Mauser 98 Cocking Piece, ID stamp please

Thanks. Looks like a needle in a haystack adventure. The only visible markings are on the bolt shroud. A letter 'z' inside a circle, a crude cross (more like a plus sign), and a letter 'D'

Could be Wz29, Vz24, who knows. The bolt parts are all electropenciled to match, so it was picked up by another foreign power. I wonder if it came off of a Polish-made Spanish civil war Mauser? Always fun trying to solve a mystery.

(Yes, I had the bolt tested for hardness on the Rockwell scale, and then colour case hardened.)
View attachment 355238
View attachment 355239
View attachment 355240
View attachment 355241
 
Last edited:
I have various mausers with parts marked with that "Z in a circle" - latest to be found was on a follower in a Parker Hale Safari Super - apparently milsurp parts being used - was under the impression that was a mark from BRNO maker - predecessor of today's CZ. Might have that all mixed up, though...

First pictures in thread question the mark on the bottom of cocking piece - looks like a germanic script - U. Could not find that - a U with crown above it was one of the three early German "proof" / inspection marks - Crown B, Crown U and Crown G. Have not seen the one that you show.
 
Last edited:
The rifle appears to be model 21 Brno. The Z in a circle is a Brno mark. Does not appear to be a Brno 21 bolt shroud unless very early model.
 
Found various pictures of BRNO Model 21 on Interweb - small ring, it appears? And, as 9.3 says, not a "typical" bolt shroud compared to those pictures - looks a lot like an M98 shroud - gas deflecting flange, locking pin, etc.

Question for OP - is your rifle "#### on open" or "#### on close"? I am curious how that three position "swing over the top" safety would work with a scope installed? Must use quite high rings on those bases? Most Interweb pictures of BRNO 21 show a small safety lever on left side of bolt shroud - might only be two position? But does not seem to interfere with a scope.
 
Last edited:
Cool! Looks like the BRNO 21 is a small ring, but 98 style - obvious that the third "safety lug" on the bolt has a place in the receiver. Did not know that! I have a couple german ones, believe made at Erfurt arsenal - similar idea - #### on open, third safety lug on bolt, but small ring (1.300") on receiver front.
 
A bit of research and feedback from a learned member has revealed the symbol to be Danzig. The bolt likely came from a Polish wz.29 that was given to Spain during their civil war (nearly 100,000 wz.29's were supplied to the Spanish Republican forces). The tooling was originally from Danzig and transfered to Warsaw in the early 1920's (Radom factory). It's not uncommon to find a mix of earlier model 98az spare parts on Polish wz.29's. The batch brought into Spain were either thoroughly scrubbed or, more likely, were devoid of identifying marks, save the odd 'z' inside a circle stamp. After the Spanish civil war, many of these rifles were refurbished, which would explain the electropenciled parts.

Mine also has a curved bolt handle characteristic of many wz.29 Calvary carbines. One thing is for certain, it's of a very even, proper hardness and it case coloured beautifully--my Brno 21 needed some bling. The trigger guard and floorplate are also getting colour case hardened. The factory original Brno 21 bolt body is being properly reblued to remove some horrid jewelling, which was the only abomination on an otherwise mint Brno 21.
 
Last edited:
Very nice to know! I have what is left of someone's attempt to "sporter" a wz.29 - at least that is the roll mark on the left side of receiver. Always wondered how mixed the parts were - hopefully can see in picture below what is left of the roll mark on receiver front bridge, and the little Z in circle in the cocking piece - that I just found as result of this thread and a few brushes with a soft wire brush to remove grunge. So, appears "Z in a circle" actually goes with the Polish makers??

IMG_1974.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1974.jpg
    IMG_1974.jpg
    59.4 KB · Views: 54
Not sure of the significance - the OP's "Z" has got a horizontal line through it - is that a European font of some sort? The "Z" found on the cocking piece of my Radom rifle does not have that middle line - no idea what that means?? Difference between Polish and Czech fonts?
 
Potashminer said:
Not sure of the significance - the OP's "Z" has got a horizontal line through it - is that a European font of some sort? The "Z" found on the cocking piece of my Radom rifle does not have that middle line - no idea what that means?? Difference between Polish and Czech fonts?
Click to expand...

I have seen both 'z' types on Radoms, yours looks to be a proper Radom, albeit, sporterized.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom