BSW 1938 restoration project

Glad you're happy with it. Finding bSw parts can be a long and winding road.

mto7464 said:

Have you thought about re-bluing it? It would look a bit more "correct".

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I actually have, and I brought the idea up with Dave/Mowserluvr when I bought parts off of him since he is a longstanding bSw collector, and so I wanted his opinion. We both arrived at the conclusion that the "damage" has already been done, and any further attempts to modify the action would risk further damaging it, which isn't something acceptable for a barreled action this rare.

Updating the thread with some progress photos. I managed to get a hold of Eagle/4 proofed barrelbands, and they both ended up matching. Quite a serious coincidence too, because I purchased each one in totally separate transactions.

Also, the stock that Mowserluvr provided me turned out to be a Kriegsmarine Ostsee stock, so this makes it a super rare find. Couldn't be any happier! (Thanks Mr. Dave!)

Comparing the font of the S/Ns to the bands that came with my stock though, I really wouldn't be surprised at all if the matching S/Ns aren't actually original BSW serials, but are Norwegian capture restamps, which while kind of a bummer, but you win some you lose some. :/

IMO, still massively preferable to hump-job S/Ns that are done by foragers here in the states though because at least with norwegian capture surplus I can be assured the Eagle/4 proofs are genuine, and therefore know that they are at least BSW parts. So not beating myself up over it. I'm just glad I still managed to find correct parts.

Looking good!! A great result for a rare item. Mowzerluvr IS great to deal with I would agree. Thank you for sharing your project.


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I agree, the BSW resto is looking great. Your getting pretty lucky with parts. Keep us updated and more pics!

I'm sure the bSw bands you bought are original, not re-stamps. You got them from Tagmil. He sourced Norway parts just like I did BUT he would take an all matching stock set and strip it of all parts (save for the stock discs) and sell individually to maximize profit. So they likely are bands that started life on the same rifle. Dang, just a bolt away now huh? I still have the e/4 matched set of bolt guts if you go that route. Good progress. It used to take me 10 yrs to source all the bSw parts to mske an sction into a correct manufacturer piece. I call those rifle (family reunions.

I took my rifle to a gunshow today to go and look for a bolt with unfortunately no luck. The search wasn't fruitless however as I was able to learn of a guy who has parts through talking to the vendors. The hilarious thing though was that as I turned around, one of the vendors was whispering behind my back that I was going through way too much trouble for a R/C gun, and I thought that was funny.

Thing is, if this was a BYF or any other common code gun, I would actually be inclined to agree. But, you don't see BSWs too often, and I was never in it for the cost/benefit perspective. This project so far has been a valuable learning experience and I've learned more about BSWs in the past 7 weeks than I have just looking things up online. Plus...I'm having quite a lot of fun! Those reasons alone make it worth it, at least to me.

You're doing great. There was a time when finding correct parts for or even KNOWING the little things about bSw were near impossible. And no surprise with the vendors comment, they are profit driven. We who love the hobby for the history and put these things together for the love of the hobby are the ambassador's of these fine weapons and bring it all forward. A vendor will sell a rifle or a part and forget all bout it.

Unfortunately that's the truth most vendors could give a damn about collectible rifles it's all about buying for cheap flipping for big profits. And to be honest a lot of vendors I talked to hardly know anything about German military rifles they just haven't priced high hoping they fish for a big catch.

mowzerluvr said:

You're doing great. There was a time when finding correct parts for or even KNOWING the little things about bSw were near impossible. And no surprise with the vendors comment, they are profit driven. We who love the hobby for the history and put these things together for the love of the hobby are the ambassador's of these fine weapons and bring it all forward. A vendor will sell a rifle or a part and forget all bout it.

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This!!! Everyone finds some aspect of K98s that really interests them, so do what you enjoy! We don’t have to make a profit doing this, but stores and dealers DO, and therein lies the temptation to boost sales. “Restoring” a gun is a great opportunity to really dive deep into variations and nuances in a manufacturer.


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