Third Party Press

Newly acquired 1918 Erfurt k98az

L

Lnatalie98

Member
Good evening all,



At the request of a user on gunboards I’m making a post about my newly acquired Kar98AZ. This is my first post on the k98k forum and I look forward to learning from you all!



I’m not one to usually believe the story that comes with a rifle, but given its overall condition and personal knowledge of the previous owner, I’ll share it;



This rifle apparently came from a WWI vet’s estate some ~50 years ago. I was told at the time, it was covered in cosmoline. The new owner cleaned it up, and in the following decades, used it to put food on the table. A few days ago, through a trade, this rifle made its way to my collection.



Everything matches, the bolt is still in the white, and the bore is amazing! I’ve attached some pic so you can judge the condition for yourselves. I feel blessed to have such a gem in my collection! I’m sure the knowledgeable folks here can tell a lot more than I can about this awesome piece!



Thanks for reading!



-Lorenzo
 

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Lnatalie98 said:
Good evening all,



At the request of a user on gunboards I’m making a post about my newly acquired Kar98AZ. This is my first post on the k98k forum and I look forward to learning from you all!



I’m not one to usually believe the story that comes with a rifle, but given its overall condition and personal knowledge of the previous owner, I’ll share it;



This rifle apparently came from a WWI vet’s estate some ~50 years ago. I was told at the time, it was covered in cosmoline. The new owner cleaned it up, and in the following decades, used it to put food on the table. A few days ago, through a trade, this rifle made its way to my collection.



Everything matches, the bolt is still in the white, and the bore is amazing! I’ve attached some pic so you can judge the condition for yourselves. I feel blessed to have such a gem in my collection! I’m sure the knowledgeable folks here can tell a lot more than I can about this awesome piece!



Thanks for reading!



-Lorenzo
Click to expand...
Hi Lorenzo, I remember this one from Facebook. Thanks for posting it here.

It's a nice, typical late Erfurt 98a. The condition is nice for sure. They made a lot of these in 1918, but you don't see nearly as many still in imperial trim and without interwar modifications. The beech wood, takedown disc and finger grooves are typical for this late.

Some more pictures would be great. Ideally the underside of the bolt handle, right side receiver acceptance, left side receiver SN, face of the receiver, bolt SN, triggerguard SN and the wrist and keel markings on the stock.


Nice snag.
 
Lnatalie98 said:
Good evening all,



At the request of a user on gunboards I’m making a post about my newly acquired Kar98AZ. This is my first post on the k98k forum and I look forward to learning from you all!



I’m not one to usually believe the story that comes with a rifle, but given its overall condition and personal knowledge of the previous owner, I’ll share it;



This rifle apparently came from a WWI vet’s estate some ~50 years ago. I was told at the time, it was covered in cosmoline. The new owner cleaned it up, and in the following decades, used it to put food on the table. A few days ago, through a trade, this rifle made its way to my collection.



Everything matches, the bolt is still in the white, and the bore is amazing! I’ve attached some pic so you can judge the condition for yourselves. I feel blessed to have such a gem in my collection! I’m sure the knowledgeable folks here can tell a lot more than I can about this awesome piece!



Thanks for reading!



-Lorenzo
Click to expand...
 

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Condition appears to be outstanding. The stock stamps and edges on the finger grooves are very crisp. This piece was obviously well cared for. Congratulations on adding this to your collection.
 
heavy_mech said:
Condition appears to be outstanding. The stock stamps and edges on the finger grooves are very crisp. This piece was obviously well cared for. Congratulations on adding this to your collection.
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Thank you! I’ve been in the market for one for a long while, but it seems like even the most affordable examples are mixmasters, scrubbed rifles, and pretty ratty. This far surpassed what I dreamed I could’ve found!
 
That's an outstanding Erfurt K98a. Congrats on such a nice rifle! While 98a's are easier to find in nicer shape than Gewehr 98s, it's not every day that you find matching examples in excellent shape. I'm still waiting to see one locally that hasn't been sanded or beat up.
 
PrayingMantis said:
Absolutely outstanding Kar, thank you for posting it here. It is truly exceptional in condition, i'm sure many here are as envious of it as i am.

It definitely should be in the reference, but i can't tell a lot from your photos, other than how nice it is. Can you try to take photos of serial numbers and markings more specifically? Here's an example i did: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/karabiner-98-danzig-1910-3667.43587/
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Thank you! I’m incredibly lucky to have found such a phenomenal example! It may be a bit before I get to it, but that sounds like a great idea. I’ll make another post in a while detailing it.
 
Lnatalie98 said:
Thank you! I’m incredibly lucky to have found such a phenomenal example! It may be a bit before I get to it, but that sounds like a great idea. I’ll make another post in a while detailing it.
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Sounds good! I know it’s a bit of a hassle, but we who study these would really appreciate it. Again, it’s an awesome Kar!
 
I agree that this an exceptional example, - Erfurt made a buttload of K98a in 1918, this is a very early rifle being in the c-block (they made it to the hh-block by wars end, that is an enormous number of rifles...) Still an outstanding example in Imperial configuration is not easy to find, most went to the smelters and most of the survivors are Republican era service rifles, but early one like these probably saw the frontlines, -doctrinal changes made the 98a important by 1918.
 
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