My wwi german rifles
- Thread starter fredqc
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The G98's are good maker-dates, - 1903 was Amberg's first "real" year for them, though a 1902 is known. Spandau stopped making the G98 in 1917, your looks to be a later suffix, what is it? They did not make as many as people think they did in 1917, most 1917 dated are made by others...
here are pictures of the serial. I will take pictures of the other parts tomorrow. I was very happy to find an Amberg that early and all matching except the handguard. The Spandau look a little bit like a warhorse, but is all matching as far as i can see. THe guy who sold it to me was not a collector. He told me a very interesting story about it, but buy the gun, not the story... The g is Spandau, b Amberg as you can tell from the firing proof stamps and year
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They look like really nice rifles, nothing stands out that might be wrong with them, - that style of DC is common on Imperial rifles, they usually come out strong after repair. I had neither of these recorded, the Spandau is the most interesting, although I like Amberg very much, but the Spandau is quite late, the highest confirmed made by Spandau are k-blocks, though several reports have them to the m-n blocks, but i am pretty sure those are Danzig builds, but they are old datasheets (another is a Hermann Historica auction, which might as be a "report"), and without the acceptance pattern I can't be sure the maker. Spandau also has a very distinctive serial font and suffix, but again datasheets have limitations in that regard.
Really, of all the 1917 makers, Spandau is actually quite hard to find actually made by Spandau, - you can find Spandau/17's easy enough, but most seem to be made by others or interwar builds. The right receiver will also tell you, usually, who made the receiver, both Peiper and S&H made a lot of receivers for Spandau in 1917, most are one or the other, the acceptance tells you which. Pieper's are far less common, for whatever reason most were not used during the war, or at least among the rifles that survived.
Really, of all the 1917 makers, Spandau is actually quite hard to find actually made by Spandau, - you can find Spandau/17's easy enough, but most seem to be made by others or interwar builds. The right receiver will also tell you, usually, who made the receiver, both Peiper and S&H made a lot of receivers for Spandau in 1917, most are one or the other, the acceptance tells you which. Pieper's are far less common, for whatever reason most were not used during the war, or at least among the rifles that survived.
Thanks for the info! I should have posted here before... What do you mean with DC? Here are some pictures of the spandau. I will go for the amberg after
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Here are pictures of the amberg. Like i said, the handguard had been lost, so this is a replacement (not a good one either...). Also, the frontband is very hard to read. I think it match, but not 100% sure. I like the dufflecut. Both have pretty good bores. Any info about these is greatly appreciated.
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Duffle cut; the receiver is a Spandau made receiver, not a sub-contracted receiver. At least as far as my research goes, which is based upon a dozen or so rifles I have comprehensive data on, - all known S&H and Pieper receivers use unique acceptance stamps so far in the first position, an f-block has your first position acceptance and is not a sub-contracted receiver, so therefore yours should be the same. Obviously the only way to tell 100% is to examine the lower receiver, but I am pretty sure method works, it has every time so far..
Damn, I'm not sure which one i like more, the Amberg is astonishing, love that bolt... not easy to find such an early Amebrg so factory original. The early Bavarian FP is really stylish too, always like the early lion proof.
While Amberg/03's aren't super rare, like the Amberg/02 (Amberg/07 is damn difficult too), they are hard to find this original and such condition. The DC is not a serious distraction imo, though some make a big deal about it if they aren't under the rear band, - when they are like this they are stronger repairs, I have a beat to hell Simson-Dresden sterngewehr that has a similar DC, damn thing is stronger than the wood around it... Amberg production, except for the two mentioned years is remarkably consistent, generally low, generally to the b-block until 1914 when they start to breakout with larger numbers. So most pre-war Ambergs are low production, but one year is not really tougher than the other, other than 1902 and 1907, - for whatever reason Amberg's seem to have survived in better shape too, maybe the Bavarian's took better care of their rifles... but yours is better than usual.
Thanks for the great pictures, this is exactly how they should be done, - sharp, clear and you covered the most important areas. (BTW, what is the stocks wrist acceptance? C/R also? No need for a picture, just the detail is important as I trend acceptance patterns on the stock and key metal components.)
While Amberg/03's aren't super rare, like the Amberg/02 (Amberg/07 is damn difficult too), they are hard to find this original and such condition. The DC is not a serious distraction imo, though some make a big deal about it if they aren't under the rear band, - when they are like this they are stronger repairs, I have a beat to hell Simson-Dresden sterngewehr that has a similar DC, damn thing is stronger than the wood around it... Amberg production, except for the two mentioned years is remarkably consistent, generally low, generally to the b-block until 1914 when they start to breakout with larger numbers. So most pre-war Ambergs are low production, but one year is not really tougher than the other, other than 1902 and 1907, - for whatever reason Amberg's seem to have survived in better shape too, maybe the Bavarian's took better care of their rifles... but yours is better than usual.
Thanks for the great pictures, this is exactly how they should be done, - sharp, clear and you covered the most important areas. (BTW, what is the stocks wrist acceptance? C/R also? No need for a picture, just the detail is important as I trend acceptance patterns on the stock and key metal components.)
