ES340B K serial grooved barrel 140XXX serial range

Updated! ES340B Grooved bbl "K" serial 140XXX range

After spending a few nights researching these scarce ES340's that are in the 140-141,000 serial range, I bid and won one tonight. It appears that a few collectors here and on rimfirecentral.com have discussed this variant of es340s that appear to be es350s because of the grooved barrel and sliding sight. They also seem to have a "k" stamp on the bolt and safety as well as the last three digits of the serial number. It appears Mr Speed references one of these in his Smallbores book, which I haven't read because my copy is at home. Another gentleman just posted about one of these last week on the forum. I'm not sure if anybody saw this one, but here is the link:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=477357445
A little more than I wanted to spend, but I figure a high grade es340 is worth $600 to me, and if this is actually what I think it is the rear sight and barrel make it worth it. I have some reservations because the cartouche doesn't look that deep (refinish?), sling swivels are gone, and I've never seen this sight before. The sight looks like it could be correct, possibly has "DRGM" stamped on right side of sight, front dial/knob is numbered 1-9, appears to be adjustable for windage and elevation, and can slide in grooves. What do you guys think?

The sight is not a Mauser fabrication.... BUT looks like a rare Walther Zella Mehlis KK sight, used for example on the Walther KK Meisterbüchse or Olympia Modell
The rifle looks nice, great find !

Thanks Tiger_jedi,
It appears you are correct about the sight. I assumed the sight was German based on patent marks, and maybe a Walther sight since I've never seen one on a Mauser. Either way it should be a more than adequate alternative to the Mauser adjustable sights, and maybe just as rare and valuable! Looking forward to getting this one and getting it to the range.

Auction photos don't show the left side of this. Do you know if all numbers match throughout (i.e. barrel/receiver)? Does the barrel have graduated markings for adjusting rear sight? A rear sight for grooved barrel/receiver was available separately and evidently from more than one maker in Thüringen. Jon suggests the barrel may have been changed later, or may have been the result of some 350 barrels being used on 340s at one time, perhaps by special order, or ?

Steve

Steve,
I contacted the seller and asked a few questions before purchasing, here's what I know or was told: the serial number is 140,803, which matches the serial number on the bolt, safety, and bolt release "arm"...sorry for incorrect terminology. Those three parts all have the "K" stamp too. He said all numbers match, I should have gotten a photo of the left side of the receiver though. From the photos it appears the barrel does not have the graduated numbers for adjusting the sight, only the grooves. I think we have the sight figured out thanks to tiger_jedi, same rear sight used on the contemporary Walther target rifles of the period but could have been added to this Mauser. Once I get it I will post more next week. Curious if the stock is numbered/matching, that would make it really interesting.

The "K" stamp may possibly point to a rework at some point. Anxiously await the photos when you receive this one!

Steve

luftmacher said:

The "K" stamp may possibly point to a rework at some point. Anxiously await the photos when you receive this one!

Steve

Click to expand...

Hy Steve,

Have a look here : http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=572524

Enjoy !

Thierry

Got the rifle today! It is in very good condition and I think it is mostly original throughout. The serial number matches throughout the rifle. The bolt and bolt release arm are marked K803. Even the firing pin is stamped K803! The barrel has the Ch51 marking near the front left side of the barrel, no ES350 marking. What's also interesting is the "L" stamping under Patrone 22 Long Rifle? Everything else appears to be marked as an earlier ES340B.

So it now appears there are a handful of ES340B rifles between 140,000-141,000 serial range with a "K" stamping and grooved barrel (not marked 350).

Here's all the pics.
On underside of barrel

Barrel markings

Yes !

Very nice !

Your rifles confirms again my theorie : a short range of ES340B was made for a special trial - order (??) with a grooved barrel between 140xxx and 141xxx - here the pictures of mine :

















Enjoy !

I believe you are right, Thierry. And I just wonder if that "K" is no more than indicator of the year?
Steve

luftmacher said:

I believe you are right, Thierry. And I just wonder if that "K" is no more than indicator of the year?
Steve

Click to expand...

It's appears that anything is possible with firearms manufacturers between the World Wars. The "K" could indicate a year or special order item. There's 5-6 of these rifles I've tracked between the other posts here and on Rimfirecentral.com, so enough to make one hypothesize these were built by Mauser.

Any ideas what the "L" on the left side of barrel below "Patrone" would indicate? I haven't seen this marking before.

This is the nicest ES340 I've ever personally seen and the condition is excellent. The only thing I think that is not correct is the missing sling swivel? Although the sling screws appear to be correct and retain the barrel, as if these are the original screws.

I'm very happy and am looking forward to shooting this one and learning how to use this rear sight. If you don't mind, what do you guys think the value of this rifle is with the rear sight?

To add to this old, and interesting thread, I received a barrelled action that matches this group, serial 140098. It does not have the K or serial on the ejector box/bolt stop though.

All other features seem consistent, grooved barrel, detent hole for sight, no numbers on grooves, low extractor position, ES350 style notch cut on bottom.

I have number 140464, it also has the “L” under the Patrone stamp, non-adjustable trigger on this one which seems the norm for these.
Interestingly I have an Es340n serial number 132285 and a Ms420n number 114990 both with the grooved barrels and set screw sights and both have the “L” under the Patrone stamp.

I have 141890 with all the K guns characteristics but no k on this one. Grooved barrel adj. rear and removable front sights. All matching numbers and matching on the safety parts. Very nice original blue and varnish. Pictures later on.

Mauser used K as a chamber date on its Luger production in 1934 so maybe that is why?