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DOT 1943 mod.98 question

Twoface14

Member
Hello everyone. I’m new to this forum. Here recently I have had the itch to get back into gun collecting and target shooting. I stumbled across a sporterized model 98. Broke my heart as this gun is all number matching(what’s left to match) barrel, receiver, bolt, sight, trigger guard and plate all match in a low serial number. 2002 to be exact. I ordered a correct era stock to put it back to normal look, along with a sight hood, cleaning rod, and 1943 repop sling(nothing special just wanted it to kinda match.) anyways I have a few questions. I’ve found a few markings I can’t seem to find anywhere listed. The top says DOT and 1943. I found that the dot is where it was made and 1943 is obviously the year it was made. But to the right on the barrel it has a shield with what appears to be dot in it and next to that is DU. Not sure what the DU is. There are several eagles with 63 stamped which if I understand is inspector code 63. There are a few eagles with nazi marks. The trigger guard is stamped, not a solid piece. The plate on the bottom is also stamped. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I’ll try and get pics to follow
 
Looks like someone tried to grind on the receiver which kills me. Also the gun was painted black. The guy before me tried to steel wool it off and took the blueing with it. I to stripper to the rest and saved the rest of the blueing
 

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More pictures
 

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And the last
 

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Kind of looks like (bad) welding on the receiver. Drilled for a side mount scope maybe?

Oh and welcome aboard!
 
I think the receiver is cosmetically restorable to where the drill holes are almost invisible. It requires thorough experience with hand tools, though, as power tools already did enough damage to this rifle and another power tool orgy will only make things worse. I would leave it as is for now, other than replacing the stock.
 
Hey thanks for the welcome! I believe your right. Possibly has been a side mount. I looked on the inside to see if it had been drilled through but see no evidence of this. Possibly only half way. I have a stock and hand guard on the way already along with a cleaning rod, sling, and sight hood. Hopefully should have pics later this week. Any ideas on the markings?
 
The top says DOT and 1943. I found that the dot is where it was made and 1943 is obviously the year it was made. But to the right on the barrel it has a shield with what appears to be dot in it and next to that is DU. Not sure what the DU is. There are several eagles with 63 stamped which if I understand is inspector code 63. There are a few eagles with nazi marks. The trigger guard is stamped, not a solid piece. The plate on the bottom is also stamped. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I’ll try and get pics to follow

Any ideas on the markings?

You're correct about the 'dot' and 43 on the receiver. dot is the code for the main arsenal at Brno in now the Czech Republic. They made quality rifles for their home army and export before being absorbed by Germany and production converted to standard K98k rifles. e/63 is the material acceptance code for this same facility. The dot 13 in the shield indicates the barrel was finished in house by Brno and the DU is the steel lot code for quality control and tracking purposes. The eagle over swastika you see on the side of the barrel is a firing proof. The trigger guard and FP being stamped are also correct and they are contract provided parts. The FP also certainly came from Mauser Oberndorf and the trigger guard is contract supplied as well. This is an excerpt of a response by Loewe from a thread last week regarding a rifle made just before yours but it's applicable.

"Waffenamt WaA/214 is not BLM (duv), it is the inspector for the area around Lübeck, which includes a number of firms, including a DWM operation and Lubecawerke, the latter is believed to have made these TG's and FP's. BLM also was inspected by WaA214, but it is incidental/unrelated to our discussion here.

It is a simple fact that dot/43 used these e/214 TG during this period and that they used Mauser made e/135 FP's, they simply did, - Mauser had led the development of stamped components technology for small arms, in coordination with its sister firm DWM. This was primarily a project dealing with machine guns, largely conducted in Posen (modern day Poland), but Mauser introduced it to component manufacturer early on, they along with Lubecawerke produced these types of components as early as 1943 for both Brno and Brno II (dou)."
 
Awesome thanks for the info! I had actually read that excerpt this morning about that. Was a little worried at first that the inspector codes were different but now it makes sense. I need to brush up on the history a little more and get a better understanding that way I know what to look for when buying one. I have 2 now. I’d love to find an all original K98k without it ever have been sporterized. Both I own now have once been converted
 
Here’s my other my step dad and I put together several years ago. Needs a better scope
 

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