Third Party Press

J.P Sauer & Sohn 1916

gewehr hund

Senior Member
I've been away from the forum for quite a while however recently I began lurking here again. Last Thursday a guy came into my store carrying the J.P. Sauer & Sohn Gewehr 98 shown here. His grandfather had given him the rifle 25 years ago and two things became apparent while talking to him. The first was he had no emotional attachment to his Gewehr and the second was he thought he needed a 1911 type pistol. Well a deal was quickly reached and he went home with a 1911 and my collection has a new addition.

I present J.P. Sauer & Sohn 1916 s/n 2303q (if I didn't read the suffix correctly somebody let me know and I'll fix it ). The front band spring is broken, the bayonet lug pin, safety and rear locking screw are missing. The firing pin is either broken or clipped and somebody tried to grind a new tip on it but it is too short to fire. Every other number I can find matches. If I've missed something you'd like to see, let me know. The rifle is in pieces right now for some conservation so I can image pretty much anything.
 

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more images

More images.
 

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Last bunch

Last of my photos.
 

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I have never met a gun dealer that knows his way around a Gewehr98 and what is relevant, you seem to be a dealer-collector! Glad you came back!

A very nice rifle, well used, but Suhl's usually are, - you can find arsenals and WMO/DWM nice, but the small operations are almost always well used and or well abused. Looks nice and original, factory so far as i can tell... your stock is the most interesting thing about the rifle. Walnut remains dominate until the q-r blocks (yours is a q-block), the takedowns can come earlier but your rifle is where they dominate trends, - rifles around your serial range, and after, almost always have takedown, but not grips, for they are "generally" less common for awhile longer.

Anyway, your rifle fits perfectly in its characteristics, actually it solidifies the known pattern and where things start to change, right on the cusp of things ending and things beginning with more regularity. It would be helpful if you could do a picture of the stock acceptance at the wrist, the small of the stock, this is the most stable acceptance stamp (its usually C/N, like the acceptance on the barrel and second RR), though "generally" the Suhl consortium are more stable than most makers, - they clearly made rifles differently than any other maker, - seemingly unproductively, collectively but with considerable individuality (sharing parts, each specialized on certain components, but assembled individually with an indecipherable sharing of serial numbers... intermingled to the point that defies explaining):

https://gewehr98.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/suhl-consortium-gewehr98-production/
 
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Wrist acceptance

The wrist acceptance is hard to see. Almost looks like Crown I. Anyway here are 4 images of the wrist taken with 2 different cameras. As for dealers not knowing anything about Gewehrs, it goes to show that if a person spends enough time on this site, he will eventually learn something! I tend to keep my dealing and my collecting separate and rarely deal in what I collect. Mostly because I don't own enough Gewehrs and 98k's.
 

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The actual character is unimportant (to my research), what matters is identifying the same marking accurately in trends to know when this inspector changes. It is the consistency of the pattern that matters. I refer to this inspector as crown / "N", it could be other characters, but as every fraktur/Sütterlin script sheet is different one has to guess. I generally use Ken Huddle's sheet from the KCN, it is handy because he bases his observations, at least partially, on drawings he made of actual rifles (gives comparisons). Basically this character looks like a crowned "N" with a bar underneath, at least in the comparisons I have made. But again, the actual letter is secondary, what matters is identifying the same marking properly each time. (images of a rifle near your rifles year/suffix - middle character on RR, the wrist is most consistent, though on the Suhl's the stocks for each makers are generally consistent in ranges, moreso than other makers)
 

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Indeed a very nice rifle and one that is elusive to find matching and untouched. Shame that someone would sell a rifle given to them by their grandfather as a gift. But at least it went to a collector that will appreciate it.

By the way let me dig through my parts I may have the missing parts you need. Also I do know a gentleman that has fixed several broken firing pins for me. I will also send you his contact info as well.
 
That is a nice one, exactly how I like to find them. It's great that the previous owner never tried to "improve" its appearance.

And as Paul mentioned, great photos. Thanks for taking the time and being so detailed. I'm adding it to the reference.
 
..The rifle is in pieces right now for some conservation.

Great time capsule! I do hope you'll show us some after photos as well. I think this is a perfect candidate for some light handed cleaning and oil. As was mentioned I'd have the original firing pin restored. This seems likely a bond rifle. Congrats!
 

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