krukster86
Well-known member
Through eBay, I found a somewhat local collector who was starting to offload a bunch of Polish 2nd Republic gear (1918-1939 dated items), and started messaging him to see if he would be willing to take the transaction off eBay to avoid those killer eBay fees, taxes, and shipping. Through further discussion, he mentioned he had some "Radom and Warszawa Mausers" for me to look at if I had a FFL03. Next thing I knew it, I set up a meeting with him that evening to look at his stuff.
After perusing his militaria, he started to unveil his rifles that he planned to sell off, and what caught my eye was a 1932 dated FB Radom K29 short rifle, primarily because it still had quite prominent stock stamps and it was mostly matching, including the bolt. What didn't match was the floorplate (German K98k replacement) and the rear sight spring (still Polish marked, but to a different serial number). After some negotiation, we settled on a price in which both of us were happy.
The rifle was shot by the previous owner many times, and the bore was in excellent condition. However, he mentioned that he had never taken it apart, and it showed. Under the woodline, it was filled with dried and grungy grease. The front handguard had a nasty crack that needed to be addressed, and the metal parts needed a good oiling. I went with a "less is more" approach and just gave all the metal bits a scrub with an oily toothbrush, and reassembled. The stock was given a wipedown, and it is amazing what just a lightly damp shop-towel can do!
After disassembly and inspection, there were a couple of details that were noteworthy:
The rifle is clearly a German capture rework, the bolt has been blued, the floorplate was replaced with a K98k floorplate of very similar patina/wear, and the rear sling loop on the stock has been cut off, and the hole in the mount was filled in. However, there is no HzA depot marking on the stock (I know that not every single reworked rifle was stamped this way).
This 1932 dated example is quite curious, as it appears to share characteristics of earlier 1930/1931 dated K29's that I have only seen in 1 other 1932 K29, in that it has a 4 digit serial number with a lower case letter suffix, still has the last 2 digits of the serial number on the front barrel band, stock serial number in the "German" fashion across the width of the stock, last 2 digits of the serial number on the magazine follower width-wise in orientation. What was curious about the bolt was that the serial number was applied in the bottom of the stem base, but there was a Polish eagle on the knob, which is typically present on 1933 examples (when these rifles were designated Wz.29's). However, the rest of the features are in-line with other 1932 K29's. It suggests that 1932 started to show some "transitional" features between earlier rifles and the "Wz.29" features perhaps?
There are neat small proofmarks that are seen usually on only the earlier rifles, like tiny Polish eagle proofmarks on the sear, trigger, and the cutout in the receiver for the operator's thumb (stripper clip feeding). It appears that the sear had a factory error and was stamped 91 originally and corrected to overstamp the 1 with a 0 to match. The D in a hexagon proof of Insp. Major Dzierzynski is present on the stock, bolt stop, rear sight spring, and front sight.
It did have a Vz24 cleaning rod (I believe), but a repro Polish Wz.29 cleaning rod is slightly too large for the cleaning rod channel, so it will stay as-is. I have a line on an original Polish Mauser sling for it, which will be installed at a later time.
Although it still is not a 100% original matching example, I am very happy with this one.
Additional detail photos will be posted in followup posts below.
After perusing his militaria, he started to unveil his rifles that he planned to sell off, and what caught my eye was a 1932 dated FB Radom K29 short rifle, primarily because it still had quite prominent stock stamps and it was mostly matching, including the bolt. What didn't match was the floorplate (German K98k replacement) and the rear sight spring (still Polish marked, but to a different serial number). After some negotiation, we settled on a price in which both of us were happy.
The rifle was shot by the previous owner many times, and the bore was in excellent condition. However, he mentioned that he had never taken it apart, and it showed. Under the woodline, it was filled with dried and grungy grease. The front handguard had a nasty crack that needed to be addressed, and the metal parts needed a good oiling. I went with a "less is more" approach and just gave all the metal bits a scrub with an oily toothbrush, and reassembled. The stock was given a wipedown, and it is amazing what just a lightly damp shop-towel can do!
After disassembly and inspection, there were a couple of details that were noteworthy:
The rifle is clearly a German capture rework, the bolt has been blued, the floorplate was replaced with a K98k floorplate of very similar patina/wear, and the rear sling loop on the stock has been cut off, and the hole in the mount was filled in. However, there is no HzA depot marking on the stock (I know that not every single reworked rifle was stamped this way).
This 1932 dated example is quite curious, as it appears to share characteristics of earlier 1930/1931 dated K29's that I have only seen in 1 other 1932 K29, in that it has a 4 digit serial number with a lower case letter suffix, still has the last 2 digits of the serial number on the front barrel band, stock serial number in the "German" fashion across the width of the stock, last 2 digits of the serial number on the magazine follower width-wise in orientation. What was curious about the bolt was that the serial number was applied in the bottom of the stem base, but there was a Polish eagle on the knob, which is typically present on 1933 examples (when these rifles were designated Wz.29's). However, the rest of the features are in-line with other 1932 K29's. It suggests that 1932 started to show some "transitional" features between earlier rifles and the "Wz.29" features perhaps?
There are neat small proofmarks that are seen usually on only the earlier rifles, like tiny Polish eagle proofmarks on the sear, trigger, and the cutout in the receiver for the operator's thumb (stripper clip feeding). It appears that the sear had a factory error and was stamped 91 originally and corrected to overstamp the 1 with a 0 to match. The D in a hexagon proof of Insp. Major Dzierzynski is present on the stock, bolt stop, rear sight spring, and front sight.
It did have a Vz24 cleaning rod (I believe), but a repro Polish Wz.29 cleaning rod is slightly too large for the cleaning rod channel, so it will stay as-is. I have a line on an original Polish Mauser sling for it, which will be installed at a later time.
Although it still is not a 100% original matching example, I am very happy with this one.
Additional detail photos will be posted in followup posts below.
