WOK 1916

[mauser1908]

I've had this rifle for several months and I'm just now getting around to posting it. I have Jordan to thank for this one, he was kind enough to pass this one along to me. Condition wise, this one is pretty typical of what you encounter from WOK, it's certainly a real warhorse. Overall it's a wonderful example, totally matching less the front trigger guard screw. One odd characteristic of WOK is the major font difference between parts, the 1s are different depending on the part in question. This is also the case with several with a few other numbering dies they used. This topic is really Cyrus' baby, he was looking at tracking these anomalies. From a survivability standpoint, every year is pretty difficult, especially if you're talking bolt m/m or better, so it's tough to say when font variance ended. However, it seems to be prevalent during the early years. For what its worth, I think WOK was the worst maker from a quality control standpoint, total tomato stakes compared to the other firms (I mean the couldn't even center "Gew 98" on the rail with most of their guns).

Receiver 8761a
Barrel 8761a
Front Sight 61
Rear Sight Leaf 61
Sight Slider 61
Ejector Box 61
Trigger Sear 61
Front Barrel Band 61
Rear Barrel Band 61
Trigger Guard 8761
Trigger Guard Screws unnumbered, 61
Floor Plate 61
Follower 61
Stock 8761
Handguard 8761
Buttplate 8761
Bayonet Lug 61
Cleaning Rod 61
Bolt Body 8761a
Extractor 61
Safety 61
Cocking Piece 61
Bolt Sleeve 61
Firing Pin 61

 

[mauser1908]

 

[mauser1908]

 

[chrisftk]

Sam, that's a great one! It's got that "been there" look to it.

I really think you were onto something a while back with noticing that the WOK triggerguards and bands seem to have a very weak finish. Even on a near-mint rifle they have exhibited significant wear. Knowing how dysfunctional their startup was, it's not surprising that areas of the process were not perfect.

 

[feldmütze]

That's a nice one Sam!

I still have some pics of the mint '17 WOK Gew98 from Poulin's auction about 15 years ago. I'll post to another thread soon to show finish & discuss die stamps....

 

[biggymu]

Very nice WOK! Very hard to get in un messed with condition.
Poor finish is also a obvious on my ‘17 WOK. Despite the sanded stock, the metal parts appear have seen little use. The barrel is almost in the white towards the muzzle. The rifling and crown are like new.

 

[Warrior1354]

Hey this rifle looks familiar when I sold this rifle to Sam I told him I'm going to sell off all my gewehrs and just collect daggers from now on. Oh kidding aside you guys all know me I don't sell many of those off! But I had to raise money for a certain rifle I was told about by a friend of mine in Ohio. Everybody saw that rifle posted after the SOS show.

And yes WOK we're indeed very sloppy when it came to manufacturing, but it was a completely new effort a combination of state control and private commercial. Truth be told it turned out to be a very costly endeavor. Check out the rear sight by the way? Look at all the Machining marks that were never smoothed or polished out. That's WOK quality for you.

When it comes to Gewehrs the Erfurt, kornbusch, and Navals are my favorites to research and collect.