K98 Mauser How Do You Tell If It Is A Russian Rebuild?

albayo

albayo

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Born on PEI, Live in NB
Traded for a really nice K98 bnz over the single digit 4.

The gun has the stamped components as indicated in in the Collector Grade Publications book "Backbone of the Wermacht" "The German K98k Rifle, 1934-1945".
I found the information on page 235, manufactured in 1944 by Steyr-Dailmer-Puch, Steyr (Variation II)
The gun looks new but the bolt doesn't match.
All the German markings are visible and the laminated stock looks new.

Is there anything I should be looking for to indicate it is a Russian rebuilt gun?
 
Do your bolt, receiver & barrel have any electropencelled numbers on them? The Russians took existing rifles apart to check the components and then re-assembled the good parts to make complete rifles. The resulting rifles would have the same number electropencilled on the bolt and receiver. You can also look for the cleaning rod and locking screws, the Russians tossed those in the smelter. Check the WA markings on your middle and front bands, the buttplate, and trigger guard, they should all be the same. I'm kinda new to this too, it's lots of fun to dig around and learn the history of any rifle. Hopefully this little bit of info might help you, I'm sure somebody else will have more tips for you.
 
johnny rotten said:
The resulting rifles would have the same number electropencilled on the bolt and receiver.
Click to expand...


I haven't seen any yet with electropencil on the receiver. Usually the pencilling was made to match the already stamped numbers on the receiver. If the stock looks new, someone may have replaced the lock screws etc too. Also, a stamped trigger guard would not have lock screws. Stamped seems to be correct for a 1944 though.
 
Both of my Russian captures have the X stamp on the receiver, have all mismatched parts, & electro penciled bolts. Also Russian captures will usually have the red shellac on the stock. If you have the Richard Law book "Backbone of the Wehrmacht" you can check to see if your K98 has the proper era parts on it. If Russian captured, it is unlikely to have the correct parts, & as others have pointed out, they will have different Wa #'s. Also another clue is the missing capture screws, sight hood, & cleaning rod. Sometimes a previous owner may have replaced these items on the rifle.

George
 
Mauser

OK it has an X on the receiver, all stamped parts as on the 44 bnz models.
The stock has a number on the underside below the grip, not on the side like the Yugo models.
I know the front sight cover is incorrect it's the Czech model that has a screw holding it on. It has the cleaning rod and it is as blue as the rest of the gun. All the parts have matching stamped serial numbers isn't that unusual for 1944? It doesn't have the shelac on the stock, that stuff looks nasty.
The owner has had it for some time maybe it's an early rebuild that happend to be a good one. The bayonet is on the way so it should be interesting to see that. Apparently some poor sole had the bright idea to sharpen the blade. I am looking for someone to reblue a number of K98 blades. It would be better than looking at a nasty looking file mark on what could be a really nice blade.
 
I would say an East German rebuilt, mismatched but excellent condition and the czech sight protector is a redflag to me.
 
Pics would really help. There are German Depot Rebuilds (pre-1945) that had Roman Numerals such as IX, X, XII, etc as compared to the Russian Capture X (post 1945)
 
If the rifle has been around for a while, I'd agree with JP that it is not a new Russian capture rifle, but likely an East German rifle. With collecting you have to consider the timing and source of the rifle on the surplus market almost as much as what it is.

For example, there will be two types of G43 rifles available. Most are postwar reissued rifles collected, tested and issued by the East Germans. They came to Canada through International Firearms. The other much smaller group will be original German rifles that were imported direct off the last user, by veterans. I'm sure I'm missing a few sources, but you see the point. If your K98 has been owned for a while, it is unlikely to possibly be a Russian rifle. The Russkies weren't selling them until just recently.
 
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