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
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
Attachments
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DWM 1909 Full Rifle.jpg112.7 KB · Views: 79
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DWM 1909 Receiver Top.jpg203.8 KB · Views: 91
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DWM 1909 Receiver Left.jpg80.2 KB · Views: 64
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DWM 1909 Receiver Right.jpg73.9 KB · Views: 62
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DWM 1909 Bottom Receiver Proof Two.jpg249 KB · Views: 53
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DWM 1909 Bottom Receiver Proof.jpg219.2 KB · Views: 49
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DWM 1909 Rear Receiver Proofs.jpg74 KB · Views: 54
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DWM 1909 Trigger Sear Crown.jpg267.7 KB · Views: 50
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DWM 1909 Bolt Serials.jpg76.4 KB · Views: 69
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DWM 1909 Barrel Code.jpg68.9 KB · Views: 63
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DWM 1909 Barrel Serial.jpg66.1 KB · Views: 58
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DWM 1909 Proof By Barrel.jpg290.3 KB · Views: 42
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DWM 1909 Stock Proofs.jpg59.2 KB · Views: 76
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DWM 1909 Wrist Proofs.jpg77.3 KB · Views: 54
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DWM 1909 Triggerguard And Damage.jpg91.1 KB · Views: 59
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