gergnotwen
Rest In Peace
After over 13 months of working on this rifle project to restore it to original configuration, I am finally done and here are the results. This is my second K98 purchased (unless you want to count a G33/40) and it was purchased locally from the gentleman who had owned it since after it arrived in the US via APO at the end of the war.
The "Saga" as it were...
Let me preface this post by stating that my intention was to return this rifle as closely as I could to the original configuration as built by Gustloff. No unnecessary pimping, refinishing or alterations. You can see the rifle as it was found at this post:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?4708-Another-bcd-4-LSR-Uncovered&highlight=bcd+lsr
After disassembly and inspection there were a few parts found damaged, altered or just plain missing. None of the serial numbered parts had been tampered with or damaged, thank goodness. Any parts removed and replaced during this restoration are exactly the same code, finish and type as were originally found on the rifle. This included the magazine follower (cut to allow the bolt to close with no rounds in the magazine), the magazine floor plate, somewhat damaged and rusted, the extractor(which had the top and bottom surfaces filed and polished by the owner to "improve" the action) as well as the forward and rear barrel bands and hand guard. All original parts have been retained separately to preserve what originally came on the gun as found.
First big challenge, to find a donor stock that could be used to provide a new forward section to replace the long lost duffle cut piece. This was NOT easy to do and after buying five stocks (two from Europe, two off GB and one from a kind member of this forum) I came to the conclusion that this was not the approach to take. I took detailed photos using my digital calipers and sent them off to the master craftsman Lezek Foks in Poland. I owe him a debt of gratitude and would like pass on a personal recommendation as to quality of his work to those who may be considering this approach. He was very responsive and delivered the missing fore end in just about two weeks, he even made it a bit long and marked the cut line to match the stump that was left under the rear band. He is an amazing asset to the collecting community: contact him at Leszek Foks <lestekf@gmail.com>
http://www.fox-military.com
The actual stock repair process was derived from Hambone's great post on duffle cut repair located here:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?3289-Duffle-cut-repair-(pics)&highlight=duffle+cut+repair
To see what variations I added to the post go to page 2 at the bottom. These late "C" stocks tend toward been thicker and rougher in all directions so having the newly made fore end larger is the only way to fit it properly once glued and attached.
I found and bought four sets of late war stamped bands in order to find a front and rear band that matched the finish of the original damaged un-numbered late bands that came with the rifle. This was a bit of a time consuming and expensive process but it can be done.
The scope, although not matching is as close as I could come to the number of the rifle itself and other than the scope key and rail cover being missing, the scope set has a matching can, original strap and sunshield. For more photo details on the scope and mount set used, refer to this post:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?6159-LSR-BEK-Phosphate-Scope-Set&highlight=lsr+scope+set
By far and away the most difficult part of this restoration was the scope mount base screws. As it turns out all of these along with one tapered locking pin had been lost over the years that the rifle was used for hunting in New Jersey. The original owner admitted he had tried to reproduce some screws to "fill the holes". I am grateful that he did as the original mount survived and was not lost unlike the duffle cut fore end. After ordering screws from a US reproduction manufacturer and I was very disappointed with the results as they were obviously not even close to emulating the originals. I ordered some from another reputable maker and waited for a set of screws… and waited…. and waited. During this period I began to search for someone who could make accurate screws for restorations and combed the internet and every other source I could turn up in order to ensure I could finish this restoration "right". To make a very long story short, I digitized the original mount screws based upon the actual mount in hand as well as photos of known originals and turned them into 3D CAD files that I could send to possible machinists and gunsmiths. This search for a maker took months but finally I found a gentleman who was willing to invest the time and effort into producing something that was as close to the originals as could be made right here in the USA. I did finally receive the screw sets from the original order I had waited so long for, just as the final US made screws were done. Photos of both reproduction sets were put in the mount and were blindly sent to four collectors in the US and Europe for an opinion on which set to use for the restoration. The reproduction screws made in the US were unanimously picked by these collectors as "the ones to use". You can see the results in the photos and I for one am very impressed with the work done by one whom I would say is a master craftsman. Thank you Scott, you are the man!
The original hand guard was was damaged and split where the forward band had been forcefully driven into the front lip via a hammer. After searching for an un-numbered white glue hand guard to replace the original (yes the original hand guard was white glue type even though the stock is a red glue "C" stock) unfortunately to no avail. I opted to put an un-numbered "C" E18 armorers replacement on the rifle as a close substitute as it tends to match the stock (see photos).
I added the CEY 45 sling FYI
)
A few oddities about this rifle…
- It is a Semi-Kreigsmodell stock variant with the checkered butt plate which I have not removed or disturbed so I do not know if it conceals any stock codes on the butt end. Dave R commented in a recent conversation that the only other SKM type LSR from Gustloff he had seen, had been fitted with take down disks when converted to LSR configuration and the SKM butt plate had been left on the rifle. Anyone else seen a true SKM LSR variation like this?
- When working on the stock repair to the fore end I put the stock out in the sun to help with drying the stock fore end color on the new wood to match the original stock. In the bright light I noticed a small area in the barrel channel just forward of the receiver that looked odd. I pulled our the magnifying glass and the E18 "V" jumped out at me. How did I miss this (old and blind I guess..)? The marking is tiny but clear, what it means, I'm not sure. Any comments?
- There appears to be a "C" stamped in the wood just to the rear of where the stock was relieved for the mount. I have seen other LSR with markings in this area… Is this the"bunny proof" for LSR rifles??
In addition I would like to thank the following people who were so generous and helpful in this project:
mauser99
Radomman
bruce98k
DonW
Dave Roberts
Col.Klink
Touhy
mrfarb
Lesek Foks
Hambone
and any others I may have forgotten to mention… Thanks, I enjoyed this one! It's what makes collecting a challenge and a hobby.
The "Saga" as it were...
Let me preface this post by stating that my intention was to return this rifle as closely as I could to the original configuration as built by Gustloff. No unnecessary pimping, refinishing or alterations. You can see the rifle as it was found at this post:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?4708-Another-bcd-4-LSR-Uncovered&highlight=bcd+lsr
After disassembly and inspection there were a few parts found damaged, altered or just plain missing. None of the serial numbered parts had been tampered with or damaged, thank goodness. Any parts removed and replaced during this restoration are exactly the same code, finish and type as were originally found on the rifle. This included the magazine follower (cut to allow the bolt to close with no rounds in the magazine), the magazine floor plate, somewhat damaged and rusted, the extractor(which had the top and bottom surfaces filed and polished by the owner to "improve" the action) as well as the forward and rear barrel bands and hand guard. All original parts have been retained separately to preserve what originally came on the gun as found.
First big challenge, to find a donor stock that could be used to provide a new forward section to replace the long lost duffle cut piece. This was NOT easy to do and after buying five stocks (two from Europe, two off GB and one from a kind member of this forum) I came to the conclusion that this was not the approach to take. I took detailed photos using my digital calipers and sent them off to the master craftsman Lezek Foks in Poland. I owe him a debt of gratitude and would like pass on a personal recommendation as to quality of his work to those who may be considering this approach. He was very responsive and delivered the missing fore end in just about two weeks, he even made it a bit long and marked the cut line to match the stump that was left under the rear band. He is an amazing asset to the collecting community: contact him at Leszek Foks <lestekf@gmail.com>
http://www.fox-military.com
The actual stock repair process was derived from Hambone's great post on duffle cut repair located here:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?3289-Duffle-cut-repair-(pics)&highlight=duffle+cut+repair
To see what variations I added to the post go to page 2 at the bottom. These late "C" stocks tend toward been thicker and rougher in all directions so having the newly made fore end larger is the only way to fit it properly once glued and attached.
I found and bought four sets of late war stamped bands in order to find a front and rear band that matched the finish of the original damaged un-numbered late bands that came with the rifle. This was a bit of a time consuming and expensive process but it can be done.
The scope, although not matching is as close as I could come to the number of the rifle itself and other than the scope key and rail cover being missing, the scope set has a matching can, original strap and sunshield. For more photo details on the scope and mount set used, refer to this post:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?6159-LSR-BEK-Phosphate-Scope-Set&highlight=lsr+scope+set
By far and away the most difficult part of this restoration was the scope mount base screws. As it turns out all of these along with one tapered locking pin had been lost over the years that the rifle was used for hunting in New Jersey. The original owner admitted he had tried to reproduce some screws to "fill the holes". I am grateful that he did as the original mount survived and was not lost unlike the duffle cut fore end. After ordering screws from a US reproduction manufacturer and I was very disappointed with the results as they were obviously not even close to emulating the originals. I ordered some from another reputable maker and waited for a set of screws… and waited…. and waited. During this period I began to search for someone who could make accurate screws for restorations and combed the internet and every other source I could turn up in order to ensure I could finish this restoration "right". To make a very long story short, I digitized the original mount screws based upon the actual mount in hand as well as photos of known originals and turned them into 3D CAD files that I could send to possible machinists and gunsmiths. This search for a maker took months but finally I found a gentleman who was willing to invest the time and effort into producing something that was as close to the originals as could be made right here in the USA. I did finally receive the screw sets from the original order I had waited so long for, just as the final US made screws were done. Photos of both reproduction sets were put in the mount and were blindly sent to four collectors in the US and Europe for an opinion on which set to use for the restoration. The reproduction screws made in the US were unanimously picked by these collectors as "the ones to use". You can see the results in the photos and I for one am very impressed with the work done by one whom I would say is a master craftsman. Thank you Scott, you are the man!
The original hand guard was was damaged and split where the forward band had been forcefully driven into the front lip via a hammer. After searching for an un-numbered white glue hand guard to replace the original (yes the original hand guard was white glue type even though the stock is a red glue "C" stock) unfortunately to no avail. I opted to put an un-numbered "C" E18 armorers replacement on the rifle as a close substitute as it tends to match the stock (see photos).
I added the CEY 45 sling FYI
)A few oddities about this rifle…
- It is a Semi-Kreigsmodell stock variant with the checkered butt plate which I have not removed or disturbed so I do not know if it conceals any stock codes on the butt end. Dave R commented in a recent conversation that the only other SKM type LSR from Gustloff he had seen, had been fitted with take down disks when converted to LSR configuration and the SKM butt plate had been left on the rifle. Anyone else seen a true SKM LSR variation like this?
- When working on the stock repair to the fore end I put the stock out in the sun to help with drying the stock fore end color on the new wood to match the original stock. In the bright light I noticed a small area in the barrel channel just forward of the receiver that looked odd. I pulled our the magnifying glass and the E18 "V" jumped out at me. How did I miss this (old and blind I guess..)? The marking is tiny but clear, what it means, I'm not sure. Any comments?
- There appears to be a "C" stamped in the wood just to the rear of where the stock was relieved for the mount. I have seen other LSR with markings in this area… Is this the"bunny proof" for LSR rifles??
In addition I would like to thank the following people who were so generous and helpful in this project:
mauser99
Radomman
bruce98k
DonW
Dave Roberts
Col.Klink
Touhy
mrfarb
Lesek Foks
Hambone
and any others I may have forgotten to mention… Thanks, I enjoyed this one! It's what makes collecting a challenge and a hobby.
Attachments
Last edited:
