Third Party Press

DWM 1909 - Oddly Proofed

PrayingMantis

Senior Member
I won this on Auction Arms. It turned out to be a great rifle, but has two large flaws. First, the otherwise great stock has an unsightly chip out of it. Second, the barrel is bulged at the end. It looks like after it bulged the barrel wasn't cleaned either. Aside from these two factors, which likely kept a lot of bidders away, it is an excellent Gewehr and largely untouched as well. There was a lot of dirt and surface rust when I got it, but most of that came off easily, with nothing but some fine steel wool and lots of oil; It was very dry.

I wonder how it made its way to the states. The pin is not clipped, the stock is not duffle cut, the barrel not plugged; other than some chatter marks on the stock it looks like the gun has not been disassembled since the war. It makes me think/hope that the bulge happened in Europe, and it was brought here unharmed because no one thought it dangerous. Just a hope, but I don't have any other guesses right now.
The condition stunned me when I picked it up. It has scratched here and there, and the bluing is turning brown at the end of the barrel, but other than that it might be the nicest Gew I have. The stock has strong, sharp corners, the machining marks are visible, the bluing under the wood is superb, even the exposed bluing is good. The condition is another factor that makes me think the bulge is old, happened before anyone could mess it up.

The interesting thing about the rifle are the odd proofs, the Crowned O's are everywhere. There is one under the Prussian cypher, one by the barrel on the stock, two very distinct ones on the bottom of the receiver, and one behind the ejector box on the receiver bridge along with another mark. There might be more I've not noticed, and I'm not sure if the small one on the wrist is extra. What I find interesting is that there is no such Crowned O mark in the acceptance series. The extra proofs remind me of S/28s, appearing in odd places, but thats simply because I've been thinking about S/28s a lot lately.

The gun is also all matching and was never sent through a depot. I have yet to flip the stock disc, but I doubt it will be unit marked since there is a proof showing. How many Gews did DWM make in 1909? Seems like I see quite a few of these prewar DWMs that are pretty untouched, I think I even remember a discussion on these before, that they had been kept unissued until the end of the war.

I can't really think of anything else... Overall I am really pleased with this gun. Too bad about the barrel bulge, but I never have time to go shoot anyway so I'm not really missing out on anything. Here are the numbers.

DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-UND MUNITIONSFABRIKEN BERLIN 1909

Receiver SN 3366a
Barrel SN 3366 a Bi 18
Front sight SN 66
Rear Sight SN 66
Sight Slider SN 66, 66, 66
Ejector box SN 66
Trigger Sear SN 66
Front barrel band SN 66
Rear barrel band SN 66
Trigger guard SN 3366
Trigger guard screws SN 66, 66
Floor Plate SN 66
Follower SN 66
Stock SN 3366
Handguard SN 3366
Buttplate SN 3366 a
Bayonet lug SN 66
Bolt body SN 3366 a
Extractor SN 66
Safety SN 66
Cocking piece SN 66
Bolt sleeve SN 66
Firing pin SN 66
 

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I agree, about as attractive as rifles come! Really sharp markings and super nice.

As you know 1909 was the last year for DWM before the war (they did take the Gew98 back up in 1915-1918 of course), and their production was very low- as it was across the board. Yours is the highest confirmed for sure- though the KCN lists 5139 b as a high for this year.

1909 was a dismal year for Gew98 production, very few are known, though DWM are the most common by far. Erfurt, Danzig, Spandau, MO and DWM are reported or known, but I can only fully confirm Spandau, MO & DWM.
Danzig is a mystery to me here, as they apparently didn't make many rifles this year- only one has ever been reported (Jeff Noll's book, a B block)

Danzig is usually good for examples but I sure haven't "seen" one yet from 1909.

Interestingly enough DWM/09 is well reported, 8 are known, and half are quite nice, - MikeF has a really nice no-block too, also sports a Bismarckhütte barrel blank.

The extra acceptance stamps, I have never noticed quite so prolifically on other rifles, though this is a typical DWM acceptance. Kind of reminds me of really early bayonets, the damn things have acceptance everywhere!

Anyway, a very nice rifle, and none too common either!

Oh, and yes, Sturmgewehr goes into the rifle reserve issue pre-war. - The book is a must have, though you need to bookmark the damn thing to find anything. I really do not like CG books all that much, - some are very good, Devils Paintbrush, Sturmgewehr, a couple others but they have no idea what an index is for, and the books hop around to damn much.
Kind of similar to Storz book, - its a devil finding little obscure facts that come in handy. (I have to go by recollection and fumble around hunting for passages if I do not bookmark the page.)

Great report- AGAIN!

The gun is also all matching and was never sent through a depot. I have yet to flip the stock disc, but I doubt it will be unit marked since there is a proof showing. How many Gews did DWM make in 1909? Seems like I see quite a few of these prewar DWMs that are pretty untouched, I think I even remember a discussion on these before, that they had been kept unissued until the end of the war.

I can't really think of anything else... Overall I am really pleased with this gun. Too bad about the barrel bulge, but I never have time to go shoot anyway so I'm not really missing out on anything. Here are the numbers.

DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-UND MUNITIONSFABRIKEN BERLIN 1909

Receiver SN 3366a
Barrel SN 3366 a Bi 18
Front sight SN 66
Rear Sight SN 66
Sight Slider SN 66, 66, 66
Ejector box SN 66
Trigger Sear SN 66
Front barrel band SN 66
Rear barrel band SN 66
Trigger guard SN 3366
Trigger guard screws SN 66, 66
Floor Plate SN 66
Follower SN 66
Stock SN 3366
Handguard SN 3366
Buttplate SN 3366 a
Bayonet lug SN 66
Bolt body SN 3366 a
Extractor SN 66
Safety SN 66
Cocking piece SN 66
Bolt sleeve SN 66
Firing pin SN 66
 
Thanks for the information as always! It's nice to start filling in the murky 1908-1914 years, which I seldomly come across.

I ended up photographing every individual mark and number on this gun. Do you want me to try to compress the folder and send it to you in an email?
 
Those were tough years- the toughest really, except for the really early ones in "original" condition!

Sure, I am of the opinion that you never have too much data!

BTW, got your renewal, and much appreciated!
 

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