Gewehr 98 H Spandau 2279a

[PrayingMantis]

This is a neat one: H assembled Spandau 1917 comprised mostly of armorers parts. The receiver is Siemens & Halske. The majority of the parts are c/W) armorers replacements that were given a serial number. Some parts may be salvage or replacements. The trigger does not match, nor does the sight slider and buttons. The buttplate is mismatched but I’m confident it’s a salvage. The follower and floorplate had been replaced with incorrect non-imperial parts, so I swapped them for armorers spares.
Overall a very cool H assembled Gewehr that is great to compare to Chris’s recent example and the one Sam has had for a while. What is interesting to see on each rifle is which parts are armorers spares opposed to salvaged parts. Also, mine has a couple loose H stamps, one in front of the internal stock serial and the other on the rear sight base, that I wonder may be deliberate.

H SPANDAU 1917
Receiver 2279a c/U
Barrel 2279a KR274 c/R
Front Sight 79 c/P
Rear Sight Leaf 79 c/B)
Sight Slider 77
Sight Slider Tabs 94, 16
Ejector Box 79 c/R)
Trigger Sear 26
Front Barrel Band 79 c/U
Rear Barrel Band 79 c/U
Trigger Guard 2279 c/W
Trigger Guard Screws 79, 79 c/W)
Floor Plate armorers
Follower armorers
Stock 2279 Beech c/B
Handguard 2279 c/B
Buttplate 339? H K
Bayonet Lug 79 c/B
Cleaning Rod 29
Bolt armorers

 

[PrayingMantis]

Barrel and Rear Sight.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Triggerguard and Bands.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Stock, which appears to have had a cover on it.

 

[cj556]

glad you got this one Cyrus

 

[Loewe]

Great discovery! Although the late ones have more diversity and the best BC's, these early ones are more stable. We need an e-f block! (and more FW barreled examples)

In real terms we need more examples like yours, - not only more matching but displayed to get the right details. I think this is the largest problem, many are just a few pictures or b/r part rifles.

I added it to the study and linked it here.

**https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/research-project-sterngewehr-variations.47068/

 

[Loewe]

The "A" on the barrels is interesting, perhaps rejected salvaged, so far only a couple Krupp barrels (and the WOK RR), some of the other barrels are clearly ordnance spares, especially the Fritz Werner's. Which I am keen to see here...

FW and S&H were two of the most important industrial concerns of the period. The books on S&H go into some depth on the introduction of war production in their factories, they were not happy about it, - off hand they made a good number of items, including grenades or components. Like all the German firms they wore out their machines doing this crude and unproductive work, further the unrest 1917-1920 must have been incredibly destructive in Berlin or its suburbs (back then many modern Berlin suburbs were quite independent and remote from the insanity of Berlin, - long before and long after the two wars Berlin was often called the less German of all German cities, much like Paris with its decadence and depravity)

 

[PrayingMantis]

Thanks for the information, Paul. The timing was especially good on this, right after you started that thread and Chris got his H Spandau. Hopefully some more pop up. I’d really like to see a detailed photo spread of a 1918 dated one.
I’m also curious whether H abandoned rebuilding salvaged rifles when they received the Spandau receivers or if they did both simultaneously. My Danzig 1908 has a lot in common with the H Spandau 1917: https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/gewehr-98-danzig-1908-4832-hannover-rework.43529/

 

[Loewe]

Only 540/i is original Imperial and matching among the 1918's, it was a 2015 LR auction so pretty good pictures. Looks like only the RS is mismatched (probably salvaged parts), even the screws are "40". Has a FW made barrel with a Krupp blank. I will send pictures of it to you ASAP, let me know if you want them Sam and Chris, or whomever is a Hannover enthusiast!

I bet Hannover was doing repairs before and probably concurrently with these builds. There are just too many of the H-BP rifles to be isolated cases. Wolfgang proved to my satisfaction that H=Hannover, and I was a doubter for a long time...

 

[feldmütze]

Excellent pickup! These Hannover ones are special. I've got one with an armorer's maple stock that I'll pull out someday to do pics.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Only 540/i is original Imperial and matching among the 1918's, it was a 2015 LR auction so pretty good pictures. Looks like only the RS is mismatched (probably salvaged parts), even the screws are "40". Has a FW made barrel with a Krupp blank. I will send pictures of it to you ASAP, let me know if you want them Sam and Chris, or whomever is a Hannover enthusiast!

I bet Hannover was doing repairs before and probably concurrently with these builds. There are just too many of the H-BP rifles to be isolated cases. Wolfgang proved to my satisfaction that H=Hannover, and I was a doubter for a long time...

Sorry i missed that one! Sounds like a fascinating Gew, can't wait to see the photos.

Excellent pickup! These Hannover ones are special. I've got one with an armorer's maple stock that I'll pull out someday to do pics.

Thanks, Mike! Yours sounds really cool with the maple stock, looking forward to the photos!

 

[mauser1908]

That’s a beauty Cyrus! You would never guess that stock was beech, the fire blue on the bolt release just shows it’s a crispy one.

 

[Loewe]

I will try and post 540/i on the thread ASAP. I suppose no one will mind, they were taken from the auction anyway and is an excellent case study (LR is a valuable flipper for research, and pretty honest too, even CB had good words for him, which is good enough for me.)

 

[chrisftk]

Excellent pickup! These Hannover ones are special. I've got one with an armorer's maple stock that I'll pull out someday to do pics.

Now that I'd like to see Mike!

Great rifle Cyrus. I'd always prefer the good ones go to our crew here. Glad this one did.

 

[Loewe]

Excellent pickup! These Hannover ones are special. I've got one with an armorer's maple stock that I'll pull out someday to do pics.

2646!

Yes, a fine one with a matched bolt... would be good to get bolt details in full on that one. Although you took pictures of the underside of the receiver, which is busy, we didn't get a BC, which is probably in front of the RS. These early ones are less "exciting" than the late production, probably a Krupp-Sa special, or some more formal pattern. The late production carry the unusual barrels. Bolt matchers are hard to come by, yours is one of the few.

 

[Warrior1354]

Very nice Cyrus!

I'll be honest I'm curious how many of these were made I have a barrel receiver in the b block. It still pains me what became of this rifle but the parts were able to save three other rifles and the data was important.