Third Party Press

1913/1920 (Double Dated) Danzig Kar98a Carbine

Certainly it is welcome here, it has been through a rework during the later Weimar era.

Your site is superb on the effort taken to document rifles, - much work involved!


Badger said:
Here is photo album of one piece in my WW1 Mauser collection. I hope this is the right forum for this double dated year. Regards,
Badger
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SimsonSuhl said:
Certainly it is welcome here, it has been through a rework during the later Weimar era.

Your site is superb on the effort taken to document rifles, - much work involved!
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Thank you Simson ... that's very gracious of you .... :)

Coming from someone as knowledgeable as yourself, that's much more than just a compliment ...

Regards,
Badger (Doug)
 
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Badger said:
The German Military worked around these restrictions by assembling rifles from previously made parts
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So this is where you guys hide out when not on Gunboards eh ?

Interesting quote from your website, this may explain my 1918 Danzig that is completely mis-matched, stamped 1920 and reissued. Some of the parts show damage and considering she is "R" block, I assumed her parts were salvaged off other Kar98as and reused to build her. Many of her parts show late war finish (or lack there of) on the metal parts and some of the markings are worn away but still visible. The bluing is near perfect as well as the wood stock.

There is, however, a single marking that is stamped in between the 1920 and bore land measurement on the top of the receiver and it appears to be two crossed swords in a circle. I have been unable to find a match. Some people suggested either Czech or Polish origin in regards to the stamp but again, I haven't found any matches. The firing pin is Czech marked and the cocking piece has a WaA on it but the piece is not blued (very confusing!!!).

Any ideas on this one ?
 
Nabs, I believe someone mentioned your mystery marking at Gunboards? On the Persian thread... check it out, it was a couple weeks back that I noticed it. I think it was John Wall who commented on the marking (from recollection, I could be mistaken.)
 
SimsonSuhl said:
Nabs, I believe someone mentioned your mystery marking at Gunboards? On the Persian thread... check it out, it was a couple weeks back that I noticed it. I think it was John Wall who commented on the marking (from recollection, I could be mistaken.)
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Thanks Simson, I didn't see that thread. I will go hunting for it right now.

Edit: Had a look through the Military Mauser sub forum and only found one thread related to Persian mausers but nothing in there I could see related to my marking. Do you recall which forum the thread was on ?

I did a search for John Wall's user name and looked through a list of his posts for the last 3-4 months and didn't notice anything. I will try again tomorrow, perhaps it is not my night.
 
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Post # 18

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?162056-Anyone-know-what-this-is


Nabs said:
Thanks Simson, I didn't see that thread. I will go hunting for it right now.

Edit: Had a look through the Military Mauser sub forum and only found one thread related to Persian mausers but nothing in there I could see related to my marking. Do you recall which forum the thread was on ?

I did a search for John Wall's user name and looked through a list of his posts for the last 3-4 months and didn't notice anything. I will try again tomorrow, perhaps it is not my night.
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Thanks. It is interesting to note how a similar marking links the other rifle in question to a Persian refit. It is confusing that there is nothing on my carbine to indicate such service except for the mystery marking on the receiver (re-stamped tangent rear sight for instance). Another forum member notes that the markings on the bolt sleeve and bolt indicate a Polish refit and the marking on the receiver could be Spanish in origin possibly linking the carbine to the Spanish civil war. I once owned a Kbk wz 98 that was scrubbed and shipped to Spain as an export model so again I am confused why the markings on this Kar98a, if it did see Polish then Spanish service, were also not scrubbed.
 
John Wall is about as knowledgeable on these things as you can get, and he also stated Persia is known to have used the Kar98a after WWI.

I know nothing of these contract sales except what was written in the Dec 2003 MRJ by Scarlata and he does not mention the Kar98a, focusing on the Czech contract sales. He also does not go into markings much.

If it were me, I would serious look into Persia as a possible origin for this marking on your Kar98a.

Nabs said:
Thanks. It is interesting to note how a similar marking links the other rifle in question to a Persian refit. It is confusing that there is nothing on my carbine to indicate such service except for the mystery marking on the receiver (re-stamped tangent rear sight for instance). Another forum member notes that the markings on the bolt sleeve and bolt indicate a Polish refit and the marking on the receiver could be Spanish in origin possibly linking the carbine to the Spanish civil war. I once owned a Kbk wz 98 that was scrubbed and shipped to Spain as an export model so again I am confused why the markings on this Kar98a, if it did see Polish then Spanish service, were also not scrubbed.
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I will certainly consider it as there is no other explanations. Like Imperial Germany and the Weimar republic, it looks like she didn't much action in Persia, her bore (after some scrubbing with solvent and patches) looks brand new. The same goes for her parts.

Interestingly, there is a c/RC stamped on the butt plate which matches the stock. I have never seen a c/RC stamped on a butt plate before. Just goes to show these inspectors were really doing their job!
 
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