My 1917 Amberg. Markings are for the post war Einwohnerwehr Bayern, "Bavarian Citizen's Guard". These paramilitaries were conservative counterrevolutionaries, drawn from the citizenry at large unlike the Freikorps who were recruited from demobbed soldiers but fulfilling a similar role in opposing the Bolshevik attempt to fill the political void in post Imperial Germany. Fully matching and untouched.
.You have that right. What makes her particularly interesting is that she is an Amberg made rifle, which means she was likely to have stayed with Bavarian troops. In this case, we know she was with a Bavarian unit at the end of the war and she was also likely to have stayed with the soldier that carried her home in 1918.
The stock is also a very fine example of late war ersatz beech wood, used to supplement walnut but never completely replacing it, and is clearly marked with a latin style "B" under the fire proof marks on the right side.
You can also see the gothic style "crown over L" (King Ludwig III of Bavaria; proof mark to the right just behind the take down disc, right side of the butt stock) which is a typical crown proof for Bavarian issued rifles and would date the rifle between 1913 and 1918 but in this case we know it to a 1917 made stock.
Again, I am quite envious of this example, make sure to keep her clean and well polished just like the original owner would have done
On that note, I am curious, have you shot the rifle, eos ?
There are actually many Gewehr 98's in Canada.
The difficult part is finding a very nice honest, as brought back (from WW1, in some rare cases WW2) example. This is typically in the form of an all matching, bolt mismatch, or minor mismatch. They are un-sanded, non-refinished, un-messed with rifles.
There are many boat anchor relics, bubba'd examples, Turk, and non-German used examples. If people want to drive up the prices of crap, then my epic stuff is going up too!
A rifle in good collector condition will be pricey.
A mismatch sanded polished turd is still only that, but if someone wants to ask thousands, and someone buys it, good for them, if they are happy. Supply / demand. I wouldn't touch one.
But, for the patient individual, a "shooter" non-collector grade is attainable, and for a reasonable amount. Heck, two site sponsors have "shooter" Gewehr 98's right now for a reasonable amount.
BUT, that being said, quality milsurps are no longer coming to market as often as they used to, and there are many more collectors now. Prices will only continue to rise.
