K98 production date by serial/block number.

D

DukeIronHand

Senior Member
In a further attempt to expend my knowledge I am trying to determine the month a K98 was manufactured by serial number and block letter.
Tried a forum search (several people have asked) and some got help (from a unmentioned resource) and some did not.
A couple mentioned some unknown site on the internet as the source of this information but my Google-Fu has failed me. Anyone have a link or name of this information source?
 
For Mauser Oberndorf in 43-45, generally each month had its own letter block. For example, no letter is January, a block is February, etc.

For other makers, best method is to take the total number produced for a year and divide by 12, then apply letter blocks for every 10000 guns. It’s harder to do with dot44 since they had 4 different series.

Never heard of a site that tells you, it would probably only get you close if there were one.


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Mike's correct (shocker) but I'll add the only things that start to throw a wrench in that simple 'divide by' theory is when supply disruptions due to transport bombings and worse direct bombing or evacuations/plant shifts. These can skew the numbers for a short period of time.
 
For factories being dependant on outside suppliers for major components (barrels being the easiest to document) disruptions become very apparent. Another one that's easy to see via trends is stamped components coming from Germany proper (MO and Lubeck) and headed south and east. In those cases I can't imagine production numbers weren't hindered during these periods. One other thing to consider would be the rail priorities during periods when major rail hubs were bombed. What's more important? Aircraft engine parts, fuel, ammo or stamped components for a bolt action rifle? I know what I'd be giving rail priorities to.
 
I would agree.
The “divide by 12” assumes a uniform production schedule throughout the year.
Highly unlikely for multiple reasons several of which you mention but, in the absence of anything better, we’ll have to go with Farb.
I’m sure there were records at one time but lost in time (and war) I suppose.
 
It’s imperfect, but it gets you close enough. Most factories did manage to meet quotas despite shortages. It’s why you see odd receivers, subcontractor barrels, etc. many contractors might lag in one month and make it up the next month, averaging out. If it is a matter of life and death to know you could technically research the maker heavily around the months you suspect the rifle was made, along with subcontractors, and determine what factors could have slowed production, like hard winter snowstorms, bombings, or illness in the area. All of that info is probably available, but it’s just not worth getting that detailed.


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