that. It does seem weird that it does not have any barrel shank markings?

So, the seller is only selling one, which one do I pick? The price is the same.

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

More images.

bnz41john · Nov 19, 2024

The number on the stock looks to be the 1920 retention stamp. Designating this gew98 was kept by the government in 1920.

Herk1994 · Nov 19, 2024

All the DH barrel stamps are good to go, in my opinion.

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

Herk1994 said:
All the DH barrel stamps are good to go, in my opinion.

Thank you, which one would you pick to buy? They cost the same.

Herk1994 · Nov 19, 2024

Tamadab said:
Thank you, which one would you pick to buy? They cost the same.

They’re both not perfect but one can’t be picky with SS I suppose. I’d go with the first as it looks like an honest bolt mismatch rifle but wait until others chime in. There are far better opinions here than mine concerning SS

hale1940 · Nov 19, 2024

Unfortunately the pics aren’t great. But the bolt mismatched one seems more interesting and looks promising. Did you see a deathshead cartouche on the bottom of the stock? External serial number?

How much is he asking for these?

Tamadab · Nov 19, 2024

hale1940 said:
Unfortunately the pics aren’t great. But the bolt mismatched one seems more interesting and looks promising. Did you see a deathshead cartouche on the bottom of the stock? External serial number?

How much is he asking for these?

There is one on the bottom of the fully mismatched one. He claims there is also one on the bolt mismatch, however, it was faded a lot and I at least could not see it. Did not see any external serials on the stock. Asking price is $2k for either.

Tamadab · Nov 21, 2024

I could still use some opinions, especially if the price is right? Even unmatched they still seem relatively rare, so $2k might be a good price for either. Also, assuming the bolt mismatch's stock is too worn to show the deathshead cartouche, is it still worth considering?

mrfarb · Nov 21, 2024

So odd the one was broken apart since it clearly has a serial number - honestly, if I had to choose I’d take the one that’s assembled with the wrong receiver but only if you can put it back correctly- it’s in much better condition. Honestly the majority of these are in well used mismatched condition like these, my feeling is after 1941 the majority were relinquished to training units for the duration of the war.

Tamadab · Nov 21, 2024

mrfarb said:
So odd the one was broken apart since it clearly has a serial number - honestly, if I had to choose I’d take the one that’s assembled with the wrong receiver but only if you can put it back correctly- it’s in much better condition. Honestly the majority of these are in well used mismatched condition like these, my feeling is after 1941 the majority were relinquished to training units for the duration of the war.

He has a legitimate reason. In Denmark, the rifle manufacturer must be submitted as part of the rifle permit application, so the police told him that he needs another receiver that shows the manufacturer to get it registered. This is a recent law, so the first one was most likely registered before the law passed. But actually, that makes me think I would need to do the same if I went with the first rifle, as it would require a new rifle permit application.

mrfarb · Nov 21, 2024

If that’s the case it seems like neither are worth owning.

Tamadab · Nov 21, 2024

mrfarb said:
If that’s the case it seems like neither are worth owning.

It only affects shooting and travelling with your rifle. You are still allowed to have the original receiver and it will still be fully functional, you just cannot use it to register the rifle. Considering it would be a safe queen, I at least don't mind having the receiver separated, our laws don't allow for displaying it anyway.

Tamadab · Wednesday at 7:08 PM

So I managed to buy both rifles and picked them up Sunday. I happily posted pictures of them other places and they quickly got called fakes. I started second guessing if they really were real, so I ended up separating the action from the stock on the mismatch, as that was the most likely to be fake apparently. I think I can breathe a sigh of relief, the bottom looks like the other SS Gew conversions I have seen.
Furthermore, I got the chance to look at the stock, which was matching to the receiver, so another good sign, and that also makes me believe it is actually a deathshead you can kinda see on the stock. I do wonder, however, what the 101 internal stock number mean, so if anyone know, I would appreciate some more information.

I can also see the trigger system seems to be matching the receiver, so it's starting to look like it's not as mismatched as I previously thought.

Tamadab · Wednesday at 7:10 PM

Ah, unfortunately the internal stock images were too large, so I uploaded them to imgur instead.

https://imgur.com/a/1DCrDsc

Jdt · Wednesday at 10:09 PM

Any SS reworks are doubted big time because there are people in the Mauser collecting space that believe any death marked rifle is fake because the SS wouldn't mark them like that. There is how ever far to many known examples that has a noticeable trend of traits from markings to stamp fonts etc. congrats on being able to pick up both! I'll be honest I'm quite jealous

but congrats! Your living a dream many of us wish we could be living.

Absolut · Thursday at 5:57 AM

You know what is odd? The rifle with the intact receiver ring markings ... it has a German Eagle N firing proof from post WWII period. I would expect the barrel to have the rest of the firing proof information on it. With stamp from the actual proof house and the date of the proof. The fact that this is missing is .. impossible. Unless someone scrubbed them.

Tamadab · Thursday at 7:29 PM

Absolut said:
You know what is odd? The rifle with the intact receiver ring markings ... it has a German Eagle N firing proof from post WWII period. I would expect the barrel to have the rest of the firing proof information on it. With stamp from the actual proof house and the date of the proof. The fact that this is missing is .. impossible. Unless someone scrubbed them.

I am not 100% sure that I understand, do you by any chance have an example of how you think it should look?

Two SS Gew98 verification

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