I am looking to put together some data on a range of features of the Polish K29/Wz29 Short Rifle over the years of production to see if I can make some sense of when certain features/markings were implemented at what serial number range or year.
To help keep my data "clean", I am going to have to ask that folks that contribute to this study only provide data for examples that are all-matching or at least mostly matching examples of their K29's and Wz.29's. This would exclude Nazi or SCW reworks, which would "dilute" the data and result in confusion. If you have a mismatched component or a swapped part from another rifle, you can respond to the particular line item with N/A.
Once I get a good number of examples for each year 1930-1939, I will share this tabulation and some conclusions publicly.
If you have an example of a rifle that meets this criteria, please provide the following information in a response to this thread, or PM me directly if you wish to have privacy.
Year
Serial Number (including letter suffix upper or lower case)
K29 or Wz29 on Siderail
Single Piece Stock or Dovetailed?
Description of Stock Marking at Pistol Grip Area (example: Polish eagle over "D" in Hexagon)
Stock Acceptance Proofs at Right Side Buttstock (example "D over 2 in Oval and small WB inside of circle)
Stock Serial Number Alignment (Horizontal or Vertical)
Stock Serial Number Letter Suffix present?
Serial Number on Front Barrel Band or Blank?
Serial Number on Rear Barrel Band or Blank?
Bolt Stop Riveted or Non-Riveted?
Bolt Stop marked with proofs/stamps/serial?
Tiny Polish Eagle proofmark on Receiver Side Rail Cutout for thumb?
Triggerguard Serial Number Orientation Horizontal or Vertical (or Blank)?
Floorplate Serial Number Orientation Horizontal or Vertical (or Blank)?
Magazine Follower Serial Number Orientation Horizontal or Vertical (or Blank)?
Magazine Follower Beveled?
Front Sight Marking?
Rear Sight Spring Marking?
Bolt Small Parts Serialized (Bolt Shroud, Cocking Piece, Safety Flag)?
To be honest I am not entirely sure, as I haven’t had the opportunity to own or disassemble any fully matching wz.29 or K29 short rifles. One of my K98 carbines has a handwritten serial number on the handguard that matches.
Might be an interesting addition to your database. Hopefully people will add something like that in a comments line if not specifically asked. Good luck - I hope you get a bunch of responses.
Ok so I have received data on approximately 30 all-matching (or nearly all-matching) examples from 1930-1939. Here is a summary of my findings from trend data. I welcome others to chime in and provide feedback/corrections, as I may not be privy to the spread of data/examples that truly may be out there…
Conclusions from 30 examples of K29/Wz.29 examples dating from 1930 – 1939:
· 1931
Last 2 digits of serial number are dropped from the front barrel band
Polish Eagle crest design changed from the “skinny eagle” found on K98 carbines to the more “full” elegant eagle design which is more reminiscent to the National crest.
· 1932
Serial number changed from (up to) four digits with lower case letter suffix to five digits with upper case letter suffix (M/P/Z)
Stock serial number orientation changed from “horizontal” (going across the width of the stock in the German style) to “vertical” (going long-ways along the length of the stock).
On triggerguards and floorplates, the serial number is no longer stamped “horizontally” (short ways) and is stamped “vertically” (long-ways).
· 1933
Siderail markings changed from K29 to Wz.29
Bolt stop lever flat spring changed from being “plain” to including a rivet.
Some of these are no longer being marked with “D” in a hexagon, and are either unmarked or marked with oval with letter “D” over “2”.
Small Polish eagle stamp on the receiver side rail cutout (for thumb to insert stripper clip fed-rounds into magazine) is beginning to be phased out (Completely absent by 1934).
Bolts no longer have all small parts serialized with last 2 digits of serial number (cocking piece, shroud, safety) and instead of being marked with serial number on the bottom of the bolt handle stem/base (with eagle on underside), the Polish eagle is relocated on the bolt knob, and the serial number now runs along the length of the bolt handle.
· 1934
Stock proof at semi-pistol grip changed from a large Polish eagle over a “D” in a hexagon to a smaller Polish eagle over an oval with letter “D” over “2”.
Stock Proofs on right side of buttstock (behind the takedown disk “donut”) changed from “D” in a hexagon with “WB” in a small circle, to oval with letter “D” over “2”, and maintaining the “WB” in a small circle.
“Blank” triggerguards, floorplates, and magazine followers without serial numbers start to show up.
Design Features that do not correlate to a year:
Single piece stocks vs two piece (dovetail at butt), have seen examples in both configurations throughout the years, though earlier K29 rifles TEND to favor single piece stocks
The rifle’s serial number letter suffix is almost always included on the stock. There were some oddball examples where it was left off.
Up to and including 1933, magazine followers are stamped with last 2 digits of serial number vertically “long ways”.
Additional research needed / Too many varied findings to draw conclusion:
Need more data/examples to confirm, but from the examples that I asked folks about (6 in total), the magazine follower is “beveled” and allows the operator to close the bolt on an empty magazine. One responded saying his is not beveled and locks open on empty. The rest I did not get information on.
Rear sight base spring markings varied from a 2-digit serial number, to a “lucky charm”, to the “D in a Hexagon”, and blank unmarked springs and were sprinkled over the entire range of years. No conclusion could be drawn, but the 2-digit serial number on the spring tended to start phasing out in 1931.
