CornKing91
Well-known member
I went ahead and purchased a 1940 237 Code Rifle. All the numbers appear to match, except for the un-numbered safety. The stock is Heer accepted, but the disk is KM marked? K for Kiel?
Last edited:
Help With 1940 237 Army Or Navy?
- Thread starter CornKing91
- Start date
CornKing91
Well-known member
CornKing91
Well-known member
PizzaBert
Well-known member
Now that’s very interesting.
CornKing91
Well-known member
CornKing91
Well-known member
Nick Ive never seen a safety like that, have you? Un-numbered with a strange acceptance stamp on the underside.
heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
Correct, there's a '39 b block divert in the book.
CornKing91
Well-known member
More pictures
heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
Interesting to me they're still running 4 acceptance on RR in d block of '40. Looks like from what I see almost everything has acceptance.
CornKing91
Well-known member
Volume IIb has an example of a RR with (4) 214 stamps, "indicating an additional inspection required to pass this receiver."
What's your thougts on the safety? Im seeing an Eagle/77
Erma/Steyer Armorer Replacement Perhaps?
AN-94
Well-known member
Interesting example, there are known instances of Army accepted rifles being diverted to Kriegsmarine stocks in the early war period. I don't believe the "k" stands for Kiel as Kiel was the Marinestation der Ostsee and your rifle bears a Nordsee property mark which should have been applied at Wilhelmshaven. As for the safety, it kinda looks like an armorer's safety to me. I'm unsure of how many armorer's spare parts the Radom factory supplied so I'd be more inclined to say it's an Erma from 1937-1938. Are there any other signs of rework on this example? I'm not sure how Kriegsmarine reworks worked and if the "k" has an association with that if this truly is a wartime safety rework though I'd be curious to hear what others say on the matter.
CornKing91
Well-known member
"40 237 748 e WaA214, NIM, Nazi FP, Matching, Navy Marked Takedown Washer"
Above from the SN# Study List On BLM. Close example, must be know others in 1940. No examples in the sticky however.
This one was a single gun walk-in at a pawn shop today on the West Coast. I just happened to be online at the right time. No other small parts indicate a re-work, and everything else matches. I know several Steyer 1940 660 code rifles were obtained by the Kreigsmarine...maybe spare parts on hand?
Above from the SN# Study List On BLM. Close example, must be know others in 1940. No examples in the sticky however.
This one was a single gun walk-in at a pawn shop today on the West Coast. I just happened to be online at the right time. No other small parts indicate a re-work, and everything else matches. I know several Steyer 1940 660 code rifles were obtained by the Kreigsmarine...maybe spare parts on hand?
AN-94
Well-known member
Congrats on such a lucky find, I never seem to find anything in my online searches. Radom parts weren't really in mainstream use with Steyr until 1941, it's not common to find Radom made parts used on 1940 Steyr made K98ks though they do exist, especially in the later blocks.
mauser99
Senior Member
Interesting rifle.. One or more things being asked here.. The safety is E/77 radom spare part no issues there. The orig. probably broke . Maybe German UPS ?? LOL inside joke. 
Its called DHL
The KM connection ; As we can see from other example the Km had a large build up of small arms in 1940 into 41. Bnz and 243/ar seemed tobe the primary contributors .
What makes this correct and you always want to check the discs. Some fakers might swap discs to make $$$.. This rifle has e/214 discs and the font and markings are legit.
Heer production shifted to the growing need of the KM..
Great example very scarce indeed. We see this in earlier rifles when they were not marked branch specific. This didnt last too long as it was...
Its called DHLThe KM connection ; As we can see from other example the Km had a large build up of small arms in 1940 into 41. Bnz and 243/ar seemed tobe the primary contributors .
What makes this correct and you always want to check the discs. Some fakers might swap discs to make $$$.. This rifle has e/214 discs and the font and markings are legit.
Heer production shifted to the growing need of the KM..
Great example very scarce indeed. We see this in earlier rifles when they were not marked branch specific. This didnt last too long as it was...
CornKing91
Well-known member
Well at first it looked like a nice Army BLM rifle. After a request for additional photos I seen the stock disk markings. I ran straight home and slung myself into my newley aquired Vol. IIb.....and there it was, Kreigsmarine Divert Rifles. Wish there was a little more info on the use of these rifles within the Navy. I'm guessing surviving examples were either depot stock or from Costal Artillery Units.
I imagine there are a TON of Early K98's at the bottom of the North Atlantic/North Sea
Interesting.
Were there any KM accepted rifle that were diverted to the Heer?
I have a 237 1940 g block rifle that is M marked on the stock, but has an unmarked take-down disc.
The rifle ended up in Norway at some point, and was a surrender weapon at end of WW2, and went into the Norwegian Navy, so stayed in 7.92 and is thus assumed a 'double' Navy issue.
Were there any KM accepted rifle that were diverted to the Heer?
I have a 237 1940 g block rifle that is M marked on the stock, but has an unmarked take-down disc.
The rifle ended up in Norway at some point, and was a surrender weapon at end of WW2, and went into the Norwegian Navy, so stayed in 7.92 and is thus assumed a 'double' Navy issue.
Stephan98k
aka 8x57IS
It's a legit Kriegsmarine K98k and like already mentioned, N indicates North Sea Fleet. There are BLM Kriegsmarine diverts in 1939 and some in 1940, all have e/H on the stock.
Mauser99 said it very well, the safety is a Radom spare part, no issues there. I have attached a pic with some rifles, the upper one is a matching Berlin Lübecker Maschinenfabrik "237 1939" and that "k" block also got a amorer safety, you can see it in the second pic.
In 1940 I know "237 1940" coded BLM K98k's in the "d", "e" and "f"block.
