lateralus2
Member
Hello! I have a 1943 Mauser K98 bnz-43 rifle that my uncle said he brought back from the War. He said they found an abandoned amory or factory and took the rifles that were there. Unfortunately, he is no longer alive so I don't have much more information than that. I have done some research online and have discovered that this rifle was manufactured at Steyr-Daimler-Puchs AG in 1943. It has the WaA623, WaA77, ans WaA135 Waffenamts. Serial number is in the 49xx series and all s/n's match on the bolt area, sight base, sight leaf and on the metal on the underside of the gun. There is no s/n on the sight adjustment. There is no letter associated with the s/n. Numbers also match on the bolt lever, safety and top of bolt. They are in the 02xx series. Underside of the rifle butt stock appears to have a C stamped in it with some sort of Waffenamt that I cannot make out from wear. It has the bnz/1 shield on it and a letter near that shield that might be an "h" but it is partially obscured. Wood is in decent shape, little rust, i have the original leather strap but am missing the cleaning rod. No bayonet either. I have not taken metal apart from wood to check any of the hidden s/n's but I think they will match. There is no firing proof on the part of the bolt expected but there are a couple of weird stamps on the underside of the bolt lever. One might be a rune or some little "x" or swastika and the other looks like some sort of square with maybe a V or a triangle in the middle (hard to tell). Anyway, I'm just trying to find some info about this rifle so I can have another part of my uncle's story and can share the history with my family. Understanding value would be good, too, but not necessary bc to me it's priceless. Besides what I have found out on the Internet, what can you all tell me about it? Thanks so much!