With all the mauser talk lately I thought I'd post some pics of my mismatched Russian Capture ce 41 K98k that I bought in the 'Peg back when Cabela's was still S.I.R.
For those who don't know the ce refers to J.P. Sauer and Sohn who is one of Germany's oldest gun makers and was one of the prime manufacturers of prewar K98k rifles. Beginning production in 1934 with a s/147 receiver code, the Sauer code was changed in 1941 to a script ce with the number 41 below it. Waffenamts were e/359 and e/37 (in 1940 there were also e/280 on safeties, bolt sleeves and other parts).
On my RC ce 41 the only matching parts are the front sight (no hood), barrel and receiver. The front and rear bands don't match as neither do the butt plate, the bayonet lug, trigger and floor plate, rear sights or the stock. The bolt is a true mixmaster - nothing matches. However the stock is laminate and has a flat butt plate which is correct for 1940 and I suspect acceptable for 1941 as the cupped butt plate was only introduced in 1941. The bolt is electro penciled to the receiver and the stock is embossed with the matching serial number on the left butt stock by Ivan not Hans.
The metal parts have that black 'paint' that you find on Russian refurbs and the stock is finished in what I think is Russian shellac. In a word its ugly. I would rate this milsurp as 'good condition' only. Even as refurbished.
That said its a 1941 K98k so it conceivably seen lots of action - Barbarossa, Stalingrad, Kursk... who knows? Its a bit of a transitional piece - the aforementioned flat butt plate and no front sight hood.
What made this appeal to me was 1. price - it was cheap compared to what RCs are going for today and 2. available. The bonus came in the Waffenamts - none of them are peened. Note the script ce 41 is faint you can't see it unless you use a loupe or magnifying glass plus it has that black 'paint' on the receiver (hence no photo). I thought the code had been ground off until I looked closer.
Apologies I had no chalk to make the stamps more visible. Plus my camera has no macro feature so the pics aren't very good (I'll fix that with a new camera). I will try to post a few more better photos. All statistics and information except that gleaned from my ce 41 is from The Sauer K98k written by Bob Jensen and edited by Peter Kuck.
Three mausers. Top to bottom: prewar Polish Wz. 29, post war Czech tgf 50, 1941 ce 41.
Swastika and four digit serial number on the barrel. According to Jensen, the known serial number range is 1005 to 613v for an estimated production of 225,000 1941 rifles.
Eagle/359, Eagle/37, Eagle/37 Waffenamts - on the receiver right side.
Mod. 98 legend on the left siderail of the receiver. Just faintly visible to the left is the matching serial number and a Swastika.
Mismatched floor plate and trigger guard - different Waffenamts, missing both lock screws. Electro pencil serial number on the trigger guard.
Bent handle and stock recess in the laminate stock.
Serial number embossed on butt stock by Ivan. Original serial numbers and Waffen acceptance stamp were underneath the stock. My ce 41 may have them still but its hard to be sure.
Front and rear bands with spring.
For comparison, note the difference in the post war front band of my tgf 50 K98k (top) as well as the different front sight.
Two photos of the front sight. The Sauer made K98k did not have the sight hood in 1940. These were introduced in 1941. My ce 41 has grooves for a sight hood so it may be missing its hood.
I will post pictures of the bolt, rear sight and butt plate including Waffenamts later.
For those who don't know the ce refers to J.P. Sauer and Sohn who is one of Germany's oldest gun makers and was one of the prime manufacturers of prewar K98k rifles. Beginning production in 1934 with a s/147 receiver code, the Sauer code was changed in 1941 to a script ce with the number 41 below it. Waffenamts were e/359 and e/37 (in 1940 there were also e/280 on safeties, bolt sleeves and other parts).
On my RC ce 41 the only matching parts are the front sight (no hood), barrel and receiver. The front and rear bands don't match as neither do the butt plate, the bayonet lug, trigger and floor plate, rear sights or the stock. The bolt is a true mixmaster - nothing matches. However the stock is laminate and has a flat butt plate which is correct for 1940 and I suspect acceptable for 1941 as the cupped butt plate was only introduced in 1941. The bolt is electro penciled to the receiver and the stock is embossed with the matching serial number on the left butt stock by Ivan not Hans.
The metal parts have that black 'paint' that you find on Russian refurbs and the stock is finished in what I think is Russian shellac. In a word its ugly. I would rate this milsurp as 'good condition' only. Even as refurbished.
That said its a 1941 K98k so it conceivably seen lots of action - Barbarossa, Stalingrad, Kursk... who knows? Its a bit of a transitional piece - the aforementioned flat butt plate and no front sight hood.
What made this appeal to me was 1. price - it was cheap compared to what RCs are going for today and 2. available. The bonus came in the Waffenamts - none of them are peened. Note the script ce 41 is faint you can't see it unless you use a loupe or magnifying glass plus it has that black 'paint' on the receiver (hence no photo). I thought the code had been ground off until I looked closer.
Apologies I had no chalk to make the stamps more visible. Plus my camera has no macro feature so the pics aren't very good (I'll fix that with a new camera). I will try to post a few more better photos. All statistics and information except that gleaned from my ce 41 is from The Sauer K98k written by Bob Jensen and edited by Peter Kuck.
Three mausers. Top to bottom: prewar Polish Wz. 29, post war Czech tgf 50, 1941 ce 41.
Swastika and four digit serial number on the barrel. According to Jensen, the known serial number range is 1005 to 613v for an estimated production of 225,000 1941 rifles.
Eagle/359, Eagle/37, Eagle/37 Waffenamts - on the receiver right side.
Mod. 98 legend on the left siderail of the receiver. Just faintly visible to the left is the matching serial number and a Swastika.
Mismatched floor plate and trigger guard - different Waffenamts, missing both lock screws. Electro pencil serial number on the trigger guard.
Bent handle and stock recess in the laminate stock.
Serial number embossed on butt stock by Ivan. Original serial numbers and Waffen acceptance stamp were underneath the stock. My ce 41 may have them still but its hard to be sure.
Front and rear bands with spring.
For comparison, note the difference in the post war front band of my tgf 50 K98k (top) as well as the different front sight.
Two photos of the front sight. The Sauer made K98k did not have the sight hood in 1940. These were introduced in 1941. My ce 41 has grooves for a sight hood so it may be missing its hood.
I will post pictures of the bolt, rear sight and butt plate including Waffenamts later.
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