From the limited numbers known, 9 with pictures, 10 with this one, most are interwar builds like this one, but almost all carry the property mark (1920), which suggests this is before 1931 in most cases as by then German had dispensed with such deception, (
by 1932 Germany had begun rearmament, Hitler did not start it, he just accelerated something underway... further while Germany was increasingly more stringent in industrial rearmament secrecy, the RM was probably far less prone to deception, many radicals had power there, - they were contemptuous of such niceties or dealing with the USSR, unlike the more pragmatic RH, who rightly saw a better future in closer ties to the USSR...)
I suspect from the parts mix, the crudity of the work (
RM are almost always sloppy and rely on salvage and expediency, - they didn't waste money on small arms, their budget wasn't small, they just spent it on development, often in foreign countries, or on the few ships they could build, - which under incredible pressure in 1931, from France, England and the US (Hoover), refused to stop the pocket battleship programs, though much of this was probably over fear of more unemployment such cancellations would have caused...), early rear sight sleeves (e/29, e/14, e/6 waffenamts), plus the North sea unit markings (N.### no suffix or "k") many carry and placement, these are probably late 1920's to pre-1935 era. None, so far as I can tell have post 1933 sights (
WMO sleeves, S/42K, G, or waffenamts - some G98's have rearmament era upper RS parts, but the rear sight sleeves were not replaced, which typically means it was in use prior to 1933, plus the property marks (1920) are not typically seen once Hitler came to power (not elected- Hitler was never elected to any office prior to 1933)
** None are pre-1919, I suspect the earliest possible are 1925-1929, at least one retains original WWI barrel, but M/anchor served as a proof next to the barrel serial, generally a 1926 introduction (going by Simson), RM was very irregular in their practices, far less formal than the RH. A couple 98a are known too, which is kind of odd, but the RM is full of oddities..
I assume most here have seen the M/Anchor depot build on the other board. Does anyone have a grip on the timeline of the M/Anchor markings? Are these post-WW1 or was this used pre-1919? I know the MA marking comes later (I think), but not sure what the cutoff is though.
