Hi All,
I picked this one up last week unexpectedly. Marc noticed originally and was bidding, but a combination of questionable photos and aggressive bidding by others made him pull the chute. Knowing that it was a gamble, I decided at the last minute to not let it go into a black hole given how rare this marking is. While I took a chance, I'm happy to report the rifle is right as rain.
The Reichswasserschutz (RWS) was formed in 1919 by the central government to police German rivers, coastlines and other waterways. The goal was to stop smuggling of weapons or other materials, protect commercial fishing and keep law and order on the water. From what I heave read, most of the personnel, craft and gear for the RWS was navy surplus. They also received arms ranging from pistols and Kar98a to machineguns. The RWS was divided up into districts with each having jurisdiction over the waters of their area. They were eventually reorganized in 1931 and fell under Prussian control rather than that of the central government. Rifles with RWS markings are rare, even more so when they are this intact.
The rifle itself matches, as reworked, except for the handguard. The stock is an armorer's spare numbered to match. There are a couple of cool repairs to the stock (forend and a repair on the wrist) One oddity is that the buttplate is blued-- the finish looks to be an old rust blue and have honest wear in the corners and some scratches. I have another untouched early Weimar 98a with the same bluing on the buttplate, so I feel strongly it is period. It's possible this was done for a short time and given the lack of early Republican reworks without Nazi dickery, it would be hard to say for sure. Still having another example with the same bluing lends some credence. Many parts bear the depot punch marks often seen on interwar reworks.
The receiver is marked with an R.W.S. D1 - I would interpret this to be Reichswasserschutz Division (District?) 1, which based on what I could find, would have been the Brandenburg/Berlin district headquartered out of Potsdam. There is also a unit marking on the top of the buttplate that reads "G. Th." At this time, I am uncertain of the meaning of this- my only guess would be some sort of RWS or other police marking (though it doesn't line up with anything in Gortz or other sources).
The stock is also duffel-cut behind the rear band.
Anyway-- Here are the pics:
I picked this one up last week unexpectedly. Marc noticed originally and was bidding, but a combination of questionable photos and aggressive bidding by others made him pull the chute. Knowing that it was a gamble, I decided at the last minute to not let it go into a black hole given how rare this marking is. While I took a chance, I'm happy to report the rifle is right as rain.
The Reichswasserschutz (RWS) was formed in 1919 by the central government to police German rivers, coastlines and other waterways. The goal was to stop smuggling of weapons or other materials, protect commercial fishing and keep law and order on the water. From what I heave read, most of the personnel, craft and gear for the RWS was navy surplus. They also received arms ranging from pistols and Kar98a to machineguns. The RWS was divided up into districts with each having jurisdiction over the waters of their area. They were eventually reorganized in 1931 and fell under Prussian control rather than that of the central government. Rifles with RWS markings are rare, even more so when they are this intact.
The rifle itself matches, as reworked, except for the handguard. The stock is an armorer's spare numbered to match. There are a couple of cool repairs to the stock (forend and a repair on the wrist) One oddity is that the buttplate is blued-- the finish looks to be an old rust blue and have honest wear in the corners and some scratches. I have another untouched early Weimar 98a with the same bluing on the buttplate, so I feel strongly it is period. It's possible this was done for a short time and given the lack of early Republican reworks without Nazi dickery, it would be hard to say for sure. Still having another example with the same bluing lends some credence. Many parts bear the depot punch marks often seen on interwar reworks.
The receiver is marked with an R.W.S. D1 - I would interpret this to be Reichswasserschutz Division (District?) 1, which based on what I could find, would have been the Brandenburg/Berlin district headquartered out of Potsdam. There is also a unit marking on the top of the buttplate that reads "G. Th." At this time, I am uncertain of the meaning of this- my only guess would be some sort of RWS or other police marking (though it doesn't line up with anything in Gortz or other sources).
The stock is also duffel-cut behind the rear band.
Anyway-- Here are the pics:
