Spandau 1916

[Berthier]

I just picked up this Gew98. It's an R block, correct? The stock, handguard and floorplate and trigger guard match, while the bands and rear sight is mismatched. My main concern is the bolt. The number is right, but the suffix is wrong. The buttplate is marked with a number 5 which I've read indicates a Koblenz depot rework. Could the renumbered bolt be from them? Most I've seen have the bolt number crossed out and stamped over it, not ground off and marked on top.

 

[chrisftk]

Its possibly r or possibly v..it's a tough call with these sometimes.

There are bolts that had just the SN scrubbed and a new one applied-- there have been several posted here. Sometimes suffixes were left from the prior SN. The fact that the striker assembly is M/M too makes be think renumbering at a depot is likely. If possible a few more photos of the bolt in good light would be helpful.

 

[Berthier]

Thanks for the reply. All the other parts are marked 84.

 

[chrisftk]

Thanks for the reply. All the other parts are marked 84.

SOP was to only renumber the bolt body so the rest being 84 is fine.

The bolt body is actually Spandau based on the acceptance..I think it's just a depot renumber. Looks like a nice rifle. I'd hang onto it.

 

[OzzMan]

This is a bit of a leap of faith, but seeing that stock disc without an imperial cipher has me thinking it might be unit marked. I also don’t see any signs of someone making a poor attempt at flipping it. Taking a trip in the time machine and going back to this post of Mike’s, you can see this rifle is only a few thousand off from his.

1916 Spandau unit marked Gew98, with maker marked/dated ersatz sling

Here's an interesting one, matching. The ersatz sling is dated 1917. Note the buttstock was filed/planed, or the duplicator machine did that and the buttstock wasn't sanded much to achieve the smoothness we normally observe.

www.k98kforum.com

 

[Berthier]

This is a bit of a leap of faith, but seeing that stock disc without an imperial cipher has me thinking it might be unit marked. I also don’t see any signs of someone making a poor attempt at flipping it. Taking a trip in the time machine and going back to this post of Mike’s, you can see this rifle is only a few thousand off from his.

1916 Spandau unit marked Gew98, with maker marked/dated ersatz sling

Here's an interesting one, matching. The ersatz sling is dated 1917. Note the buttstock was filed/planed, or the duplicator machine did that and the buttstock wasn't sanded much to achieve the smoothness we normally observe.

www.k98kforum.com

You're saying that it might have a unit mark on the other side? If I had a proper bit I would try to look, but I don't want to monkey it all up either.

 

[OzzMan]

You're saying that it might have a unit mark on the other side? If I had a proper bit I would try to look, but I don't want to monkey it all up either.

It is a very delicate process, but there are ways to do it. I am searching for a way that doesn’t run the possibility of marring up the stock.

 

[Berthier]

It is a very delicate process, but there are ways to do it. I am searching for a way that doesn’t run the possibility of marring up the stock.

I'd be interested to know if you figure out how. The biggest issue is the wood may have contracted holding the disk in place.