1903 Spandau

Thanks for posting Brian-- I've seen this rifle before, did it come from Eisel? The bolt is depot (originally off an Amberg) Unit marking is cool-- @AndyB will probably pinpoint it better, but I read as possibly Landsturm tied to the I Armee Korps. Just a guess off the top of my head though. Anything else on the buttplate?
 
It’s a great rifle! Though, I suspect the bolt has been humped. The font looks off and the small bolt components weren’t renumbered 99% of the time. I leave 1% open because anything is possible. With that said, I’ve never personally seen it and would expect small components to take the form of an overstamp rather than grinding. Again great rifle, the remainder looks righteous, I just think the font is suspect.
 
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mauser1908 said:
It’s a great rifle! Though, I suspect the bolt has been humped. The font looks off and the small bolt components weren’t renumbered 99% of the time. I leave 1% open because anything is possible. With that said, I’ve never personally seen it and would expect small components to take the form of an overstamp rather than grinding. Again great rifle, the remainder looks righteous, I just think the font is suspect.
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The striker assembly gives me pause, but I think the body is Ok.
 
Interesting how many different fonts exist on this weapon. There aren’t many 4’s and 3’s that are the same. Just an observation. Who knows where this has been. A hard to find example no matter what.
 
the bolt was reserialed evidently and force matched as there was a e range on the handle, under new serial was a old one. The unit could be Landwehr Batallion of I.Army Corps, 1.company and weapon nr.91.
 
I’d argue that the bolt body is not legit depot. If the buttplate had a depot number or the wrist a Bavarian acceptance mark I’d say it’s plausible, but the font is too consistent with the obviously fraudulent striker assembly. The new numbers are overstruck, which is a depot practice, but the font doesn’t match known examples, like the 1915 Danzig Jory recently posted.
Were it mine I would swap the bolt. Overall a damn fine early Gew with a neat unit mark.
 
I think it could be depot bolt. Marks in wood disappear with age and time. However, it’s not 100 percent for sure. Actually the cocking piece is not numbered. Firing pin is. I’ll just keep the bolt with it. Great to hear your thoughts.
 
The J inspector proof is on bavarian bolt and on disc, is the buttstock serialed same way also 3543d ? I would prefer remain already by this configuration as the bolt was force matched and the serial font doesnt look new date. Different font of serial is on front ring, which was probably replaced too.
 
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