Wmo 1914

Picked up a pretty decent WMO 1914, really excited about it considering 1914 dated rifles are so illusive. I was very lucky the bad auction photos kept it low, got a real steal on this one. I think it's been fantastic that so many nice rifles have popped out of the wood work already this year. The end of 2019 through this year is the best I've done in five years or so on these. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of 2020 is as good. Anyway it's pretty close to matching minus some of the small parts and the handguard. This rifle went through Cologne for a rework at some point. Oddly enough the trigger is mismatched. I think, because it was a pre-1916 rifle its original unshaven trigger must have been frozen with rust and was replaced at the depot.

This one is a warhorse for sure and had its fair share of rust. I think my favorite part about these earlier WMO made rifles is the loopy numbering on the rear sight. I found the Krupp barrel interesting, it's the only WMO I've owned that didn't use a Bohler supplied blank. Outside of it being a bit rough, I was once again amazed at WMO's quality, hardly any tool chatter below the wood-line.

Receiver SN: 3091e
Barrel SN: 3091e Krupp 6
Front sight SN: 91
Rear sight SN: 91
Sight Slider SN: 91
Ejector box SN: 91
Trigger Sear SN: 06
Front barrel band SN: 91
Rear barrel band SN: 91
Trigger guard SN: 3091
Trigger guard screws SN: 91, 39
Floor Plate SN: 91
Follower SN: 91
Stock SN: 3091
Handguard SN: 8041
Buttplate SN: 4928 ('e' suffix on the curve)
Bayonet lug SN: 91
Bolt body SN: 3091e
Extractor SN: 91
Safety SN: 46
Cocking piece SN: 91
Bolt sleeve SN: 95
Firing pin SN: 25

So I guess under that old dirt, grease, and crud was a cool looking rifle lol. Glad you were able to get this rifle Sam and you can't go wrong with that price tag either!

I can't go through all the pictures now, but you can tell this was a wonderful acquisition, it is amazing it cleaned up so well... I would have to check the BC trends, but Krupp does seem less common, but pre-war this may have been more common. WMO is not known to have used Böhler much, if at all, - DWM and Amberg did, the former due to their long relationship with Böhler, the latter probably due to location and Böhler's reputation. My bet is Krupp is more common pre-war, but I don't have the BC trends handy. Wartime WMO is almost universally BSI, same with Erfurt who used them a great deal, though WMO only marked the barrels "BS".

Still, i would have been pretty damn happy with picking up such a rifle, - those that have this much character are always the most enjoyable. Probably my favorite G98 ever owned was a 1914/15 WMO I foolishly traded for a 98k... financially it was good deal, but it was such a unique rifle in so many ways that it was the most foolish deal too..

Warrior1354 said:

So I guess under that old dirt, grease, and crud was a cool looking rifle lol. Glad you were able to get this rifle Sam and you can't go wrong with that price tag either!

Click to expand...

Thanks Jordan I appreciate it, the poor photos did all the work in that regard.

Loewe said:

I can't go through all the pictures now, but you can tell this was a wonderful acquisition, it is amazing it cleaned up so well... I would have to check the BC trends, but Krupp does seem less common, but pre-war this may have been more common. WMO is not known to have used Böhler much, if at all, - DWM and Amberg did, the former due to their long relationship with Böhler, the latter probably due to location and Böhler's reputation. My bet is Krupp is more common pre-war, but I don't have the BC trends handy. Wartime WMO is almost universally BSI, same with Erfurt who used them a great deal, though WMO only marked the barrels "BS".

Still, i would have been pretty damn happy with picking up such a rifle, - those that have this much character are always the most enjoyable. Probably my favorite G98 ever owned was a 1914/15 WMO I foolishly traded for a 98k... financially it was good deal, but it was such a unique rifle in so many ways that it was the most foolish deal too..

Click to expand...

Thanks Paul, I was surprised too. It may have cleaned up a little more but I didn't want to chance it to be honest. I definitely mis-remembered the barrel codes. They were definitely Bergische after looking at the photos. Oddly enough, my 1906 WMO was Bohler provided barrrel probably why I assumed they all were, my others were all 1916 dated guns.

Great rifle Sam, glad you snagged it!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Barrels, - WMO rarely used Krupp so far as trends suggest. Only during 1905 during the b-block two are known, no others besides this rifle. There is only one wartime WMO known, a WMO/16 cc-block.

Böhler was used pre-war significantly, 1906, 1907 (the big years for WMO pre-war). 1910 also have a couple known. None during the war for WMO so far...

It is probable WMO did use both makers more than trends suggest, but perhaps far less than other steel suppliers.

chrisftk said:

Great rifle Sam, glad you snagged it!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Thanks Chris, I appreciate it!

Loewe said:

Barrels, - WMO rarely used Krupp so far as trends suggest. Only during 1905 during the b-block two are known, no others besides this rifle. There is only one wartime WMO known, a WMO/16 cc-block.

Böhler was used pre-war significantly, 1906, 1907 (the big years for WMO pre-war). 1910 also have a couple known. None during the war for WMO so far...

It is probable WMO did use both makers more than trends suggest, but perhaps far less than other steel suppliers.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info Paul!

Damn fine WMO 1914, Sam. Added to the index.

PrayingMantis said:

Damn fine WMO 1914, Sam. Added to the index.

Click to expand...

Thanks Cyrus I appreciate it! Good to hear from you, how have things been?

mauser1908 said:

Thanks Cyrus I appreciate it! Good to hear from you, how have things been?

Click to expand...

Things have been good, but haven’t had much time to go after Gewehrs. Getting settled into the new job though, so hopefully that’ll change. I’m planning on hitting the Mansfield show in May.