1913 WMO Gew98 Bill Reed Deluxe!

[Warrior1354]

OK, this is more or less a teaser thread lol. Because, I want to fully get this rifle photographed. I have been wanting to get it posted up for quite some time. But, I have been extremely busy with our family electrical business. This year has actually been the busiest for us on record. To be honest we did twice the amount of work that we did last year.

Anyway, I wanted one of these for probably more than a decade. A Bavarian unit marked mauser made rifle. I sure wished I could have seen Bill's Bavarian manufactured rifle. That was prussian unit marked. Anyway, I bought this rifle back in the summer time, and I'll explain more about it in a separate thread. Later in the summer I brought it down to Bill's house, and after having some barbecue. And shooting my friends maxim machine gun, as well during our get together. Bill took on the challenge to bring it back. During the fall time I was able to pick it up from him. He also included some wonderful barrelled whiskey with it as well. Which honestly was the most exciting thing of our trip to pick it up. When me, and my buddy Conner went to the national gun day show. I'll say this. It always surprises me the look of these rifles when they are brought back. And Bill sure does have the magic touch! So yes this really is the Bill Reed deluxe edition! I mean seriously eating barbecue, shooting a Maxim, and getting your rifle back with a mason jar of barrel whiskey. That's an interesting combo lol.

 

[pzjgr]

Jordan, thats a heluva rifle! Man, I'd love o see your Imperial collection in person!

Plus whiskey ad Bar-b-Que, you're right doesn't get much better!

 

[cj556]

Nice scarce rifle. I saw another Bavarian marked 1913 WMO last year and thought it was odd but If I can get pictures I’d like to compare to your rifle.

 

[Warrior1354]

Jordan, thats a heluva rifle! Man, I'd love o see your Imperial collection in person!

Plus whiskey ad Bar-b-Que, you're right doesn't get much better!

Yeah it was pretty fun. Making steam with a Maxim is really fun though! And thank you buddy, and maybe one day I'll do a display at the SOS show. Would like to do a display on the Kaiserliche Naval rifles. Have many missing though lol!

Nice restoration of a scarce rifle. I saw another Bavarian marked 1913 WMO last year and thought it was odd but If I can get pictures I’d like to compare to your rifle.

Yeah Bill does wonderful work. Instead of the Hand Midas, it is the Hand of Reed. When it touches a Gewehr 98. That hand wipes 100 plus years of neglect away!

That would be cool as well Marc. Would like to hear your results on that rifle. I will try to get a complete thread posted on this rifle hopefully before Christmas.

 

[chrisftk]

That's an interesting rifle. I remember when it was up for auction earlier in the year and we were talking about it.

I'd imagine it's one of the 21,000 sold to "Spandau" by Mauser in 1913. In reality that seems to not have been the final destination. These odd balls that were diverted or sold to other kingdoms within the Empire are a neat variation to study. I have a prewar Danzig 98a that ended up with a Bavarian Schweres Reiter/Heavy Cavalry unit mark. There are always neat exceptions to the established norms.

Anyway, cool history on this one and congrats..

 

[OnlyMil]

Nice to see you post Jordan, as I think it has been quite a while since you started a thread. I guess it's no joke how busy the business is!

That is quite the cleanup job. What is the process Bill Reed undertakes on his restorations, and how long did a job like this take? It is quite the difference on the before and after! When I go at cleaning with kroil/ballistol/hoppe's and a brass brush I don't typically see a major difference. Sometimes I might use Big 45 Frontier metal cleaner (not steel wool but looks like it) or in exceptionally rare cases 0000 steel wool.

I look forward to the full write-up!

 

[Loewe]

Great rifle, not sure I have seen a Bavarian WMO before, but will check, - Wild Bill owned a WMO/14 b-block (8211/b) that I saw and recorded, but 1913?

 

[joryfreeburg]

Good lookin and rare rifle Jordan…. Congrats

 

[PrayingMantis]

This is a neat one; when it was on Gunbroker i requested additional photos from the seller lest it fall into the hands of someone not on the forum. Looking forward to the full photo spread.

Makes me think of this, in which bill mentioned his Amberg: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/amberg-1913.19281/ Funny that you'll find Bavarian weapons marked to Prussian regiments and Prussian weapons marked to Bavarian regiments all from the same year.

 

[Warrior1354]

Believe it or not it's not a coincidence. The Storz book explains it alot better. I remember reading about this probably a decade ago when I first got the book. More or less, it was info you kept in your mind. In case you ever found one. Me, and Bill had a long discussion about it at our get together. I have to say drinking beer, loading maxim belts, and talking about gewehrs. Interesting experience.

 

[chrisftk]

Yeah definitely not coincidence, I don't think much ever is with these cases haha. I recall this info as well. I had just assumed that the ones sent per the agreement were Spandau production and not contracted rifles, so I had filtered it and not connected the two.

What's interesting too on rereading that section is that he mentions the 2,500 Erfurt 98a sent as well..that must have been a blanket statement as I know I certainly have a Danzig 12 with a factory matching stock and Bavarian cavalry unit mark.

Cases like both of our rifles prove the point that you can never rely 100% on documents You have to have a blended approach with real world examples.

Looking forward to the full spread Jordan. Merry Christmas.

 

[gew98]

This is a neat one; when it was on Gunbroker i requested additional photos from the seller lest it fall into the hands of someone not on the forum. Looking forward to the full photo spread.

Makes me think of this, in which bill mentioned his Amberg: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/amberg-1913.19281/ Funny that you'll find Bavarian weapons marked to Prussian regiments and Prussian weapons marked to Bavarian regiments all from the same year.

Not funny at all. The crush for rifles then was acute and the prussians pulled rank and got what was in store in bavaria issued out as formations in need filled out and some raised from scratch.

 

[gew98]

Believe it or not it's not a coincidence. The Storz book explains it alot better. I remember reading about this probably a decade ago when I first got the book. More or less, it was info you kept in your mind. In case you ever found one. Me, and Bill had a long discussion about it at our get together. I have to say drinking beer, loading maxim belts, and talking about gewehrs. Interesting experience.

View attachment 375145

Beer , bullets & bangsticks . The trfecta !. The barrel jet fuel is for the soul !. Bourbon drank out of bottles from the stores is rot gut sugar watered vomit !. But i digress.

 

[gew98]

Great rifle, not sure I have seen a Bavarian WMO before, but will check, - Wild Bill owned a WMO/14 b-block (8211/b) that I saw and recorded, but 1913?

Paul , never had a 13 obie. Had a 13amberg marked to 13th B inf regt , 14 amberg marked to 68th inf regt , 13 spandau not regimental mkd.

 

[gew98]

Paul , never had a 13 obie. Had a 13amberg marked to 13th B inf regt , 14 amberg marked to 68th inf regt , 13 spandau not regimental mkd.

Neatest bavarian i had was a 09 amberg 98a bolt only mismatch marked to a heavy bavarian cav and an 84/98 poker marked to same regt . Got the poker off bruce back then. Traded that to a collector 2014-2015 so its still out there

 

[gew98]

OK, this is more or less a teaser thread lol. Because, I want to fully get this rifle photographed. I have been wanting to get it posted up for quite some time. But, I have been extremely busy with our family electrical business. This year has actually been the busiest for us on record. To be honest we did twice the amount of work that we did last year.

Anyway, I wanted one of these for probably more than a decade. A Bavarian unit marked mauser made rifle. I sure wished I could have seen Bill's Bavarian manufactured rifle. That was prussian unit marked. Anyway, I bought this rifle back in the summer time, and I'll explain more about it in a separate thread. Later in the summer I brought it down to Bill's house, and after having some barbecue. And shooting my friends maxim machine gun, as well during our get together. Bill took on the challenge to bring it back. During the fall time I was able to pick it up from him. He also included some wonderful barrelled whiskey with it as well. Which honestly was the most exciting thing of our trip to pick it up. When me, and my buddy Conner went to the national gun day show. I'll say this. It always surprises me the look of these rifles when they are brought back. And Bill sure does have the magic touch! So yes this really is the Bill Reed deluxe edition! I mean seriously eating barbecue, shooting a Maxim, and getting your rifle back with a mason jar of barrel whiskey. That's an interesting combo lol.

I like how you mix in before photos here.

 

[gew98]

Nice to see you post Jordan, as I think it has been quite a while since you started a thread. I guess it's no joke how busy the business is!

That is quite the cleanup job. What is the process Bill Reed undertakes on his restorations, and how long did a job like this take? It is quite the difference on the before and after! When I go at cleaning with kroil/ballistol/hoppe's and a brass brush I don't typically see a major difference. Sometimes I might use Big 45 Frontier metal cleaner (not steel wool but looks like it) or in exceptionally rare cases 0000 steel wool.

I look forward to the full write-up!

Years ago here and on gunboards i did lengthy treatises on this process. Alot of it is by eye and intuition as you dig into it.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Not funny at all. The crush for rifles then was acute and the prussians pulled rank and got what was in store in bavaria issued out as formations in need filled out and some raised from scratch.

Counterintuitive might have been a better word choice. It seems odd that inside one year Prussian weapons were transferred to Bavaria and Bavarian weapons to Prussia, when waiting and not going through the hassle of shipping would have been simpler. But it’s true time was of the essence as the arms race intensified. I’m reading a book on Jutland right now that well illustrates the competition.

 

[Warrior1354]

I like how you mix in before photos here.

More or less Bill I was blown away by it. When I picked it up from you I felt like Ralphie from christmas story. Only difference is I won't shoot my eye out.

 

[RustySurplus]

Bill has the magic touch when it comes to cleaning the neglect off of these old relics.