S/42 1938 Kriegsmarine
- Thread starter Illen
- Start date
AN-94
Well-known member
So far, I like what I see on this one though I'd like a clearer picture of the bolt serial number and bolt root acceptance. The cleaning rod, front sight, and buttplate should all be numbered and the handguard should be numbered internally which should be checked as well. The stock looks like it escaped any sanding thankfully. The star on the cocking piece is a mark that denotes it was originally a part for export rifles but was likely unused/leftover and instead was used for German K98k production. Others more experienced than I can weigh in on this Ostsee K98k but it looks like a nice rifle.
Thank you for you inputs! Does the star affect the collectability/value?
heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
It sure looks like several of the characters on the bolt body serial number are overstamped. I'd like to see it in hand or at least a better resolution picture.
Guillaume d'Orange
Senior Member
The seller is from France, and is well known for its humped 98ks, selling them without a proper description. Beware !
Thanks for the heads up Guillaume!
I might be naive, but the only serial number that to me possibly looks a bit odd is the first 5 on the bolt handle. But that looks more cause by corrosion than over stamp?
However one could ask himself why only that specific single number would be corroded..
Guillaume d'Orange
Senior Member
The numbers on the buttstock keel are not very neat either.
Although I agree that 98% of the pics say « all matching, out of the woodwork », I would ask a pic of the s/n under the handguard and on the firing pin and then I would ask if the rifle has any modern German fireproof stamps.
This fellow got most of his RCs and humped rifles from Germany.
heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
The French version of 'HumperMcBride'?
As for the bolt body numbers, I still see what I think I see. Maybe it's just out of focus, but for 'all matching' money I'd certainly want a MUCH better photo at a minimum.For clarity, I'm not suggesting that it's bad, just that it looks 'odd' to my eye. At least in this photo. It would be quite odd for only a bolt body to be mismatched.
Looks like an overstamp to me. I hate saying “a faker wouldn’t do this,” but the font looks quite good. I feel like the sort of person that put that much effort into making dies would start with a sterile bolt.
Further, all the remaining bolt parts look to be original matching. Not saying that it’s impossible for a bumper to come across a gun that’s entirely matching except for the bolt body, but it seems unlikely.
Dankrez28
Well-known member
What a shame… would of been a nice rifle to start the collection. Btw there have been a few Steyr 660 Kriegsmarine rifles floating around on gunbroker and other websites lately, some are a steal. Keep your eyes open for them, another good rifle vastly similar to this one that you can start a collection with.
-best of luck!
Thanks for the encouragement and advice. However, isn't it even more paperwork and headache to ship a rifle from US to Scandinavia?
Most likely it’s a huge hassle yes. You need export permit from State dept.
heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
Well yeah, because we can't have some yahoo arming Scandinavians with 80-year-old bolt action rifles.
