Hi guys,
I photo'ed this one while I had my set-up still out.
I'm a bit shocked this one generated little activity on Broker. It ended up hammering low when I bought. My guess is that the depot bolt and repaired wrist crack may have scared folks. The auction photos also made it appear worse that it looks in person. Once it arrived, it really ended up being much nicer in hand.
I've been lucky with undated Simson 98b, but this is my first dated one. As most may know, Simson was the "authorized" producer of rifles for the German military in the aftermath of WW1-- as a result, there was no subterfuge undertaken and the maker's markings and date were openly stamped on the receiver from 1924-1926 (vs. the clandestine markings on Zeithan and S28 assemblies). 1925s are the most common of 1924-26, but still a fairly rare gun in original condition. These generally saw a lot of depot work during their service life, which makes the one Jory got earlier this year pretty interesting. This example has a number of replaced parts, but all have been force matched via scrubbing or overstamping. The metal has that nice rust blue you see on a lot of Republican era rifles.
The stock is unsanded, but there is a repaired wrist crack (not very visible) and a dufflecut between the front and rear band. There are no depot stamps on the wood that I can see, though there is a neat repair you can see on the left side of the buttstock. Additionally, there is a large 32 on the buttplate. I am assuming this is some sort of rework indicator, but it's not ringing a bell at the moment.
The bolt body was scrubbed and restamped, but is an e/6 Simson bolt. The striker assembly was not force-matched in a holdover from the old imperial convention, but the parts are all Simson 98b.
The rod is m/m but a correct one and the rifle came with a correct 1930s sling and a stamped k98k muzzle cover.
Here are the photos:
I photo'ed this one while I had my set-up still out.
I'm a bit shocked this one generated little activity on Broker. It ended up hammering low when I bought. My guess is that the depot bolt and repaired wrist crack may have scared folks. The auction photos also made it appear worse that it looks in person. Once it arrived, it really ended up being much nicer in hand.
I've been lucky with undated Simson 98b, but this is my first dated one. As most may know, Simson was the "authorized" producer of rifles for the German military in the aftermath of WW1-- as a result, there was no subterfuge undertaken and the maker's markings and date were openly stamped on the receiver from 1924-1926 (vs. the clandestine markings on Zeithan and S28 assemblies). 1925s are the most common of 1924-26, but still a fairly rare gun in original condition. These generally saw a lot of depot work during their service life, which makes the one Jory got earlier this year pretty interesting. This example has a number of replaced parts, but all have been force matched via scrubbing or overstamping. The metal has that nice rust blue you see on a lot of Republican era rifles.
The stock is unsanded, but there is a repaired wrist crack (not very visible) and a dufflecut between the front and rear band. There are no depot stamps on the wood that I can see, though there is a neat repair you can see on the left side of the buttstock. Additionally, there is a large 32 on the buttplate. I am assuming this is some sort of rework indicator, but it's not ringing a bell at the moment.
The bolt body was scrubbed and restamped, but is an e/6 Simson bolt. The striker assembly was not force-matched in a holdover from the old imperial convention, but the parts are all Simson 98b.
The rod is m/m but a correct one and the rifle came with a correct 1930s sling and a stamped k98k muzzle cover.
Here are the photos:
Last edited:
