Mitchells mauser but what kind

Usmc03

Member
Hello everyone, bought this rifle back in 09 from MM. I love the rifle Not concerned about its worth or if it’s collectible and im aware of the tainted “Mitchells mark of the beast”.
Id just like to ask you guys with real knowledge of these rifles , what are the markings? , is it a recapture? Was this made during WW2?
It looks like someone tried getting rid of the swastika , serial numbers match on most but there are some parts with different number.
Any info is appreciated . Thanks guys
 

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The barrelled receiver is from Bunn II in modern day Slovakia, manufactured in 1943.

It was then captured by the Russians, refurbished into an RC, and then refurbished again by Mitchell’s. The matching bolt numbers were faked by Mitchells.

The dou. 43 roll mark is the code for Brunn II 1943.

The Nazi eagles on the side of the receiver and barrel are actually firing proofs.

The struck out eagle on the top of the rifle was the final acceptance Waffenamt.
 
The barrelled receiver is from Bunn II in modern day Slovakia, manufactured in 1943.

It was then captured by the Russians, refurbished into an RC, and then refurbished again by Mitchell’s. The matching bolt numbers were faked by Mitchells.

The dou. 43 roll mark is the code for Brunn II 1943.

The Nazi eagles on the side of the receiver and barrel are actually firing proofs.

The struck out eagle on the top of the rifle was the final acceptance Waffenamt.
Thank you so much really cool info. May I ask What is a firing proof? And when you say refurbished into a RC you just mean refurbished buy the russians and used or stored by them untill Mitchells got a hold of them? Also would it be safe to say that the non-matching serial number by the hand guard would have been an original serial number stamping ?
 
Yeah refurbed by Soviets post war and put into long term storage until they sold off vast quantities of them. Mitchells got hold of a bunch of them and redid them again making them 'matching'. Your original serial number is on the receiver side as shown in photo #6 and is 7221. The S underneath is the letter block of 10,000.
 
Awesome ! Thank you for the info!
What is your opinion on the eagle stamps are those legit or did the Russian grind away the originals.
 
Original firing proof stamps.

These guns were tested with hot ammunition (firing proofs rds), and if they didn’t fail, were stamped to signify they were good (hence, fire proofed)
 
Rebuilt like new by Mitchell. Mitchell's Mausers takes a select Russian Capture (RC) K98k Mauser and rebuilds the rifle like new at their U. S. factory in Fountain Valley, California. They make great shooters and rifles for WW II re enactors to modify. I do not see the asterisk? Dirty birds pinged out with a punch. That was done to some RCs, others the markings remain intact. Mitchell rifles came in different grades. Some have added markings. I guess just check out the Mitchell and RC portion in this old post I redid for TB. It will show the attributes of the RC and the re done RC that Mitchell made into a replica like K98k. All restamped numbers in the incorrect font. Electro pencil markings removed and bolt polished. LINK https://www.treasurebunker.com/foru...iew-commonly-found-on-the-us-market/#comments
 
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Rebuilt like new by Mitchell. Mitchell's Mausers takes a select Russian Capture (RC) K98k Mauser and rebuilds the rifle like new at their U. S. factory in Fountain Valley, California. They make great shooters and rifles for WW II re enactors to modify. I do not see the asterisk? Dirty birds pinged out with a punch. That was done to some RCs, others the markings remain intact. Mitchell rifles came in different grades. Some have added markings. I guess just check out the Mitchell and RC portion in this old post I redid for TB. It will show the attributes of the RC and the re done RC that Mitchell made into a replica like K98k. All restamped numbers in the incorrect font. Electro pencil markings removed and bolt polished. LINK https://www.treasurebunker.com/foru...iew-commonly-found-on-the-us-market/#comments
I cannot find the asterisk either on it, could it have been completely grinded away?
 
It is possible the RC basic rifle that was used did not have the X mark. A few RC rebuilds got by lacking the X stamp depending on how much Vodka the factory worker had. Not all are equal in attributes.
 
It is possible the RC basic rifle that was used did not have the X mark. A few RC rebuilds got by lacking the X stamp depending on how much Vodka the factory worker had. Not all are equal in attributes.
I don't have much to base this on other than a gut feeling based on having been around these, but I strongly suspect that the capture X was unrelated to the larger refurb process.

The X was a capture mark independent of the refurb process. There are plenty of examples of VoPo K43s, K98ks, pistols, etc that have the X mark but didn't go through the rest of the refurb process that we're familiar with from the RCs and the assorted cold war refurbed Soviet arms (mosins, SVTs, etc).

Given the security concerns of the time, my best guess is that the capture X was similar to the "1920" mark you see on Imperial arms - a property mark to indicate that the gun had been through some level of government control. Keep in mind ,everyone was terrified about the potential of a Nazi resistance movement in the late war / immediate post-war era. In a hypothetical where you kill a few people trying to blow up a rail yard or something, it helps to know if they got their guns from the general cloud of arms floating around following a major conflict or if your warehouses of captured goods are leaking. Again, that was the basic thought behind the 1920 marks.

Given that, it the lack of capture marks on some soviet arms makes a lot more sense. The soviets captured arms both during the war and in the mass surrenders at the end. My opinion is that the arms lacking the "X" are the ones that were captured during the war and stuck in some warehouse in Belarus or wherever. while the ones with the stamp were the ones brought in closer to the end of hostilities.

This is naked speculation on my part, but I do think it isn't completely baseless. At the very least I will stand on the refurb process and the capture X stamp being totally unrelated.
 
Rebuilt like new by Mitchell. Mitchell's Mausers takes a select Russian Capture (RC) K98k Mauser and rebuilds the rifle like new at their U. S. factory in Fountain Valley, California. They make great shooters and rifles for WW II re enactors to modify. I do not see the asterisk? Dirty birds pinged out with a punch. That was done to some RCs, others the markings remain intact. Mitchell rifles came in different grades. Some have added markings. I guess just check out the Mitchell and RC portion in this old post I redid for TB. It will show the attributes of the RC and the re done RC that Mitchell made into a replica like K98k. All restamped numbers in the incorrect font. Electro pencil markings removed and bolt polished. LINK https://www.treasurebunker.com/foru...iew-commonly-found-on-the-us-market/#comments

I don't have much to base this on other than a gut feeling based on having been around these, but I strongly suspect that the capture X was unrelated to the larger refurb process.

The X was a capture mark independent of the refurb process. There are plenty of examples of VoPo K43s, K98ks, pistols, etc that have the X mark but didn't go through the rest of the refurb process that we're familiar with from the RCs and the assorted cold war refurbed Soviet arms (mosins, SVTs, etc).

Given the security concerns of the time, my best guess is that the capture X was similar to the "1920" mark you see on Imperial arms - a property mark to indicate that the gun had been through some level of government control. Keep in mind ,everyone was terrified about the potential of a Nazi resistance movement in the late war / immediate post-war era. In a hypothetical where you kill a few people trying to blow up a rail yard or something, it helps to know if they got their guns from the general cloud of arms floating around following a major conflict or if your warehouses of captured goods are leaking. Again, that was the basic thought behind the 1920 marks.

Given that, it the lack of capture marks on some soviet arms makes a lot more sense. The soviets captured arms both during the war and in the mass surrenders at the end. My opinion is that the arms lacking the "X" are the ones that were captured during the war and stuck in some warehouse in Belarus or wherever. while the ones with the stamp were the ones brought in closer to the end of hostilities.

This is naked speculation on my part, but I do think it isn't completely baseless. At the very least I will stand on the refurb process and the capture X stamp being totally unrelated.
So I read the article pertaining to mitchells, it mentioned that the number stamped into stock were not usally able to be sandedaway, mine is still pretty prevalent, and matches everything else other than a few pieces in the pictures. Would that mean that that number in the stock was original and they restamped the other pieces to match the stock?
 
Brunn II didnt existed in official designation, the name was Waffenwerke Brunn AG, Werk II - Waag Bystritz, or Plant Povazska Bystrica which was in 1943 located in independent Slovak republic. Brunn is a german name of town Brno, in which were many firms not only ZB.
 
So I read the article pertaining to mitchells, it mentioned that the number stamped into stock were not usally able to be sandedaway, mine is still pretty prevalent, and matches everything else other than a few pieces in the pictures. Would that mean that that number in the stock was original and they restamped the other pieces to match the stock?
So that stock number (I'm guessing you mean on the left side of the butt stock) is original Russian refurb, NOT original as built. The Yugos and also Romanians I believe did this to match the action they mated the stock to. Mitchell's then matched all those bolt parts to match the receiver and stock numbers. At some point they also faked all the other numbers, but I see in your case they didn't bother with doing the bands. You don't show your bottom metal so I can't comment on those pieces.

The stocks if originally externally numbered would have been done early and on the keel behind the handgrip area.
 
Ahh ok , got it , so the number on the left side of receiver was original , russians stamped the stock and Mitchells pressed everything else to match the original .and yes the bottom was also pressed with the same rc number. Thank you again for the info
 
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