More info on this Karabiner?

Hi All,

I went to the gun show today with the intention of buying a gun of historical significance, and it looks like I got what I was looking for. I picked up a K98, possibly a Yugoslav capture, which happens to be my third gun ever. The more I read about K98s the more I realized how little I knew about them and their history.

Here is an album with some high resolution images, the pictures can be redundant: https://imgur.com/a/nTJjpMn

I carefully scanned the rifle for markings trying to get as many clues as I could on the origins. It seems to be that indeed, it was originally a german rifle from WII. I was impressed at the lack of original markings but I was able to find at least two Imperial Eagles, and part of a third one that wasn't ground down completely. They are very hard to see, but they should be visible on the images I posted, rear sights. The more I looked at it, the more questions I started having. I'm going to post some of them here, any answers or partial answers to these questions is greatly appreciated.

(1) First and foremost, is this fake in any way? If so, disregard the rest of my questions.

(2) Is this rifle an actual Yugoslavian capture?

(3) If it is, what are the chances that the barrel is from an original Mauser K98? I read that Yugoslavia commonly replaced the barrels on them.

(4) How likely is it that the parts of this rifle are mixed and matched from original Kar 98s that were captures? And not the original matching parts?

(5) I noticed that on most K98s, the rear metal plate hugs the the butt of the stock but mine doesn't. What is it's significance on where, when, and why it was manufactured? Is it original?

(6) To follow up the last question, the front band is flat and solid, but I noticed that most K98s have a semicircular shape cut out of it. Is it original? If so, why is it different and what is its significance? where when why.

(7) Apparently Yugoslavia would stamp their own emblem on the top of the receiver, but I don't see that done here. Any significance to this?

(8) There are a few markings on the wood, but only one that I could call original. There is a W stamped right below the trigger guard on the bottom of the stock, any hints as to what this could mean?

(9) There are other markings which seem to be placed afterwards that look official. Looks like MT☐N. Bottom of the stock close to the W i just mentioned. Any hint as to what this could mean?

Also, the lack of some of the markings (lack of official emblem), and the sloppiness of the stock serial number stamp could have some significance? e.g. refurbished but not for official use, or from an earlier refurbishing series.

Lastly...

(10) What are the chances this rifle saw combat with Germany?

(11) What are the chances this rifle saw combat with Yugoslavia?

I saw some personal markings close to the trigger below the bolt that says AS, carved by hand. Could've been done by an American owner.

And most importantly...

(12) How the hell does an item like this end up in my hands? Meaning, where would the Yugoslavs have taken these from (any historical event that can be pointed to), and how does it end up in the hands of an American civilian?

Thanks!
Karnoob

Here's a start for answers. Your rifle is a Yugo rebuild done after the end of the war . It has an earlier flat butt plate stock not one of the later cupped style. It's a mix master of parts bands etc. This was done during the rebuild process. From what you can see it sports a new Yugo made barrel. I can see no no german marks on the stock. The serial number and others are all Yugo applied. The crest over the chamber is ground. I had one of these that had the crest mostly removed . Why I have no idea. In short what you have is a Yugo rebuilt German rifle from WW2. The Yugos wound up with these and a couple of other types of Mausers after the war. Most of these both the new made M-48s and rebuilds M 24/47 and 24/52c showing up in mass on the milsurp. market about 20 years ago.
Hope this helps.

Hey! Thank you for your reply. Looking down the barrel after taking the bolt out the bore and rifling looks pristine. Not sure if it just wasn't fired that much or if it was cleaned very thoroughly. So I wouldn't be surprised if it was a brand new barrel.

If you look closely, there is a number that is stamped right under the Yugo number. There also seems to be a circular mark on top of it that I saw on pictures of original K98s.

I just had the question of the front band answered. Apparently it's still German, but probably from later on the war. Done to cut cost.