Identification markings

[Werner747]

Hi everyone,

New here, so nice to meet all of you . I recently made my second Mauser acquisition, the first being an M48. The second is an Israeli Mauser, however, it was clearly a German Mauser before the Israelis got hold of it!

I will post some pictures:-

The first image shows the Weimarian Eagles (drooped wings) - what does the number (looking like 63) below the eagle denote?

On the second image, there is another Weimarian Eagle, there is also the Star of David, but can anyone help with the rest of the markings? Are they German, and if so, what do they denote?

The Third image shows other markings - any idea on what they are?

The fourth image show the S/G42 markings, which, if I understand correctly means manufactured at Obendorf Mauser Werke in 1935? The 7.62 stamp is obviously Israeli .

Not a high dollar collectible, but still curious about the markings. Any assistance would be highly appreciated.

Warm regards

Werner

 

[heavy_mech]

Welcome. You are correct in that it's a 1935 MO rifle. Late '35 (yours is an r block) brings in e/63 inspection. That's what's on your receiver right. Process inspections. On the left next to the Star of David is the firing proof. Barrel right off the shoulder should have one too. Nice rifle with quite a bit of history.

 

[ltong29]

The original rifle was a 1935 Oberndorf (S/42G) K98k.
Marking breakdown:
Picture 1: Weimar eagle is the firing proof. Indicates the receiver was fired and there was no damage after the firing inspection. There shouldn't be a 63 beneath it. The original barrel would have had one as well. Only the serial (looks like 5928r) and the Weimar eagle are original German markings. Here's what it looks like without Israeli markings.

Picture 2: These are known as waffenamts. These were inspection marks indicating the rifle has passed inspection at several points during the assembly. I'm not 100% on this since I don't have the material in front of me, but the the first waffenamt indicates that the receiver itself passed dimensional tolerance and hardness inspection. The second waffenamt indicates that the barrel and sights were installed correctly. I believe the third is the final acceptance indicating that the fully assembled rifle passed all inspections was accepted by the Wehrmacht. Since yours is a later S/42G rifle, it looks all the waffenamts are E/63. It's theorized that Oberndorf in 1935 was being used to train other waffenamt teams to be sent to other factories beginning K98k production, so a bunch of different waffenamt inspections appear that year. My m-block has E/211 and K/167 (box style) waffenamts and my o-block has 1 E/63 and 2 E/211s.

Picture 3: The rifle was re-barreled by the Israeli's, so it's not the original German barrel. 7.62 refers to the new caliber (7.62x51) and I'm assuming the remainder of the marks are Israeli inspection marks.
Picture 4: S/42G is the factory code

 

[Werner747]

Thank you guys, much appreciated!