Any information on this rifle would be appreciated

[waltlsn]

Hey everyone. I was trying to find some information on this K98 Mauser that was passed to me, and it looks like you guys know what you're talking about. Maybe someone could spare a few minutes to help me identify it?

This rifle is supposed to be a bring-back. It was given to my dad by a friend of his, which was then passed to me. My dad was never able to get specifics from him. He didn't like to talk about the war and of course we never pushed it.

From what I've already learned, the DOU 44 means it was made in Waffen-Werke Brünn AG in 1944. I would be interested in any more information on this rifle that anyone could glean from the pictures. If you have any specific picture requests, I would be more than happy to oblige.

I am particularly interested in the markings on the receiver. I see the eagle with (what looks like to me) the SS stamp? Could anyone tell me anything about this stamp or what the letters under the stamp mean? Of course, any information at all is highly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[mrfarb]

Welcome to the forum! You will find a lot of knowledgeable folks here, so you came to the right spot.

You are right, your rifle was manufactured by Waffenwerke Brünn Werk II in Povaska Bystrica in the Slovak republic.

The marking on the top of the receiver is WaA80, the final acceptance marking for the dou factory. Based on your serial, your rifle was made in the later part of 1944- the letter "V" under the serial number tells us that.

The bolt is mismatched, a pretty common occurrence.

 

[Turbo Archie]

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If you don't mind can you post pictures of the SN on the floor plate?

Its on the trigger guard.

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[waltlsn]

Welcome to the forum! You will find a lot of knowledgeable folks here, so you came to the right spot.

You are right, your rifle was manufactured by Waffenwerke Brünn Werk II in Povaska Bystrica in the Slovak republic.

The marking on the top of the receiver is WaA80, the final acceptance marking for the dou factory. Based on your serial, your rifle was made in the later part of 1944- the letter "V" under the serial number tells us that.

The bolt is mismatched, a pretty common occurrence.

I didn't know they acceptance markings. That's great info. I never could make out any of the characters other than the "A."

I had also wondered about the "V" so thanks for that as well. Were they marked in quarter years or something different? Not a huge deal, just curious.

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If you don't mind can you post pictures of the SN on the floor plate?

Its on the trigger guard.

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Not a problem. The floor plate SN doesn't match the rest of the rifle, but other than that, what can you tell from the pics? I do notice there is a small stamped mark there, but I have no idea what it is. Perhaps that's what you're looking for?

 

[mrfarb]

Each block of 10,000 rifles was stamped with a letter suffix to keep track of total production, starting with the letter "a" and going through "z". In 44, they topped out at "ii", double letter i that is. It's hard to grasp if you don't collect German weapons, but common for them.

The unreadable marking on your floorplate is Wa77, for bnz.

 

[waltlsn]

Wow that's great info mrfarb. Much more than I was planning on getting.

Thank you very much for your time and knowledge.

I think once I get the rifle checked out (hasn't been shot in over 60 years) I'll take it down to the range. I've never shot one of these rifles before and knowing more about it really piques my curiosity.

Thanks again.

 

[Turbo Archie]

Thanks for the pictures.

I was hoping it was matching. It could have had a salvaged Gew98 floorplate in this Sn range based on what I’ve seen and just wanted to see if yours was consistent with that.


Thanks anyways!!

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