Strange Polish wz98

Ahh I didn’t win it! Lol. I haven’t seen anything like it before either..? Sure is interesting.
 
It is rare, probably one of the rarest of Polish interwar made Mausers. Most were shortened during 1930’s, plus many got worn out between 1924 and 1939. Around 20k were produced overall. I didn’t win it either.
 
I reached out to Leszek Erenfeicht to see his opinion on the gun. He is fairly knowledgeable about Polish weapons. His comments:

"A Warsaw-manufactured older karabin wz.98 (from the the time it was still written "W.98"), manufactured between 1922 and 1924, 22,000 such guns made, then the army decided between these and ex-German ones they had enough long rifles, and switched to 98AZ-style carbines ('karabinek wz. 98' - no letters), then wz. 29 carbines - only to revert to manufacturing long rifles (but then with carbine-style tangent sight, not with rollercoaster-style) "wz. 98a" since 1936 alongside both wz. 29 carbines (all arms) and wz. 98 carbines (cavalry). And the price is just eyes-popping..."

"This rifle is fishy, the s/ns are different on various parts, with 'e/77' WW2 stamp restamped with 'IEC' on the magazine floor plate" [presuming that he means the trigger guard]



I didn't catch that the letters are different. Some are EC and some are EG.
 
Yep, not much to else to say that already has been said either here or on other forums discussing this one. It was entertaining to watch. Basically after the $6k mark (what I thought it would sell for), it was pure "wallet measuring contest". That being said, these early Wz.98 long rifles are the "grail" rifles for a Polish Mauser collector.
 
FYI - I chat on and off with a Polish (pre-1939) re-enactor and one of his units “toy sponsors” is the guy that won the rifle. Based on the photo below (note the TKS!!!), this is pocket change for him…
IMG_5212.jpeg
 
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