Thanks!
Thanks so much for the advice! I don't know where I would have gotten it otherwise! So glad I found your forum!
I just purchased my first GEW 98 on Gunbroker a few days ago, a 1917 DWM, and it is going to take a lot of effort. It was "duffle cut," I presume by the GI who brought it back, and missing the hand guard. The finish looks almost black in the photos (I don't have possession yet of course), and there is a chunk of stock missing behind the trigger guard that looks like an arty fragment strike to me. Very dinged and worn, and I do not want to loose that character of the rifle and its history, but I do intent to have a competent gunsmith who is good with woodwork repair the cut stock.
If anyone has any more words of wisdom to a rookie, they would be appreciated!! One question: where hand guards factory marked, or will any birch hand guard do? I am in no hurry, and want to find the correct one. If anyone knows a source, that would also be appreciated. Thanks again! I'll post some photos when I get the rifle.