Unit Stock disk Marking

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I enjoy seeing the wide breadth of knowledge on this forum (as well as the rifles, of course ).

This was the stock tag off of a 1916 Gew 98 that I saw at at LGS a while ago. Sadly, I didn't purchase said rifle- I hope it went to a good owner. I've recently done some research on the stock tag and I think the rifle was rifle #523 of the 1st company, 2nd Jager battalion. However, I haven't found a source online that can confirm this. It seems odd that a company would have 523 rifles (perhaps the number is attributed to the total number of rifles in the battalion). Also, what does the "B" at the begnning of the stock disk mean (maybe Bavarian)? I'd love for this to generate some discussion. Thanks all!

I would read it as 1st company of the 2nd Bavarian infantry regiment, weapon #523. There is always that question of German use of "I" versus "J" though.

A unit marked 1916 dated gewehr would be considered unusual.

Yes, likely Kgl. Bayer. 2. Infanterie-Regiment Kronprinz of the 1st Bavarian Army Corps.

Hello Das Boot,

did you see the rifle itself and was it a "Amberg" production one?

If it really is a wartime stock (finger grooves cut into the wood) then i would go with the second bavarian infantry regiment, just because it is more likely with the 523 men in the first company... which is still very high.

But i want to mentioned that the unit markings are very well done for a wartime marking. Different heights for the letters and numbers. They almost look like standart pre war markings. If i didn't had the information that this is supposed to be from a wartime rifle and it didn't had the high weapon number i would go with the second bavarian jäger battalion.

Just my thoughts about these markings.


With kind regards

Vincent

Just a few comments

First according to Official Regulation's guidance this would be a Jäger-Bataillon. The last Bavarian regulation was issued in 1910. Assuming this stock was originally from a 1916 Gew, the marking would probably translate to the Bavarian Jäger-Regiment Nr.1. Between May 1915 and October 1916 most Jäger-Batallionen were reformed into Regiments. The 1st Bavarian Jäger-Regiment was formed from Bavarian Jäger-Bataillon Nr.1, Bavarian Jäger-Bataillon Nr.2, and Bavarian Reserve Jäger-Bataillon Nr.2. I also believe that the three Jäger battalions which formed the Jäger-Regiment were retained intact as Battalions 1-3 in the Regiment. Lastly, it is my understanding that the official weapon number assignment guidance only specified that like weapons (rifles, pistols, bayonets, etc.) were to be numbered sequentially. It did not specify that this was to be at the company level. It is quite possible that for reasons lost to time this organization chose to mark weapons at the battalion level versus company level resulting it such a large weapon number. The weapon number on this marking disc would be high even for an Infantry Regiment Company. Also, the German War Ministry officially discontinued Regimental Markings by directive on 2 November 1916 adding another level of potential confusion.

Thank you Jeff, an excellent explanation.

Jaeger Markings

Thought I'd share a similarly unit marked 98/05nA I have, it too is 1916 dated and has a very high weapon number.




Here's two other Bavarian Jaeger unit marked 98/05 (both 1915)

(transitional, low ears & no flash guard) Bavarian Jaeger Regiment 2 Ersatz Abteilung 1 weapon #680

(nA) Bavarian Jaeger Regiment 1 Ersatz Abteilung 2 weapon #1517

-Josh