Gewehr 98 Danzig 1914 2370a/y Rework

PrayingMantis · Oct 18, 2020

More rephotographing. Danzig 1914 that was apparently reworked by Danzig around 1917. When I first posted this one, Paul speculated it could have been reworked at a lower level depot, which makes a lot of sense given the lack of cypher and acceptance on the stock, and the lined out renumbering of major parts only.

Personally I like this one a lot, despite the mismatched small parts and some rust spots/pitting. Aside from the 1914 date, I like the added acceptance for the rebarrel, and the armorers stock is interesting. The stock was only numbered on the bottom, and the acceptance looks Danzig, c/K maybe? Internally the recoil lug has the same mark, albeit without a crown.

DANZIG 1914
Receiver SN 2370y
Barrel SN 2370y
Front sight SN not numbered
Rear sight SN 17
Sight Slider SN 35, 35, 65
Ejector box SN 36
Trigger Sear SN 89
Front barrel band SN 18 70
Rear barrel band SN 09 70
Trigger guard SN 755 2370
Trigger guard screws SN 16, ?0
Floor Plate SN 07 70
Follower SN 18
Stock SN 2370
Handguard SN not numbered
Buttplate SN not numbered
Bayonet lug SN not numbered
Cleaning Rod SN not numbered

PrayingMantis · Oct 18, 2020

Photos of the stock and trigger guard.

cj556 · Oct 18, 2020

Another neat one Cyrus!

Loewe · Oct 18, 2020

The barrel FP is definitely 1917 Danzig, the C/D on the RR almost always means re-barrel and I think by Danzig by comparisons made... it seems Danzig did a lot of reworking or re-barreling of damaged G98's. These are pretty common and the rifles are often well used like this one. Just from recollection (and speculation) it seems that Danzig, Hannover (seemingly before they started assembling G98's) and Dresden did a lot of reworking, - based upon barrel patterns and acceptance comparisons, though the Hannovers (H) may have some connection to Spandau as there is something going on between that relationship (Spandau to whoever H is)

Anyway, I doubt we will ever really understand these relationships, Storz didn't discover it apparently and trying to weave a theory from match barrels, FP and acceptance patterns is pretty thin without a lot of examples (and it is far more difficult to get barrel data on Imperial rifles... I have x10 barrels recorded for 98k than G98/98a, - actually its probably more like x20 times more! For whatever reason Imperial BC's are damn difficult to get from auctions or forums..)

I like this rifle also!

PrayingMantis · Oct 19, 2020

cj556 said:
Another neat one Cyrus!

Thanks, Marc!

Loewe said:
The barrel FP is definitely 1917 Danzig, the C/D on the RR almost always means re-barrel and I think by Danzig by comparisons made... it seems Danzig did a lot of reworking or re-barreling of damaged G98's. These are pretty common and the rifles are often well used like this one. Just from recollection (and speculation) it seems that Danzig, Hannover (seemingly before they started assembling G98's) and Dresden did a lot of reworking, - based upon barrel patterns and acceptance comparisons, though the Hannovers (H) may have some connection to Spandau as there is something going on between that relationship (Spandau to whoever H is)

Anyway, I doubt we will ever really understand these relationships, Storz didn't discover it apparently and trying to weave a theory from match barrels, FP and acceptance patterns is pretty thin without a lot of examples (and it is far more difficult to get barrel data on Imperial rifles... I have x10 barrels recorded for 98k than G98/98a, - actually its probably more like x20 times more! For whatever reason Imperial BC's are damn difficult to get from auctions or forums..)

I like this rifle also!

Thanks for the additional information, Paul. It is fascinating to study and speculate on these wartime reworks.

Gewehr 98 Danzig 1914 2370a/y Rework

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