Same here, as it certainly has been there and looks like it was used, - while this maker-date combination is the highest production of any Modell98 until the nazi era, these 1917 dated rifles in full, unmolested, Imperial condition are not anywhere as common as production totals suggest.
Many obviously stayed in German hands after 1918, many were destroyed during the disarmament programs, and quite a few continued to serve through WWII as evidenced by surviving examples.
In my trends work on the Kar98a, those that are still "Imperial" usually have issues, unrelated to German service, - they were the Imperial era G33/40 back in the day for sportsmen, and a great many were sportered. Those that do not have service issues are often minty or of the appearance of little use.
Anyway, some of the coolest pictures show rifles such as yours in battlefield conditions, and as I speculated with Bob, it could have been in the trenches, or in actual combat, as it does have that appearance.
BTW- Bob, you did a first class job of cleaning it up and it looks wonderful!
Added pictures, I own them both (copyright MRJ- not to be used outside of this forum), - note the rounds in the open breach of the Kar98a at left, and its features (grips) show it was 1916-1918 mfg, - if it had a take down, it would be 1917-1918, probably later than earlier. (grips show up first, take downs very inconsistent until mid-late 1917)
