Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum but wanted to post some recent acquisitions I got here to see if anyone could spot anything terribly wrong with them. I'm mostly a Soviet collector, so German stuff is a bit outside of my typical knowledge base.
First I got a K98a that I believe stayed in Germany and was either sold to the US or was brought back later. It reads "Danzig 1912" with calibre 7,91 above it. As far as I'm aware, all serials are matching and all parts are proofmarked. The bottom of the bolt handle is flattened with some sort of handling surface milled into the bottom side. I believe this is a uniquely German feature but I could be wrong. The screws on the weapon are also serialized "57," but I don't know if this is a manufacturing code for the screws that happens to coincidentally match the rifle or if they actually serialized the screws for the rifle. Either way, I found that intriguing. The stock is seemingly original but feels quite smooth. I don't know if that's how they were actually issued or if its been refinished. The disk in the back does not have a unit designation, I also don't know if that was something that was expected on these rifles.
Second I got an Oberspree 1918 Gewehr 88. It appears to be mostly matching, with the bolt and receiver matching but some minor parts having different numbers, such as the safety. One barrel band has the correct serialization while the other doesn't--So I believe that this are refurbished parts. The unit disk reads: 5./J.R.10.8 which Google tells me is a reservist Jaeger regiment's company. It appears to have stayed in Germany and was refurbished for WWII, as the rear sight has been changed and proofed. The rear sling swivel is an odd hinged sling swivel that I've never seen before on any gun, I don't think that's original but I could be wrong. Again, the stock feels quite smooth for a military rifle which makes me wonder if it was refinished. However, the proofmarks that exist on it are still quite clear which makes me think it might be the way it was originally issued.
Thank you all for taking a look and I hope these were as fun for you to look at as they were for me to research.
I'm new to the forum but wanted to post some recent acquisitions I got here to see if anyone could spot anything terribly wrong with them. I'm mostly a Soviet collector, so German stuff is a bit outside of my typical knowledge base.
First I got a K98a that I believe stayed in Germany and was either sold to the US or was brought back later. It reads "Danzig 1912" with calibre 7,91 above it. As far as I'm aware, all serials are matching and all parts are proofmarked. The bottom of the bolt handle is flattened with some sort of handling surface milled into the bottom side. I believe this is a uniquely German feature but I could be wrong. The screws on the weapon are also serialized "57," but I don't know if this is a manufacturing code for the screws that happens to coincidentally match the rifle or if they actually serialized the screws for the rifle. Either way, I found that intriguing. The stock is seemingly original but feels quite smooth. I don't know if that's how they were actually issued or if its been refinished. The disk in the back does not have a unit designation, I also don't know if that was something that was expected on these rifles.
Second I got an Oberspree 1918 Gewehr 88. It appears to be mostly matching, with the bolt and receiver matching but some minor parts having different numbers, such as the safety. One barrel band has the correct serialization while the other doesn't--So I believe that this are refurbished parts. The unit disk reads: 5./J.R.10.8 which Google tells me is a reservist Jaeger regiment's company. It appears to have stayed in Germany and was refurbished for WWII, as the rear sight has been changed and proofed. The rear sling swivel is an odd hinged sling swivel that I've never seen before on any gun, I don't think that's original but I could be wrong. Again, the stock feels quite smooth for a military rifle which makes me wonder if it was refinished. However, the proofmarks that exist on it are still quite clear which makes me think it might be the way it was originally issued.
Thank you all for taking a look and I hope these were as fun for you to look at as they were for me to research.
