In 1944 and into early 1945 MO did several separate runs of K98k's where the receiver serials were all stamped by hand. The exact reason for this is unknown but generally they use up odd ball receivers or left over parts from regular production. Most of the early hand stamp rifles use up receivers shipped over from Mauser Berlin after they stopped K98k production. Later, MB started supplying MO with receivers and this is where the late ar44 series comes in. These start around the h block of byf44 production and go on into the early no letter block of byf45 production. Except for the serial always being placed on the receiver, they follow the number pattern of the letter block they were concurrently being produced with.
This particular example is a very late hand stamp and would have most likely been early 45 built. It has a mixture of blue and phosphate parts typical of late 44/early 45, a late barrel code and the late numbering pattern place it in this range as well. The receiver has multiple large dents on it and it appears they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they put this one together. An Astrawerke armorers spare extractor and interesting double struck firing proof on the FN supplied bolt are of interest as well.
One other note on these hand stamp rifles is that they almost always use a standard stock, even into 45 when kriegsmodell stocks were the norm. Possibly, this was an attempt to use up left over or earlier rejected stocks. This stock has unfortunately been duffle cut right under the rear sight. It wouldn't be too bad if it was just glued back together but someone felt the need to sand around the joint and damage the stock further. It's a shame because the rest of the stock is really fantastic. A nice unnumbered white glue stock with nice chatter. Also somewhere along the way the original front bands were lost probably due to the duffle cut but since they were unnumbered I was able to replace them with appropriate MO made bands.
This particular example is a very late hand stamp and would have most likely been early 45 built. It has a mixture of blue and phosphate parts typical of late 44/early 45, a late barrel code and the late numbering pattern place it in this range as well. The receiver has multiple large dents on it and it appears they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they put this one together. An Astrawerke armorers spare extractor and interesting double struck firing proof on the FN supplied bolt are of interest as well.
One other note on these hand stamp rifles is that they almost always use a standard stock, even into 45 when kriegsmodell stocks were the norm. Possibly, this was an attempt to use up left over or earlier rejected stocks. This stock has unfortunately been duffle cut right under the rear sight. It wouldn't be too bad if it was just glued back together but someone felt the need to sand around the joint and damage the stock further. It's a shame because the rest of the stock is really fantastic. A nice unnumbered white glue stock with nice chatter. Also somewhere along the way the original front bands were lost probably due to the duffle cut but since they were unnumbered I was able to replace them with appropriate MO made bands.
