Third Party Press

1915 DWM Bolt M/M

I picked this up a few weeks ago, my friend in NY said he had a local FFL that bought some guns from a VFW in upstate New York. There was 2 Gew 98's, 2 Springfield 1903's, and one MG08/15. My friend got the 1916 Spandau Gew 98, and I paid for/had him ship the 1915 DWM to me. We got them for $300 each, These were in rough condition and stored in the attic for years, I cleaned this one the best I could without harming any original finishes/patina that is left on it, even though it still looks a little rusty in some spots I have taken the time to clean it the best I can. From what I can tell it is all matching serial numbers minus the bolt, which had a clipped firing pin (I assume from being a VFW gun). When I pulled it apart there was some grease still on the bottom side of the action that has appeared to be there for a very long time (I have still left it in place). I posted barrel code pictures as well as I remember someone on here was collecting barrel numbers for these I believe? The barrel has also been counter-bored at some point in time. Either way I tried my best with the pictures otherwise. I know some of the pictures are showing up the wrong way, it was due to me forgetting to take the pictures the proper way with my Iphone. If you have any information you would like to add on to this rifle feel free to go ahead, if you want to use the pictures on this post as well for some reason feel free to use them.
 

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Extra pics..
 

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A right receiver picture of the acceptance would be wonderful also! The BC is normal for this makers, Bismarckhütte (Poland today), they delivered a lot of barrel blanks to DWM and Danzig.

The crown on the barrel shoulder shows this rifle(barrel) was counterbored, - fairly common on older pre-war rifles, less common on wartimers, but may be caused by the rifles use launching grenades. It is the original barrel though.

Also, although you took some pictures of the stock acceptance, it would be very helpful to see better pictures of the acceptance stamps (right side under cypher, the acceptance stamps at the wrist of the stock and lower under the serial). With these I can probably guess what you have through comparisons with known rifles, but it is always better to be accurate, - these early rifles are much more difficult to get good trends work done, far fewer pre-war and 1915's are around, most were consumed early in the war, and although receiver and barrel acceptance is possible, trending stock acceptance is far more difficult.

See, what I do is collect raw data across the spectrum of makers and dates, "trend" acceptance and coding patterns and use these details so accurate evaluations are possible. Accuracy depends upon many things, but most of all is finding raw data to populate the trends.
 
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A tired warhorse but you can tell did not see a light service record. Its been there and done that in one of the worst conflicts in human history. Really a neat gun thanks for taking the time with the pictures. And I agree with Paul on the rifle grenade use. The rifle grenades they used for the time period were not easy on barrels. Looks like your rifle was marked for a depot on your buttplate as well. The 4 depot stamp for Cologne.
 
I think I got all of the extra pictures you guys requested.. Thank you for all of this information this is fascinating to me! I've been collecting for about 5 years now, although being 21 and finishing college doesn't really help much with my financials to buying really nice examples, I always enjoy learning about this stuff so that when i'm older i'll hopefully be as informative/knowledgeable as all of you here on this forum.
 

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Thanks for the extra pictures! It looks like a nice rifle, even if it saw a lot of service (honest service)

Well congratulations on finishing college, it is good to see younger people collecting Imperial rifles, typically it is an older mans pursuit (many start on the 98k first). These days it is easy to become informed, wasn't so easy in the 1980's though... what can be accomplished in a few months of consistent study today took decades back then. Three quarters of what you need to know can be learned by reading internet posts here, Gunboards and my two websites in my signature, the last quarter you learn by specialization and books.
 
I'm a little confused and need some help now.. I ordered a Gew 98 firing pin from Liberty Tree, and attempted to change the firing pin and noticed the difference since it wasn't fitting. Is the bolt in my gun even a Gew 98 bolt? Did they switch the type of firing pins at some point? Where should I look for a firing pin for this bolt if this bolt is correct for this rifle?
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What you appear to have is the early type Gew98 bolt with the un-lugged firing pin (pre 1903?). It would be a needle in a haystack to find the correct firing pin for that bolt, but there are machinists that specialize in restoring a clipped firing pin.

Only way to use your new pin is acquire another (later style) bolt. Good news is your early type bolt is very desirable for someone wanting to make an early bolt m/m rifle more correct, so good trade fodder.

Some more pics of the bolt would be nice, especially under the root and the gas vent holes.
 
Here's some pictures of the bolt
 

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Ken is correct, this is a pre-1904 bolt, probably Spandau. I agree that finding a proper FP will be difficult, but you should have little difficulty trading it for another G98 bolt.

The FP and narrow gas holes are the identifiers for such an early bolt.
 
MauserBob

Had an email on a technical nature regarding the bolt, I thought it might prove helpful to the buyer:

Paul: The only firing pin that will fit the firing pin nut/cocking piece on this bolt is the original one. And the original FP will fit only that firing pin nut. If I were him I’d keep the early bolt; it doesn’t eat anything and is interesting. Bob

Bob is a knowledgeable long time collector, so I thought I would give him the moniker "MauserBob" because he doesn't like to post on these forums. Like many of the more experienced collectors they do not have the patience for the sillier aspects of the internet forums. Anyway, because our old friend and technical guru MauserBill has been absent the last couple years, I thought I would poach his moniker for Bob who often helps me with the technical questions that show up here time to time.
 

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