Gewehr 98 Amberg 1902 1278

[PrayingMantis]

This came up at auction last month. Sam found it and passed it to me, I owe him big time for the assist. The auction photos made it look a little rough, but the rarity more than made up for it. Like many I’m sure, I’ve been kicking myself for a decade for missing out on the first Amberg 1902, serial no. 3969, that surfaced and sold on Gunbroker. Though Storz says Gew 98 production started at Amberg in 1902, none had surfaced until that auction.

After getting this one and looking it over in person it’s much nicer than I thought. Biggest detraction for me is the weak stock cypher, looks like it absorbed moisture, but the outline is strong. I was very pleased to find that the barrel is original matching. The font on the barrel is slightly different than the receiver, the spacing and the 7s specifically, i had thought it was a replacement but looking at Amberg 1903 7700 (https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/amberg-1903.50699/) that barrel style is consistent. The bolt body is original matching. Striker assembly and bands are mismatched, which I can live with, rear sight leaf is depot matching (and bent, must have fallen when the slider was pushed up), and the handguard is an unnumbered armorers replacement. It went through at least two depots and is counterbored. The rear sight components have a J added to them, like the B found on the sights of Amberg 1903 7700. Interestingly for a 1902, the bolt has wide gas ports.

It’s marked to Bavarian Infantry Regiment Nr. 15, as was the other Amberg 1902. There’s a good bit online about the regiment, which fought at Verdun and took heavy casualties. I suspect that many, if not most, ‘02 Ambergs were issued to the regiment, and subsequently destroyed, contributing to their low survival.

AMBERG 1902
Receiver 1278 c/R c/W c/R
Barrel 1278 c/W c/W c/W B 2 A
Front Sight Blade
Front Sight Base c/R
Rear Sight Leaf 78 c/U (Depot Replacement)
Rear Sight Base c/R c/R
Sight Slider 78 c/R J
Sight Slider Tabs 78, 78 c/W J, c/W J
Ejector Box 78 c/R
Trigger Sear
Trigger c/R
Front Barrel Band 74 c/C
Rear Barrel Band 37 c/D
Trigger Guard 1278 c/R c/R
Front Trigger Guard Screw 78 c/R
Rear Trigger Guard Screw 78 c/R
Floor Plate 78 c/R
Follower 78 c/R
Stock 1278 c/O c/W c/R
Stock Disk c/R B.15.R.7.34.
Stock Disk Screw. c/R
Stock Wrist c/W c/R
Recoil Lug c/R
Stock Keel c/W
Handguard armorers
Buttplate 1278 c/R
Bayonet Lug 78 c/R
Cleaning Rod 87
Bolt Body 1278 c/R c/R
Extractor 78 c/R
Safety
Cocking Piece
Bolt Sleeve
Firing Pin

 

[PrayingMantis]

Barrel and sights.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Magazine assembly and bands, which aren’t matching.

 

[PrayingMantis]

The stock. The buttplate is hard to see but there are two depot marks.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Matching parts of the bolt and the stock disk.

 

[Gew 98]

Very cool rifle, it definitely has the been there done that look! I always find these earlier gews interesting, especially most of them have been depot worked a few times and the unit mark is a cool bonus. Awesome find!

 

[biggymu]

Very nice survivor Cyrus. Any idea what the stamp in the circle is on the trigger sear, that’s a new on one me. Rare bird she is!

 

[chrisftk]

Cyrus, awesome score!

This rifle is wonderful in many ways. It gives great insight into early Bavarian 98 production and is particularly interesting for the features on the bolt. It's sort of the Bavarian cousin of that unadulterated Danzig 02 I got back in March..

Glad this landed with someone who will appreciate it, photograph it and not turn around and flip it. I doubt we'll see another 1902 Amberg anytime soon.

 

[AN-94]

Congrats on getting such an uncommon rifle, it really is a survivor! The unit history is quite fascinating, one can only imagine what that rifle might have seen.

 

[joryfreeburg]

Nice 02 Amberg Cyrus. Cool patina on that one

 

[chrisftk]

Congrats on getting such an uncommon rifle

One of two known, IIRC. Our boy Cyrus struck gold on this one!

 

[PrayingMantis]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I'm still ecstatic to have found this one. And i like referring to it as "The Survivor" haha.

@biggymu good spot, Rick, i hadn't seen that mark before either. The trigger sear and front sight blade are both unnumbered and have a very black finish. i'm still trying to figure them out, but i'm leaning towards them being stateside replacements. The striker assembly is mismatched and it had an after market sling attachment, so i wonder if it was someones shooter for a time.

 

[mauser1908]

Cyrus, it’s a top tier example. I’m super glad you got it. This could be thought of, almost as a transitional rifle. It bears the early gewehr features with the modern bolt and caliber. It’s really a novel arrangement, probably unique to Amberg.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Cyrus, it’s a top tier example. I’m super glad you got it. This could be thought of, almost as a transitional rifle. It bears the early gewehr features with the modern bolt and caliber. It’s really a novel arrangement, probably unique to Amberg.

Thanks, Sam! and thanks so much for finding it for me. You're right, it is like a transitional piece. The gas ports were the most shocking part for me. If only the striker assembly were matching, would be interesting to see if the pin were the early style.

 

[Tom H]

Wow nice score, thanks for posting!

 

[OnlyMil]

Righteous 1902 pickup Cyrus! Original bolt body a huge plus IMO, narrow gas vent holes!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[chrisftk]

Righteous 1902 pickup Cyrus! Original bolt body a huge plus IMO, narrow gas vent holes!! Thanks for sharing!

Hey Alex, not to be pedantic, but the gas holes are the later (larger) ones. That's part of why this is interesting-- If you were looking at most other 1902s with original bolts, they would have the narrow holes. I think the hypothesis from Sam was that since Amberg was late to the party, they skipped right to the larger gas holes.

Here's a good side-by-side:


Hope that helps

 

[OnlyMil]

Oops, I just blatantly missed that in Cyrus' description, my bad . Amberg always has to be different!

 

[PrayingMantis]

Oops, I just blatantly missed that in Cyrus' description, my bad . Amberg always has to be different!

Haha, just have to do things their own way.
The large gas ports were a shocker though, not what any of us guessed. Makes me glad I ended up with this one. The other had a depot bolt, and even though it’s condition was better, we’re able to learn more from this one.