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BYF 41... looks like she's seen a hard life!

R

ReiseReise

Well-known member
I don't know much about Kar98s, but I've really enjoyed reading through posts and looking at wonderful pictures on this site.

I finally received my PAL, and went and got my long-awaited Kar98. I fully admit she's a bit of a heap, but I was mostly looking for a fun shooter that was also from this time period; where I live, beggars cannot be choosers LOL!

Anyway, I wanted to post pictures of my new acquisition in "as found" condition, before I fix 'er up. And by that, I mean a thorough cleaning, removing the shellac from the stock, and try to steam-out some of the considerable dents and dings this poor thing has picked up along the way.

In reviewing the pics, please do lend your expertise with respect to identifying interesting markings or codes. I know next to nothing about the markings (like the "aa", "d" and sideways "9" on the receiver - what would those signify?); all I know is the serial numbers should match, but none seem to :facepalm:.

No matter what, I'm glad I "saved" this "runt of the litter" and look forward to having a reasonably attractive shooter when this is all done!





















 
I just assumed the star was part of the Soviet scheme, but if not, no, I do not know what it means. Anyone have any ideas?
 
No info at all from the community?

From looking through the photos on this site, it looks like a '39-'40 stock married to a '41 rifle and a '43 front band.

I have since stripped the stock and re-hydrated it with BLO. It still looks battle-weary, but it sure feels nice now, and the colour is very warm.
 
I hope so - I plan to put a goodly number of rounds down 'er after restoration :D.

As much as I'd love an all-numbers-matching showpiece, one has to love thinking about what this beast must have seen: every cut, gouge and scrape tells a story, whether due to busting somebody's head open or the rifle being thrown in a pile for sorting at the end of the war. It just feels so "alive" in your hands! Or, at least it does after coming out of its sarcophagus of shellac!
 
ReiseReise said:
I hope so - I plan to put a goodly number of rounds down 'er after restoration :D.

As much as I'd love an all-numbers-matching showpiece, one has to love thinking about what this beast must have seen: every cut, gouge and scrape tells a story, whether due to busting somebody's head open or the rifle being thrown in a pile for sorting at the end of the war. It just feels so "alive" in your hands! Or, at least it does after coming out of its sarcophagus of shellac!
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That's a very nice looking rifle. I'm one of those weird dudes that finds RC rifles a bit more interesting than your standard matching bring back gun. Given that they usually contain pieces from 15 or so different weapons, from all different eras, you can safely assume that the gun has a notable past. It also doesn't hurt that the guns sell for so little. That being said, I'm not one to strip off the shellac, but I see why people do it.
 
I wonder if much of the really heavy use we see with some of these guns was done after the war (or at least 1st or 2nd world war). Its hard for me to see that it could have all occurred in the relatively short period in which some were in service. What percentage were fielded 12, 18 and 24 months prior to the end of the war? So many of these, RC or not, came over here to be cheap shooters even if they did not get cut up/modified.
 
ReiseReise said:
From looking through the photos on this site, it looks like a '39-'40 stock married to a '41 rifle and a '43 front band.
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Nice looking rifle, congratulations on the find. I'm new to collecting so maybe I'm missing something, but didn't WaA655 continue at Oberndorf on into 41? Does the stock and hand guard have serial numbers?
 
Bonus for an RC. You got a '41 Mauser Oberndorf action in what looks like a proper MO flat butt stock WaA655 as well.
I would swap out the speed milled front band for an Hstyle band to make it look more "correct" for want of a better word.
 
nirvana said:
That's a very nice looking rifle. I'm one of those weird dudes that finds RC rifles a bit more interesting than your standard matching bring back gun. Given that they usually contain pieces from 15 or so different weapons, from all different eras, you can safely assume that the gun has a notable past. It also doesn't hurt that the guns sell for so little. That being said, I'm not one to strip off the shellac, but I see why people do it.
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Although I can see why people may leave the shellac in place, as it is part of the rifle’s history, I rationalize it like this: if I found a Hemi Roadrunner covered in pink latex house paint, would I strip that off and re-paint it in the original colour? Although I can’t get a full “restoration” done on the gun, I’d like it to look as original as possible: kinda “peel the Russian off of it”, so to speak LOL.

I wonder if much of the really heavy use we see with some of these guns was done after the war (or at least 1st or 2nd world war). Its hard for me to see that it could have all occurred in the relatively short period in which some were in service. What percentage were fielded 12, 18 and 24 months prior to the end of the war? So many of these, RC or not, came over here to be cheap shooters even if they did not get cut up/modified.
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Given that the shellac was not marred at all, and covered all of the damage, I would have to say that, at least in this rifle’s case, much of the battle damage likely happened early in its life. Or, it was only shellacked later in life; what was the usual timescale for preservation?

Bonus for an RC. You got a '41 Mauser Oberndorf action in what looks like a proper MO flat butt stock WaA655 as well. I would swap out the speed milled front band for an Hstyle band to make it look more "correct" for want of a better word.
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From what I can tell I think the stock is solid, too, not laminated (or was that always the case for the flat-butt stocks?). The metal in the stock is in perfect shape, no rust whatsoever, which also suggests early preservation. There’s an extra metal “bar” through the stock that you can see in the photos that I’m not used to seeing on these (comes out behind the handle for the bolt); I suspect it may be a repair/reinforcement of some sort, not standard issue, but any info on that would be great!

I am very sorely tempted to get an “H” band, yes; if I can find one for a good price I would likely do it. I kind of like the clean look of the other band, though, and it doesn’t seem to be nearly as common as the “H” style.
 
I had read somewhere that duct tape can strip the shellac right off, so I was expecting an easy run at the stock! Alas, nope:



It took the shiny part off, but that's about it!

A lot of ironing and lacquer thinner finally worked to get the shellac and cosmoline off, revealing the nice hardwood stock:



Someone in the inspection department must have been trying out his punches; any idea why there are so many letters/numbers in such random orientation?

 
You can use denatured alcohol and a sponge to clean and even out the finish on the stock further.I have done this in the past and they usually come out looking pretty good. A hair dryer and a rag can help to get out in-bedded grease/oil. Good luck with it and post some pics when done.
 
I tried IPA, but it wasn't as effective as lacquer thinner. Even lacquer thinner by itself was taking a lot of elbow grease; steaming it first with the iron, over a shop towel, and THEN using the lacquer thinner worked really well and quite fast! All that steaming smoothed out the stock, too; after some coats of BLO it's downright sexy to hold :faint:
 
mauser202 said:
You can use denatured alcohol and a sponge to clean and even out the finish on the stock further.I have done this in the past and they usually come out looking pretty good. A hair dryer and a rag can help to get out in-bedded grease/oil. Good luck with it and post some pics when done.
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As recommended above, use the denatured alcohol, but use it with bronze wool. It and a little elbow grease will make it so much easier to bring that stock back to life!
 
I noticed that my hand guard top piece has quite a gap on the one side (it's tight on the other side); you can see the clearance as a dark line on the photo I posted previously. Is this common, or does it indicate I should have an earlier (or at least different) hand guard?
 
I think a flat butt walnut stock should have a matching serial number inside the hand guard if original but I doubt that that one is still matching as RC's never are in my experience.
 
mike webb said:
I think a flat butt walnut stock should have a matching serial number inside the hand guard if original but I doubt that that one is still matching as RC's never are in my experience.
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No, the hand guard has no number in it, and I suspect it is not original to the gun. It looks like this one was literally put together out of bins of parts from other guns, as I see no two numbers matching anywhere! But, of course, being mass-produced, all parts should be interchangeable, as rifle "x" could just as easily have ended up with bolt "y" on the assembly line, and this thing proves that's the case!
 
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