Letter codes to ponder

[M1903A3]

LETTER CODE REPOSITORY THREAD


Hi all. Inspired by the thread showing stock markings under butt plates, here's a few markings that maybe someone else has seen and knows about. Also if anyone else has any mystery markings let's see them!

First off are these "s" stamps, on both a firing pin and a safety. These came in a Russian capture rear bolt half I got, and didn't get scrubbed. Neither did the WaA code on the pin. Also note the strange little "R"(??) on the side of the cocking piece, which is also an unscrubbed R/C piece, which is "e" (Koehler) marked along with a 4 digit serial but no WaA.

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[M1903A3]

Next is a strange marking that I have on two separate "e" (Koehler) marked gas shrouds. Clearly it's SOMETHING as it is in exactly the same place on both shrouds. Both bolts are similar in being "Gustloff" bolts, with Astrawerke bodies and extractors and Koehler shrouds. Click on the pics for full size.

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[M1903A3]

Here is a bcd4 sight base. No serial numbers this late, just the markings for Elite Diamante and the WaA1. Is that a 3? M? E?? W??? I feel like it's the old eye test where you have to tell which way the E's are facing! Otherwise this is a normal rifle with "a" and WaA18 marked sight base, SVW trigger guard, and one of the bolts mentioned above.

From an EBay auction here is a triggerguard that clearly has the same "3" as the sight base above.

Here is a pic ripped from a post here asking about a bcd 42. This rifle's sight base has a "2" on it, but is also clearly marked for Elite-Diamant with no WaA approval stamp.

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[M1903A3]

A couple more. These LOOK like Astrawerke ID, but are they really? Both appear on cocking pieces, one sideways and one vertical. Both appear on the rear of the sear surface, the vertical one on a scrubbed R/C piece and the other on a "STAR" stamped WaA63 proofed piece (serial 2893) which ALSO has the Oberndorf W/R mark on its underside. This can't be Astrawerke on this piece, right? We can't know what the other piece had scrubbed off, but THIS mark looks very much like Astrawerke's stamp. Thoughts??

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[jbmauser]

There are so many of these random little letter or numbers stamped on small parts. Most are probably some sort of in house inspection stamps. I doubt we'll ever know the exact meaning of most of them but they are neat to follow and look for.

 

[bruce98k]

Letters

The 's' on the firing pin and safety are Mauser in-house acceptance stamps used prior to the WR stamp shown on the bottom of the bolt sleeve.
'i' denotes Elite-Diamant, a subcontractor supplying sight parts to various K98k contractors. The firm also produced S84/98 bayonets as well.
The 5-pointed star on the Mauser cocking piece indicated that it was a diverted part from an export contact.

 

[M1903A3]

The 's' on the firing pin and safety are Mauser in-house acceptance stamps used prior to the WR stamp shown on the bottom of the bolt sleeve.
'i' denotes Elite-Diamant, a subcontractor supplying sight parts to various K98k contractors. The firm also produced S84/98 bayonets as well.
The 5-pointed star on the Mauser cocking piece indicated that it was a diverted part from an export contact.

Thank you Bruce! Very interesting about those "s" markings. Any idea about that "w" or maybe "3" on the sight base?


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[M1903A3]

There are so many of these random little letter or numbers stamped on small parts. Most are probably some sort of in house inspection stamps. I doubt we'll ever know the exact meaning of most of them but they are neat to follow and look for.

They are, aren't they? Easy to overlook too.


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[M1903A3]

Here's a few more fun codes to look for. First off the well known "e" of Hermann Kohler, and the "m" of Limbacher. Note the machining marks that look like stripes on the Kohler safety's rear. Both bolt sleeves are "e" (Kohler) as well. Also note that both bolt bodies are "l" code for Astrawerke. These are both "bcd" bolts, one from an all matching rifle and the other an all matching spare bolt I bought.


.

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[M1903A3]

Now for some hidden gems. These are manufacturer codes on the bolt safety stop pin! Pretty small part, but I am finding codes on these as well, even late. Looks like two "a" codes which I presume are Nahmatag in Dresden that also made rear sight sleeves and band springs. This COULD be a "d" as well, for Brehmer, missing the top of the line on the "d."

The other code is a fancy upper case "B." This is interesting, because this does not look like the simple "b" found on firing pins manufactured by Carl Barth. Oberndorf used a couple styles of "b's" in their triggerguards, but this doesn't look like those either. I KNOW I have seen this letter in this style before...... just gotta figure out where.

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[plymouthmauser]

I would have assumed the 'b' with the tail is the German abbreviation for two s's in a word; I believe its called an estet (sp).

t

 

[M1903A3]

I would have assumed the 'b' with the tail is the German abbreviation for two s's in a word; I believe its called an estet (sp).

t

Interesting!! I did not know that, thank you.


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[plymouthmauser]

wikipedia

t

 

[M1903A3]

I should point out that in the years these pins were still getting inspected and stamped with WaA symbols, this spot is where that would be. I'll get one out and post it just for reference.


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[M1903A3]

Here are two WaA markings on R/C bolt sets. The first is running left to right and looks to be WaA 65 or something like that, the other is oriented like the "a" and "B" are and could be WaA 77. It also looks like the marking "TT" that I have seen on safeties in the same location as the "s" pictured on safeties in this thread. I also have two bolts from "bcd" 4 rifles that have completely unmarked pins in them BUT both have exactly similar machining marks on them so wherever they came from was probably the same place.

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[M1903A3]

Here's a couple more bolt stop pins. The guy who sold all these to me said that he believed they all came out of a huge parts hoard found in Romania. He was very nice and picked through to find the ones I wanted. There are still nice people around!! Anyway here are two more markings: the RW of Oberndorf Mauser, and what looks very much like an "O" which would correspond to Madix-Nahmaschinenteilfabrik in Dresden, who made triggers and sears.


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[M1903A3]

A picture with all the currently known stop-pin letter codes together plus a blank one. Note the slight differences in shapes and sizes of the various areas, and the differing machining marks.

(It is possible that the "a" marking corresponds to pre-ww2 Czech production, as seen on floorplate and follower below. These pictures are from an EBay auction but the seller could only guess at the origin of the parts. Clearly it is a very similar "a".)

Here also is a screen grab from an auction showing a Czech rear sight assembly for sale.

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[M1903A3]

Trigger/sear examples: First we have a late war blocky style "e" marked sear and trigger both from the same manufacturer (Köhler). The second set is an S/42 marked armorer's trigger with non-maker marked sear (at least not visible here, see below...) and last a sear marked "ch" and "WaA140" which should be Fabrique National in Liege, Belgium. The trigger on this third set is unmarked. I have seen "ch" and "WaA140" marked sears that appear to be Russian Capture examples from the heavy dip bluing. (The "e" marked trigger/sear in this group is from an R/C gun that got parted out.) I have not seen a trigger "ch" marked, only sears.

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The patina and coloration of the S/42 trigger are beautiful, and the colors do not show up well in photographs.

Down INSIDE the sears of the S/42 set and the "ch" set, both sears have a marking as well. The sear on the S/42 set is stamped "1" or possibly "l" which is very much like the marking for Astrawerke. The "ch" FN sear has a "P" inside, and note the machining marks. The late blocky Köhler sear has no marking inside.

 

[mowzerluvr]

Rear of a bolt shroud from an e/46 bolt out of a 337/1939. Circle K is the first I have noticed an external marking in that area. Also has an ? asterisk on the bottom.

 

[M1903A3]

Rear of a bolt shroud from an e/46 bolt out of a 337/1939. Circle K is the first I have noticed an external marking in that area.View attachment 151620 Also has an ? asterisk on the bottom.View attachment 151621

Very interesting, I have never seen a marking in either place! Very good find! That asterisk indicates that that part was rejected, but then obviously it was used anyway. The bolt shroud is interesting too, that looks like a late blockier style safety on it, marked "e" just like the cocking piece. Could this be a depot applied replacement bolt back half? I have never seen that "circle K" BUT have seen more than a few "circle A" markings.


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