1940 42 Code L

This 1940 L-marked Code 42 is a recent acquisition. I bought it because it is an early-war MO example as I am narrowing my collection to Oberndorf-made military and commercial items. I thought it interesting with a flat butt plate on a laminated stock and no sight hood slots. Didn’t find the L on the stock until I got it home under stronger light – an added bonus!

Lands and grooves are strong with some light pitting. Wood markings are crisp. No wear to the bluing on the bolt face, almost no wear detectable on the follower and modest wear on bolt bearing surfaces. Everything is matching including the handguard and stock barrel channel/keel, and all metal components. Stock appears “dry” and not to have had any oil applied or otherwise messed with after leaving the factory. Handguard is solid, not laminate. Exterior wood and metal blemishes seem to be due to handling and crashing around in closets for 70+ years. The rod is unmarked.

This rifle closely matches the 1940 Code 42 examples shown in the forum picture section and information in Vol. II. All I have done is wipe the wood with a dry cloth, clean the bore and lightly oil the metal to remove light crud. Looks to me like this one didn’t get much use and mostly stayed in the arms room until capture.

Price was much better than some of the mismatched examples in poor condition showing up in local shows. I think I did fairly well. Thoughts on what I may have missed? Opinions on current market value?

Looks like a very nice rifle! Does the HG match, it would be neat to see a rifle this early with a combination of wood like that.

Nice find! Even better restrained cleaning job! I'm a sucker for MO rifles myself.

flynaked said:

Looks like a very nice rifle! Does the HG match, it would be neat to see a rifle this early with a combination of wood like that.

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Yep, HG matches. Tried to show the HG and barrel channel numbers in picture 6 but the HG came out dark and hard to read.

Oh duh, I over looked that picture, sure enough! That’s neat, definitely the earliest I’ve seen a combination like that on. Would love to see more pictures if you get a chance, love a good Luft rifle!

Nice rifle! I love a good 1940 42

flynaked said:

Oh duh, I over looked that picture, sure enough! That’s neat, definitely the earliest I’ve seen a combination like that on. Would love to see more pictures if you get a chance, love a good Luft rifle!

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More pictures...

More info: All Wa are 655. I pulled the butt plate and the wood is marked with a final completion date as "2 41 40." (Picture included in the following message.) If I recall previous posts that would be the second day of the 41st week in 1940. Checked a period German calendar and that would be 8 Oct 1940. Did I get this right? I am also doing an analysis of the MO production summary records in Vol II to make an estimate of the time frame when the rifle was likely assembled.

And more.....

GEM said:

..final completion date as "2 41 40." If I recall previous posts that would be the second day of the 41st week in 1940. Checked a period German calendar and that would be 8 Oct 1940. Did I get this right? I am also doing an analysis of the MO production summary records in Vol II to make an estimate of the time frame when the rifle was likely assembled.

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I get Tuesday October 8th, 1940 also. Stephan is good at estimating completion dates. He'll likely ask for the laminate code from near the stock date. Also is there a capital letter P or K on the keel?

Well it must be this damn headcold/medicine? I see the P plain as day. I don't see the laminate code however even with full magnification.

There is a P on the keel. There is a J on the butt stock adjacent to the production code. If the J isn't the laminate code, what should I be looking for?

GEM said:

There is a P on the keel.

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Yes I saw it right after I posted. Been 'off' a few times the last day or so.

GEM said:

..what should I be looking for?

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2 letter code. Like Bo went to MO at least '40-43. Could be Ha as well. Or possibly something else along those lines. The seem to mostly follow that capital/lower case format.

There are no codes similar to what you describe. I found a 1 and a T in addition to the J. I take these to in process inspection stamps. I assume that the two letter codes are supplier designations. I wonder if the lack of those may indicate MO in-house production?

GEM said:

More info: All Wa are 655. I pulled the butt plate and the wood is marked with a final completion date as "2 41 40." (Picture included in the following message.) If I recall previous posts that would be the second day of the 41st week in 1940. Checked a period German calendar and that would be 8 Oct 1940. Did I get this right? I am also doing an analysis of the MO production summary records in Vol II to make an estimate of the time frame when the rifle was likely assembled.

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You are right, the stock completion date is October 8, 1940 and in my opinion your K98k got assembled also in the 41st calendar week, short time after stock completion. Your pictures are very small, the serial number was hard to recognize and I looked at first at the stock completion date code and tried to guess the serial number of your rifle. My guess was "gg" block around 4xxx - 7xxx and then I saw it's "6235gg". Until now it works very well with Mauser Oberndorf, at least in 1940. Between "q and "cc" block I don't have stock data, if somebody has a rifle in this range, it would be interesting to try and guess again.

GEM said:

There are no codes similar to what you describe. I found a 1 and a T in addition to the J. I take these to in process inspection stamps. I assume that the two letter codes are supplier designations. I wonder if the lack of those may indicate MO in-house production?

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Your stock has no laminate supplier code, there are some Mauser Oberndorf rifles which don't have it and the reason is unknown. The two letter codes are always laminate supplier designations. Mauser has not produced laminate, there was no in-house laminate production and they just finished stock blanks.

Regards,
Stephan

Stephan,

Thanks for your stock information and estimate on the rifle assembly period.

Based on the 1940 production quantities and other production data listed Vol IIa, pages 148-149 I set up a spread sheet and estimated assembly in Nov. I agree that it well could be in Oct . I think our understanding of the production flow is imperfect and can only be estimated based on available data. My sense is that production was not necessary linear nor at a constant rate. I wonder how re-worked units were re-integrated into the production flow and how this may have affected serial number assignment. I think our estimates are within the boundaries of the likely uncertainties.

Wow beautiful rifle I'm new to the group and was referred to it by several people on multiple K98 Facebook pages. Every one tells me this is a good place to find a rifle like that?