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1914/15 Dresden "Sterngewehr"

chrisftk

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Staff member
Hi folks, hope all are well.

Here's an oldie I posted maybe 6-7 years ago, but had it out for better pics.

The rifle was assembled in 1915 at Dresden with a 1914 dated Spandau receiver. Overall nice shape with a killer stock (D/C) and nice metal condition. It's a bolt and handguard m/m but I knew even back then these aren't super easy to find so I jumped.

The biggest knock on the rifle is--- and this is my theory anyway-- passed through Köln- possibly to repair a damaged handguard/receiver. It appears the armorer peened the receiver pretty good with a hammer to smooth out possible burrs or other issues. Not a common fix, but I've seen on other depot reworks in Imperial and NS era rifles. The shame is that the peening obliterated the star (if this had one-- not sure if all the early ones did) and some of the RR acceptance.

Either way, still one I'm happy to have.

Receiver SN: 5903

Barrel SN: 5903 Barrel Code: Kr A 11

Front sight SN: 03

Rear sight SN: 03

Sight Slider SN: 03

Ejector box SN: 03

Trigger /Sear SN: 03

Front barrel band SN: 03

Rear barrel band SN: 03

Trigger guard SN: 5903

Trigger guard screws SN: F: 03, R: Armorer

Floor Plate SN: 03

Follower SN: 03

Stock SN: 5903

Handguard SN: mm

Buttplate SN: 5903

Bayonet lug SN: 03

Bolt : mm
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I remember looking at that rifle years ago I think it even looks better seeing it a second time awesome piece Chris!
 
That's a neat & interesting gewehr for sure. Any other peening areas besides the receiver, floorplate, & trigger guard assembly? I've not seen a sterngewehr without a serial # suffix #.
 
That's a neat & interesting gewehr for sure. Any other peening areas besides the receiver, floorplate, & trigger guard assembly? I've not seen a sterngewehr without a serial # suffix #.
Thanks Mike! I've always had a soft spot for Sterngewehr/Depot rifles. Their quirkiness is very interesting.

I think you have identified all the areas of peening I noticed when I broke the rifle down for pics. Interesting fix and it makes you wonder what caused the damage.

As far as the SN and lack of suffix, this was a pretty early one and I do believe that the Saxons did a "no suffix" block first. I believe the highest known is a "5" suffix, which if you include a no-suffix block, would jive with Storz's estimate of about 62,500 of these produced at Dresden. Paul might be able to fact check me, but that was my recollection.

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Several tidbits...

Dresden are as Chris stated, no-block, 1, 2, 3, 5, all the blocks but "4" have recordings. Spandau and Erfurt finished have recordings for no-block, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. WMO and Danzig did not do this practice, they just cycled other receivers within normal production ranges.

The C/P on the RR first position is more typical of Spandau/13 production, so far no Spandau/14 has a C/P for first position, so this imo is a very early Spandau/14 receiver that was passed on to Dresden for finishing. The BC is unusual, though far too few BC recorded to comment on the subject knowledgeably. Weird codes and such across the board, some consistency, but sort of like character today, - it exists in small groups but is generally absent so far as the big picture goes.

I will say though that these numeric suffixes are not as important as the date on the buttplate, the 0-5 does not necessarily correlate with the receivers date or the progression of production, - there are earlier no-suffix serials with 1916 and 1917 buttplates (1916-17 Spandau 2303 & 2750 with a "17" BP cypher, several "16"'s also), so it is pretty sure these suffixes were rolled over.

To judge these properly we should go by buttplates and RR acceptance (date on receiver in this case is also a good indication, no others recorded with date and or no star, my guess is they started w/o star). This one happens to be the earliest "15" recorded, though several no-suffixes are earlier "numerically".
 
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To judge these properly we should go by buttplates and RR acceptance (date on receiver in this case is also a good indication, no others recorded with date and or no star, my guess is they started w/o star). This one happens to be the earliest "15" recorded, though several no-suffixes are earlier "numerically".

Thank you as always. That's interesting..my suspicion was that this was an early '15 rifle. It seems evidence is pretty in line with that after reading your information.

In addition, I also agree with your thoughts on early Dresden production possibly not having a pre-printed star. I looked very closely at the top receiver and there is not a trace of anything ever being there. My initial thought was it was peened away by the armorer, but I think it would have been hard to totally obliterate it, given that there are at least limited traces of the RR acceptance.

Either way, an interesting rifle for sure. I got lucky found a complete Unnumbered armorer's spare bolt this week and plopped it in this rifle. To me, slightly better than a m/m bolt.
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Neat early sterns Chris...... the depot peening is a interesting feature. There is an interesting run of sternsgewehr rifles at the top of the imperial section currently
Thanks Jory-- there's a good concentration of them in the group. Looking forward to seeing your recent acquisition in detail.
 
Dresden/Sterngewehr Bonanza right now. Cool to know the peening didn't obliterate any markings. Interesting early gun.
 

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