Help identifying mystery Mauser
- Thread starter Npaz99
- Start date
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
pic 1 shows ‘lucky charms’ marks typical of Radom made receivers, barrel is Czechoslovakian - ‘circle z’ mark, rear sight is typical of South American contract rifles, of which Brno made plenty. many Mausers had straight handled bolts.
Thanks a ton! I’m wanting to put it back into military configuration. Do you think my best bet would be a VZ24 stock?
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
possibly, but it really depends on the barrel length. the front sight base is more typical Mauser (a solder-on sleeve) whereas the Vz24 front sight has no band, the base is soldered directly to the barrel.
for barrel length, close the bolt, then put a regular cleaning rod or dowel down the barrel, mark it at the muzzle, withdraw & measure. A standard K98k is 600mm/23-5/8”. Some “short” Mausers are 1 or 2” shorter, & that affects where the steps in the barrel fall, affecting choice of stock. I have 2 Argentine M1909 rifles in different so american stocks, & each has a different barrel length. the cavalry carbine fits well in a Chilean M1912 short rifle stock, the engineer’s carbine fits perfectly in a Brazil M1908 stock.
do you know the caliber, is it marked or have you tried any snap caps in it? Knowing what it is (if it hasn’t been altered) may lead to knowing what stock set to look for. can we see a top view of the rear sight? I’m guessing it has a screw at the front to help hold the handguard. if you choose any model of stock that has a hand guard that surrounds the rear sight like a Vz24 be aware those also have a pretty strong spring clip to hold down the rear, which often scratches the barrel.
Just got the barrel measured, and it’s at 23 5/8. The stock it came in has me thinking it’s a WZ29, but the barrel profile is tapered instead of stepped and the front sight isn’t the polish style. I’m not sure of the caliber, but I stuck a .308 round into the muzzle and it fit loosely, which leads me to believe it’s an 8mm. The only stamp on the bolt is a small anchor on the extractor, all numbers on the bolt handle have been sanitized.
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Cyrano4747
Well-known member
Honestly it's probably not worth restoring. It might be a fun project, but you'll end up spending more money than you would getting a rifle that's already intact.
I understand I’ll never get a return on the investment, but that’s not the point to me.
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
IIRC, the anchor is one of the Argentine contract parts.
so the barrel has no steps at all? then most likely it has been replaced when the stock was shortened. this means you need to be careful about what it’s really chambered for, it ‘could be’ still 8x57 but it could 8mm magnum. “often” having a gunsmith (or yourself) cast the chamber would be wise. the mod 98 action is strong, but no reason to guess when it could cost an eye (or life) if it blew up in your face
would help to have a full left & right pic of the whole rifle as is today.
any military stock you find to match the barrel length will show gaps along the barrel between barrel & stock if the barrel has continuous taper, because the mil barrel was stepped & stocks made to match that.
i don’t recognize the rear sight, perhaps someone else will, which would help in finding a handguard. my argentine cav carbine has no hand guard because it has a sporting rear sight, there’s no way to make it look right. that gives a problem w/the sling band, but if you want a sling, theres ways to cob a front anchor together.
so the barrel has no steps at all? then most likely it has been replaced when the stock was shortened. this means you need to be careful about what it’s really chambered for, it ‘could be’ still 8x57 but it could 8mm magnum. “often” having a gunsmith (or yourself) cast the chamber would be wise. the mod 98 action is strong, but no reason to guess when it could cost an eye (or life) if it blew up in your face
would help to have a full left & right pic of the whole rifle as is today.
any military stock you find to match the barrel length will show gaps along the barrel between barrel & stock if the barrel has continuous taper, because the mil barrel was stepped & stocks made to match that.
i don’t recognize the rear sight, perhaps someone else will, which would help in finding a handguard. my argentine cav carbine has no hand guard because it has a sporting rear sight, there’s no way to make it look right. that gives a problem w/the sling band, but if you want a sling, theres ways to cob a front anchor together.
There’s a step that the rear sight base. I’ve been doing some research, and I’ve figured out what I’ve got here, mostly. It’s a scrubbed Spanish Civil War WZ29. The bolt, stock, rear sight, receiver, and barrel profile are all pointing to it. The only thing that is throwing me off is the front sight. WZ29’s used a K98A style front sight, while this looks like a pre/early war K98K sight.
Yeah, the front sight reminds me of something you'd find on a G29/40. The new stock, barrel bands, etc. are on the way and the only thing I'm missing is the handguard, which I'm still trying to track down.
