BCD 4 Marked K98 Year?

Reptaronice1

Reptaronice1

Well-known member
I’m not sure the exact process on getting dated info on German rifles. I’ve read up a bit on Norinco and how they didn’t keep a great record of SKS dates etc.

I was hoping someone with more experience on this could give me a hand.



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Brian,
if you show us the sn & letter block, we might get closer.
The sn is ep’d on the bolt, but we need to see the block letter & barrel code. Being an rc with switched around parts, the block letter & bbl code are key to dating. looks to have a e749 top final, so likely a “true” bcd 4, need that pic!
 
Muncher 1953 said:
Brian,
if you show us the sn & letter block, we might get closer.
The sn is ep’d on the bolt, but we need to see the block letter & barrel code. Being an rc with switched around parts, the block letter & bbl code are key to dating. looks to have a e749 top final, so likely a “true” bcd 4, need that pic!
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Where would I be able to find the Block Letter and Barrel Code? I can definitely check and get photos.
 
Muncher 1953 said:
Brian,
if you show us the sn & letter block, we might get closer.
The sn is ep’d on the bolt, but we need to see the block letter & barrel code. Being an rc with switched around parts, the block letter & bbl code are key to dating. looks to have a e749 top final, so likely a “true” bcd 4, need that pic!
Click to expand...
So here is the Block Letter, I can’t seem to find anything of interest on the barrel.

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Barrel code is under the wood line. The stock completion date under the butt plate could also help (at least give a 'not before' date), but I'll say based on the serial number still being on the receiver and it being in the h block late winter/early spring. Maybe March/April of '44.
 
heavy_mech said:
Barrel code is under the wood line. The stock completion date under the butt plate could also help (at least give a 'not before' date), but I'll say based on the serial number still being on the receiver and it being in the h block late winter/early spring. Maybe March/April of '44.
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What’s the chance that these RC’s actually ever made it onto the field? Were most of these actively used or just extras.
 
Reptaronice1 said:
What’s the chance that these RC’s actually ever made it onto the field? Were most of these actively used or just extras.
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It's highly likely that your barrelled receiver saw some level of 'action'. It was captured by the soviets...and that sort of thing doesn't usually happen completely peacefully.

However its important to remember that its a Russian Capture, and so the complete rifle you now have is really an amalgamation of many different 98k's that were captured, stripped for parts, then refinished and rebuilt. Probably sometime in the 1950s.
 
hale1940 said:
It's highly likely that your barrelled receiver saw some level of 'action'. It was captured by the soviets...and that sort of thing doesn't usually happen completely peacefully.

However its important to remember that its a Russian Capture, and so the complete rifle you now have is really an amalgamation of many different 98k's that were captured, stripped for parts, then refinished and rebuilt. Probably sometime in the 1950s.
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When referencing the part of the gun considered it’s usually the action right? The barrel and the actual housing for chambering rounds etc?
 
Reptaronice1 said:
What’s the chance that these RC’s actually ever made it onto the field? Were most of these actively used or just extras.
Click to expand...
I imagine that every poor bastard that got drawn out of their rear echelon job & ‘sent to the russian front’ from ‘42 on was issued a K98k, or 80-90% of them. figures vary somewhat, but 2.8 million (russian number) 3.06 million (German number) were captured with an equal number killed. so maybe 5-6 million rifles saw action in the east? true, Weimar where the Gustloff plant was located fell into the russian zone, but I believe supply disruptions had reduced their output towards the end & no large inventory of assembled rifles was captured at the factory.
 
Muncher 1953 said:
I imagine that every poor bastard that got drawn out of their rear echelon job & ‘sent to the russian front’ from ‘42 on was issued a K98k, or 80-90% of them. figures vary somewhat, but 2.8 million (russian number) 3.06 million (German number) were captured with an equal number killed. so maybe 5-6 million rifles saw action in the east? true, Weimar where the Gustloff plant was located fell into the russian zone, but I believe supply disruptions had reduced their output towards the end & no large inventory of assembled rifles was captured at the factory.
Click to expand...
I remember the 'Hogans 'Heroes' line that "you'll be sent to the Russian Front" and I think that was probably a thing.
 
The Luftwaffe had a lot of ground troops, made Goering more important. As things went further & further south, more & more replacements were needed for WIA & KIA, drawn from pretty much everywhere they could find them.
 
Muncher 1953 said:
I imagine that every poor bastard that got drawn out of their rear echelon job & ‘sent to the russian front’ from ‘42 on was issued a K98k, or 80-90% of them. figures vary somewhat, but 2.8 million (russian number) 3.06 million (German number) were captured with an equal number killed. so maybe 5-6 million rifles saw action in the east? true, Weimar where the Gustloff plant was located fell into the russian zone, but I believe supply disruptions had reduced their output towards the end & no large inventory of assembled rifles was captured at the factory.
Click to expand...
The history on the German rifles amazes me compared to the dumpster fire that’s trying to date Vietnam era SKS XD
 
Muncher 1953 said:
I imagine that every poor bastard that got drawn out of their rear echelon job & ‘sent to the russian front’ from ‘42 on was issued a K98k, or 80-90% of them. figures vary somewhat, but 2.8 million (russian number) 3.06 million (German number) were captured with an equal number killed. so maybe 5-6 million rifles saw action in the east? true, Weimar where the Gustloff plant was located fell into the russian zone, but I believe supply disruptions had reduced their output towards the end & no large inventory of assembled rifles was captured at the factory.
Click to expand...
The US army captured the Gustloff plant and the weapons from the plant in April 1945. After the war, the area was turned over to the Russians and was in the Russian occupation zone.
 
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