Third Party Press

SS Contract and Single Rune serial study

Good morning. I posted a couple weeks ago about my bnz 44 k98 and the next day I had to be hospitalized for BP spikes. Well, 2 weeks in the hospital later, here are the pics of the rifle.IMG_2782.jpegIMG_2783.jpegIMG_2784.jpegIMG_2782.jpegIMG_2783.jpegIMG_2785.jpegIMG_2786.jpegIMG_2787.jpegIMG_2788.jpegIMG_2789.jpegIMG_2790.jpegIMG_2792.jpegIMG_2791.jpegIMG_2793.jpegIMG_2794.jpegIMG_2795.jpegIMG_2796.jpegIMG_2784.jpeg
 
This rifle has been discussed before on the site, but I thought I would bring it here and add more pictures.

Serial: 7395
Bnz shield barrel, code DN

Can’t find any markings on the stock apart from the 7395 in the channel on the handguard. The stock also has a “c” on the bottom near the butplate.

Because of the pitting and all around poor condition of the rifle, some of the stamps on the side of the receiver are hard to make out.
The barrel is especially bad. It’s a sewer pipe with almost no rifling left. A dropped bullet will rattle down the barrel.

Bolt is mismatch.
 

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If any other pics are wanted, just let me know.

Oh, rifle was imported. Has the import stamp on the barrel, up front by muzzle. Guessing that’s why the serial was added to the receiver… such a shame. Thanks Uncle Sam.
 

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As collectors, we tend to believe that there was so much material being produced that it was no problem to take a dip in the well without anyone noticing. This doesn't seem to be the case - most factories had quotas to fill, and raw material shortages always put stress on the supply of materials used to produce enough product to fill the demanded quota. The actual K98k SS contract was a big deal, finding the raw materials alone would have been a huge deal, as those were tightly controlled down to the kg.

I'll expand a bit on why I think many of the SS contract guns were from Dachau - I mean guns found in the US, not those that are found in Europe or as Russian Captures. One interesting thing I found while doing to the book - SS double claw sniper rifles. If you look, many of the SS double claw rifles found were made from SS contract or single rune rifles. Also, lots of byf43 rifles in the c-e blocks used, along with bcd43 rifles. These were the rifles found in the depot that were pulled to make the snipers - if you have the book, in my opinion the document on P.732 explains the appearance of large numbers of byf43/bcd43 rifles in the depot (note that this document specifically says 17,000 K98k rifles were to be transferred to the SS from July/August production, the document was from June - this would probably be about the time a byf43 c-d block would hit the Army depot system, where the rifles would have been transferred from). Anyway, this shows that the SS depots were not full of just every maker 98k - mostly I think because they didn't regularly get 98k's from Army production for their depot. The field army (Waffen-SS) did get them from Army depots, which would allow some to get into the system. Anyway, Dachau was the largest of all the SS depots, so it would have been full of material, which I think would have been looted completely by US forces. So - by default, a large number of them would have come from Dachau to the US.
I like the first paragraph, you mention a lot of important things and you are right, the raw materials were controlled down to the kg. They needed a lot of contingent to manufacture the 10,000 K98k. To be precise, the SS had to provide 132,700 kilograms of iron and steel, as well as 25 kilograms of lead and 25 kilograms of tin each month.

Some years ago we was talking a lot about that document on page 732 in the SS chapter and maybe you still know my opinion about it. Please look again at these things and the text at page 732.

The 17,000 K98k's are not a payment for the labor supplied to Steyr, they have nothing to do with it at all. The document shown is from June 1943; the first negotiations on this issue with the 3 or 5% deal took place in September 1942. The 17,000 (the exact number is 16,862) K98k are without doubt a payment for the concentration camp Buchenwald K98k assembly.
 
Longtime Lurky, not sure if this sporterized example qualifies. Request vetting from the experts!

Serial 8192 BNZ 44 NO RUNE
BNZ shield barrel. Code D "I" (Need assist vetting via pics)
WaA623 Barrel & Rear sight base right.
Mismatched Mauser triggergaurd (byf) but only off by 1 digit (8092)
Mismatched Bolt (1942)
Mismatched Safety flag (8085)

Questionable stock orgin, as obviously missing hardware and sanding of stock disk. No import marks. Presume GI bring back or alternative means. Intial procurement on the cheap with intention to remilitarize (Since barrel not shorten/tapped). However, if receiver and barrel are indeed linked to SS contract/Gusen by certain margin, I may leave alone. Appreciate the feedback and insights K98 community!
 

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I just joined today and was sent this way, and my post about my matching numbers SS contract 1944 bnz Steyr can be found here:


- S/N 1931, bnz 4, shield with bnz 1, D H stamp (I don't know the font differences yet)
- Single rune, all other parts and wood match serial 1931.
- Trigger guard plate is matched 1931, Mauser Oberndorf eagle135, with byf stamp
- Steyr H marked eagle on stock
 

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Longtime Lurky, not sure if this sporterized example qualifies. Request vetting from the experts!

Serial 8192 BNZ 44 NO RUNE
BNZ shield barrel. Code D "I" (Need assist vetting via pics)
WaA623 Barrel & Rear sight base right.
Mismatched Mauser triggergaurd (byf) but only off by 1 digit (8092)
Mismatched Bolt (1942)
Mismatched Safety flag (8085)

Questionable stock orgin, as obviously missing hardware and sanding of stock disk. No import marks. Presume GI bring back or alternative means. Intial procurement on the cheap with intention to remilitarize (Since barrel not shorten/tapped). However, if receiver and barrel are indeed linked to SS contract/Gusen by certain margin, I may leave alone. Appreciate the feedback and insights K98 community!
I missed this when you posted it. All the feature of the base rifle are correct and made at Gusen minus the bottom metal. This is normal. Unnumbered TG inspected as such is correct and the floor plate I'm leaning to a factory error. Bolt appears to be a mixmaster. Stock is a Steyr stock (low bolt cutout and e/623 in the barrel channel) however it's not numbers matching and it's sporterized hard.
 
I missed this when you posted it. All the feature of the base rifle are correct and made at Gusen minus the bottom metal. This is normal. Unnumbered TG inspected as such is correct and the floor plate I'm leaning to a factory error. Bolt appears to be a mixmaster. Stock is a Steyr stock (low bolt cutout and e/623 in the barrel channel) however it's not numbers matching and it's sporterized hard.
Thank you!!!!
 
bnz 43 (large font without dot) single rune 9524
serial 9524 receiver right side, bolt body, safety, triggerguard, rear sight base, rear sight leaf, handguard, stock barrell channel.
Barrel markings: 92, circle W, Ru, e/623
V7 marking is present on right side of the receiver under wood line and stock is double marked WaAC10 externally.

 
Well, Here is my first SS contract lol.

#6880

Came in a large lot of rifle parts from an old gunsmith.

Shame what happened to it, I wonder what caused the damage?

It makes a good paper weight
 

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