svwMB questions

[bampa]

I bought this at an auction recently. I'm wondering if it is one of those produced by the Germans or if it was produced by the French. Or perhaps finished by the French? It's a nice rifle -- it has a great bore. Here are some of the other details about it:

• matching bolt body, shroud, cocking piece and front sight – other parts not numbered
• WaA 135 stamps on barrel, receiver, right butt flat and wrist bottom of stock
• svw and WaA 135 stamps on trigger guard and byf marking on floorplate
• WaA 135 stamps on rear sight slide and base top and side
• barrel marked 44L19
• buttplate not stamped
• rear-sight leaf not numbered or stamped
• metal is phosphate finished except for blued rear band and ejector box and white buttplate
• standard but rough laminated finished stock with bayonet lug (stock not numbered)
• French star (?) on bottom middle of buttstock but no other French markings on rifle
• not import marked

What would be the value of the rifle? Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[bampa]

Here are a few more photos....

 

[mauser99]

Svw-mb

german all the way !!! Nice find. A very tough to find rifle...

 

[RyanE]

What mauser 99 said. A nice example of a 100% German svwMB and in as-found condition!

The 'c star' on the stock is not French, but a mark of the wartime subcontractor who made the stock. As for value, a conservative estimate would be somewhere in the $1500-2000 range.

 

[bruce98k]

svwMB

Scarce 'c' stock and all original.

Likely high teens to low 2ks. Great find.

 

[D-K]

Nice rifle. I would think value would be somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000. These are difficult to find and that looks like a nice one.

 

[THunter]

very nice rifle but there are some possible issues such as the soldering on the front and rear sight bases - this looks very fresh and quite amatuerish and there appears to even be a blob of solder left on the rear - even I have done a far better soldering job on 98k sights when changing out items on a shooter 98k and I am just a hobbyist self-taught solderer

so the rifle seems to have had a recent change of barrel or other activity which only a very close inspection would be able to assess

Not uncommon to find rifles made in 45' with messy solder. You can even find some on late 44...most likely 45 assembled rifles too. This great rifle looks legit and has been blessed by the people who wrote/contributed to the Kriegsmodell book. If there was any issues with it they wouldve been spoken for already.





Is that rear sight base in the white???

 

[D-K]

Here's a picture of an svw45 with similar splatter.

 

[Bob in OHIO]

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?1218-New-guy-on-the-soldering-iron-!

 

[bampa]

Not uncommon to find rifles made in 45' with messy solder. You can even find some on late 44...most likely 45 assembled rifles too. This great rifle looks legit and has been blessed by the people who wrote/contributed to the Kriegsmodell book. If there was any issues with it they wouldve been spoken for already.





Is that rear sight base in the white???

The rear sight base appears to me to be a phosphate finish. It's light, but not in the white. Thanks to all who have commented — I'm finding this very interesting. I obviously had little understanding of what I bought! (The auction was part of the collection of an older gentleman who is now in assisted living.)

Could someone tell me approximately when this rifle was made?

 

[Pisgah]

...Could someone tell me approximately when this rifle was made?

Approx. March, 1945. Very nice looking example.

 

[mrfarb]

I don't think he mean anything negative by his comment. I also think all opinions should be heard- just because a screen name isn't recognized means almost nothing- lots of very knowledgeable people visit these forums anonymously, and lots of knowledgeable people miss things.

I'd say some skepticism is warranted, especially since the front blade has been changed. I have seen similar, if not worse, solder on late byf rifles. This does look really fresh, but I have a feeling it's right myself, and would buy it based on these photos. However, a hands on inspection of any rifle is the only way to be 100% sure.

 

[bampa]

I'd say some skepticism is warranted, especially since the front blade has been changed.

Could you please explain? It appears to me that the blade is numbered to match the receiver, etc.

 

[mrfarb]

Could you please explain? It appears to me that the blade is numbered to match the receiver, etc.

By this point in the production front sight blades were unnumbered. I beleive that sight is actually numbered 09, not 60 based on how earlier blades were numbered. Don't get me wrong, it looks like a 100% correct gun to me, and I'd be happy to own it. My only point is there are a lot of things vets did to these guns, including shoot them. I've had a few late guns with blades replaced to make one more accurate, or to repair one that had been modified by the vet for a better sight picture.

 

[Turbo Archie]

The odd thing is the alignment mark lines up but isn't the same mark??




..

 

[bampa]

It appears to me that the alignment marks match up, but no doubt the mark is not as deep on the sight base as it is on the blade. Is this something that could happen in the production process? (It doesn't sound like it, from what I've read here.)

In any case, the angle of the first shot I posted perhaps made it seem as though the alignment marks were more different than they really are. For what it's worth, here is a new photo, which still doesn't show it as well as it should. (I need to take a picture in some good, strong sunlight.)

 

[Pisgah]

It doesn't look wrong to me in that photo. Out of curiosity, can you measure the height of the blade and see if it is 9 mm tall (0.9 cm)?

 

[bampa]

It doesn't look wrong to me in that photo. Out of curiosity, can you measure the height of the blade and see if it is 9 mm tall (0.9 cm)?

No, it's not that tall -- more like 6 or 7mm from the bottom of the blade's dovetail to the tallest point.

 

[Xavier]

serial number channel

Hi all
is there any serial number in the stock channel of a svw MB german made rifle (type 1 german svwMB)?
regards
Xavier

 

[mauser99]

svwmb

Farbs right per-usual. that isnt the orig front blade.. the stake marks do line up the the with of the stake is different.. I'd hardly kick it out of bed for that. Just get an un-numbered blade and re-place it and center it and install a site hood and be done....

To answer the second question.. Mauser O. byf/svw/svwMb stopped numbering wood in the late K block Of byf44... So anything after that with numbered wood was done by the french. There are many types of french re-builds.. A least three variations Im aware of..