1917 Oberndorf Gew98 -EWB

[bruce98k]

Finally have a MWO Gew98 that I can keep. Getting one in the condition I like has been a very tough nut to crack.
And to me, the EWB connection is a bonus. The rifle remains in its original Imperial configuration save for a replaced
handguard. I will endeavor to post additional images as Paul may need additional data.

Even though this is EWB property marked, since its an original configuration Gew98 I put it in this section.

 

[biggymu]

That’s a nice get! Very clean. Congratulations!

 

[hale1940]

Wicked rifle Bruce. An EWB marked late Gew98 like this one is a serious want of mine. I'll be interested to see if Paul has anything cool to point out!

 

[feldmütze]

Excellent!

 

[Warrior1354]

Wonderful Gewehr Bruce thank you for sharing.

 

[mauser1908]

What an absolute gem Bruce! Great maker/ date combo too.

 

[Loewe]

Finally have a MWO Gew98 that I can keep. Getting one in the condition I like has been a very tough nut to crack.
And to me, the EWB connection is a bonus. The rifle remains in its original Imperial configuration save for a replaced
handguard. I will endeavor to post additional images as Paul may need additional data.

Even though this is EWB property marked, since its an original configuration Gew98 I put it in this section.

That's as nice as these get, and this is probably the only wartime WMO I have seen EWB issued, I think maybe a pre-war WMO or DWM or two are known but typically these late war rifles attributed to EWB are Amberg's, probably leftovers stocked up in depots when Epp and crew gathered them up and issued them in Bavaria. I did review trends on the rifles range, the pattern so far developed suggests strong Turk deliveries but in blocks, about a dozen w-blocks are known, all those up to 5000/w are Turked, all after German, property marked or G98M's mostly. None Turked anyway... this seems the general pattern, the Turks often group in batches, (though it seems around this range the Turk contracts demish sharply until 1918, maybe the Germans had a need for more rifles at this time, Spandau dropped out of G98 production by this time - and WMO took many of their leftover receivers -, but who knows why the Turks become less common around the w-block to the start of 1918)

I am very much interested in this rifles trends, bolt data is the toughest to get, especially when Turks are so prominent, I doubt a single Turk has an original bolt, though matching stocks are common enough. Also the BC would be of interest because so few are known in this range, but what few are trended suggest between the v-w blocks the lots roll over, v-blocks in the 900's and w-blocks are teens, though we are talking less than half a dozen and anything is possible but my bet is this rifle will have a 900 lot or a very low lot, single or lower double digits....

 

[bruce98k]

Paul here are the images of the barrel code and bolt inspections.
The character below the Imperial firing proof is a Gothic 'E'

 

[Loewe]

Thanks Bruce, - bolt trends are problematic due to the scarcity of reports, especially 1917-1918 when so many Turks and bolt mismatchers dominate surviving trends.... though what seems to be the case is that the acceptance on the bolt body will match the acceptance or one of the acceptances of the RR, in this case the first character which I characterize as a C/G, in surrounding cases there are C/D where the RR carries this same C/D; the exact identification is less important than making the same identification of the subject characters, I use Ken Huddles chart in most cases, but for tricky characters I compare to Görtz and other charts,

Your rifle is really rather extraordinary compared to rifles typically encountered, though it "seems" your rifle falls into a range w-cc block of 1917 where the Turks are rarely encountered, only one in trends, whereas prior to the w-block they figure highly in trends (though this is due to their higher survival rate Turks have compared to full German rifles 1916-1918); though even for the rather more original state seen w-cc blocks this is exceptional!

 

[bruce98k]

Paul let me add a good image of the right side of the receiver, acceptance area.

 

[Loewe]

Thanks Bruce, the RR clearly shown would be nice though I can guess it based upon trends and the glancing view... this rifle is on the cusp of significant RR and acceptance charges, = specifically the introduction of Latin characters dropping the German Fraktur and Sütterlin which is often incomprehensible, even the Germans can't stick to a a standardization of how the letters are drawn,,, you can compare ten charts and get 3 or 5 different versions of some letters.... half the time I think I need an enigma machine to decipher this German script (Hell had the Germans coded their wartime communications with Sütterlin they could have defeated the English enigma code breakers,,,)

 

[bruce98k]

Paul here is the RR shot. Pretty sure the matching Sütterlin character is an 'E'.

 

[mauser99]

About time ! now i can stop looking for you... I came close a couple times but, nothing worthy.. Thats an interesting example as well with the beech stock and all.. WW1 and Freikorp fighting commies.. Might come in handy soon !

 

[bruce98k]

Fine...where's my 38 Borsigwalde...LOL....

 

[Loewe]

Thanks Bruce, the RR clearly shown would be nice though I can guess it based upon trends and the glancing view... this rifle is on the cusp of significant RR and acceptance charges, = specifically the introduction of Latin characters dropping the German Fraktur and Sütterlin which is often incomprehensible, even the Germans can't stick to a a standardization of how the letters are drawn,,, you can compare ten charts and get 3 or 5 different versions of some letters.... half the time I think I need an enigma machine to decipher this German script (Hell had the Germans coded their wartime communications with Sütterlin they could have defeated the English enigma code breakers,,,)

I think it is a "G", though "E" is one of the first Latin characters that are indisputable, but they are universally in the second and third position, whereas this first position remains this exact style and character, which begs the question why do they go Latin on the second and third but retain the original acceptance in the first position? It doesn't matter in my research what the exact letter is, what is important is changes in the pattern as the letter is only the initial of the inspector and is irrelevant for our purposes (we know almost none of the inspectors, Görtz published a few names but all pre-war period, but as far as I am aware no extensive list is available and if they were it wouldn't be especially revealing - I would like to know them to use as a tool tying them to leter interpretation)

Kind of like the 98k situation, as far as I am aware, off-hand, the only WWII inspectors known by name and some history are FN's three inspectors....

Anyway, thanks for the direct picture as I prefer absolute accuracy when I can get it and that is often not possible! Your efforts are very helpful to my research, especially as w-cc blocks are the most important ranges for "German" service and as a consequence have a low survival rate, especially in high grades like yours!

 

[Absolut]

Bruce, congratulations to that nice Mauser Gew98 rifle. I had a great time comparing it with my Mauser G98 which is not only also 1917 as your rifle, but also in the same high w block with them being only around 1000 digits apart. I compared the stock acceptance stamps, they seem to match perfectly, aside of the B(eech) and EWB stamp. The acceptance stamps all match. If you want to compare them too, see here: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/all-matching-mauser-oberndorf-1917-dating-gew98.40685/ . Is the follower on your rifle altered to stop the bolt when magazine is empty?

 

[PrayingMantis]

Thanks for the additional photos. Makes me think I should do a thread on which markings are helpful to the studies.