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Rare Königberg depot build rifle

Right, that's my understanding as well. The 0,2 marking wasn't applied to denote a replaced barrel but rather that the barrel was made for the depot system.
 
Yes, all barrels supplied to the depot system already had the 0,2 marking applied by the barrel maker. This was done so that any replaced barrel was evident, and they didn't have to rely on the installer to remember to do it.
 
The farmer did You right on this one . It is very interesting Depot build . Thankfully the farmer didn't`t mess with the War Birds .
 
What a magnificent rifle. I find the depot rifles, whether builds or rebuild/repair to be fascinating. What a great find.
 
Fantastic unicorn this is. What a great find. I'd previously seen that Geco was selling/supplying many barrels to the depot systems. I wonder how their barrel production broke out regarding current production vs. spares. Seems this one sat for a few years before it was pressed into service. Thanks for sharing this Mike.
 
Yes, all barrels supplied to the depot system already had the 0,2 marking applied by the barrel maker. This was done so that any replaced barrel was evident, and they didn't have to rely on the installer to remember to do it.

Hallo,

is it possible that the 0,2 has something to do with the Headspace ?

In my opinion it is useful to deliver such replacement parts not full chambered, maybe 0,2 mm below standard headspace. This gives the gunsmith the possibility to ream the chamber for correct headspace after installing the replacement barrel.

Greetings from the nuisance :happy0180:

Georg
 
I like how the top of the receiver is blank, you could engrave your name there so people would know it's your's.


That is a cool rifle.
 
Yes, all barrels supplied to the depot system already had the 0,2 marking applied by the barrel maker. This was done so that any replaced barrel was evident, and they didn't have to rely on the installer to remember to do it.

What you and Ryan said makes sense. My only thought was I know I have seen at least one rifle with an "0,3" marking on the collar, so they must have kept a few barrels with that marking in reserve for those rare times they were doing a third barrel replacement.
 
So, so cool. A great find and really interesting. I love the differences in bluing and finish. Congrats, Mike! :thumbsup:

Pat
 
This is an interesting theory, it would make sense from a practical point of view. Why would they mark replacement barrels with this ,02 just to make it known it was a replacement. In most cases it is obvious and the reason of accountability would already be assured because the manufacturers would know and so would more experienced ordnance men investigating a problem (acceptance is all about accountability). The notice of the barrel measurement would be important to an ordnance man doing the work though...

While it is a fact that all or almost all ordnance spare barrels are ,02 marked on the shoulder, and this is a useful indicator for collectors, it most probably served a more practical purpose within the ordnance system.

Perhaps Jon Speed can find something regarding this, Mauser made a lot of ordnance spares early on, mostly for the G98 and these barrels do sport an ,02 on the shoulder. Mauser-Berlin also made a good number of 98k barrels early on, so he may have a document from 1934-1936 that would cover this possibility.

Hallo,

is it possible that the 0,2 has something to do with the Headspace ?

In my opinion it is useful to deliver such replacement parts not full chambered, maybe 0,2 mm below standard headspace. This gives the gunsmith the possibility to ream the chamber for correct headspace after installing the replacement barrel.

Greetings from the nuisance :happy0180:

Georg
 
Depot build guns have always fascinated me. The Germans made so many spare parts that they could actually set up small factories to use them for constructing new guns. I mean, were there just bins and boxes with 1,000 rear sight ladders in them? Were the upper level ordnance guys expecting to break 10,000 trigger guards? Interesting piece, thank you for posting it.
 
Depot build guns have always fascinated me. The Germans made so many spare parts that they could actually set up small factories to use them for constructing new guns. I mean, were there just bins and boxes with 1,000 rear sight ladders in them? Were the upper level ordnance guys expecting to break 10,000 trigger guards? Interesting piece, thank you for posting it.

Not just the Germans, but yes actually. I recently bought several Thompson ejectors NOS in the original packaging. How long have they been out of the inventory?
 
Not just the Germans, but yes actually. I recently bought several Thompson ejectors NOS in the original packaging. How long have they been out of the inventory?

You're right, of course. I mean, I can make sense out of ejectors and firing pins and so on. But did the army build 50,000 spare rear sights? I hope to god not. The failure rate of them has to be close to zero. It's those bits that puzzle me.
 
50000 sight leafs would be no problem. Most factories made 25000-30000 rifles a month, and they did stock a lot of components. Rear sights may not break, but larger depots needed large stocks of parts to insure the field army had serviceable weapons. Would you send an army into Russia without enough parts to repair the weapons in it? How many 98k's were issued to an Armee Korp?


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50000 sight leafs would be no problem. Most factories made 25000-30000 rifles a month, and they did stock a lot of components. Rear sights may not break, but larger depots needed large stocks of parts to insure the field army had serviceable weapons. Would you send an army into Russia without enough parts to repair the weapons in it? How many 98k's were issued to an Armee Korp?


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But I would send them in without winter clothing, because I'm Adolf.....
 
But I would send them in without winter clothing, because I'm Adolf.....

I remember this story from my Grandfather. Here's the supplies... Not winter clothes, not food. More ammo. That first winter really hurt their chances for the remainder of the campaign.
 
This is an interesting theory, it would make sense from a practical point of view. Why would they mark replacement barrels with this ,02 just to make it known it was a replacement. In most cases it is obvious and the reason of accountability would already be assured because the manufacturers would know and so would more experienced ordnance men investigating a problem (acceptance is all about accountability). The notice of the barrel measurement would be important to an ordnance man doing the work though...

While it is a fact that all or almost all ordnance spare barrels are ,02 marked on the shoulder, and this is a useful indicator for collectors, it most probably served a more practical purpose within the ordnance system.

Perhaps Jon Speed can find something regarding this, Mauser made a lot of ordnance spares early on, mostly for the G98 and these barrels do sport an ,02 on the shoulder. Mauser-Berlin also made a good number of 98k barrels early on, so he may have a document from 1934-1936 that would cover this possibility.

Thank you for your attention.

I will ask some other gun collectors, if this marking could be found on another german arms. Maybe there is anything written, just for another gun model.

Best regards,

Georg
 

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