CourlandPocket
Member
Hello friends,
I’ve registered here specifically to share with you one very beautiful and extremely rare item — and, hopefully, to get professional insight and help from the experts in this community.
I live on the Baltic Sea coast, in Latvia, right in the heart of the Courland Pocket. The fighting here during WWII was extremely intense. It was one of the last strongholds of the Wehrmacht. There’s a local legend that the German troops held out here and didn’t surrender even after the official capitulation — simply because they had no communication and didn’t know the war was over. Of course, this is more of a myth, as there are documented cases of surrender in this area.
Naturally, I have a deep interest in the military history of this region — it’s rich and ever-present. The forests and abandoned farmsteads around here still hold many secrets, and every time I go out with my metal detector, I find something new. But today I want to show you something else.
In my hands is an incredibly rare MAUSER sniper scope, originally mounted on a K98 rifle. It comes with its original mount and is covered in various markings and stamps. There are many military acceptance marks, practically on every part. Both Imperial and Wehrmacht markings are present. It seems to be so rare that I’ve found virtually no solid information about it online — which is why I hope some of you might help identify it.
I can’t offer any documents to prove its story, but I ask you to take this as family lore: this scope is a wartime trophy, brought back by my great-grand-uncle who served in the Red Army. He got in in battle here in courland pocket in the end of 1944 or early 1945. After the war, it was carefully preserved and occasionally used — in fact, my grandfather (nephew of the owner ) last used it for hunting just a few years ago. The scope has never been tampered with or altered in any serious way. The only non-original element is that, a few years ago, my grandfather carefully applied a new layer of bluing, as the original finish had faded with time. Whether that was the right thing to do or not, it is what it is. Other than that, this scope is in absolutely superb optical and mechanical condition.
Honestly, every time I hold it in my hands, I feel a kind of… excitement that’s hard to describe — my wife even gets jealous
I would really appreciate any insight into this particular Mauser-marked scope model. From what I’ve gathered, it’s quite uncommon for Mauser themselves to produce optics — unlike Carl Zeiss or Hensoldt. Possibly a special contract for elite snipers? Or am I just overhyping it?
I’ll try to post detailed photos soon, especially showing all the markings and serials — there are quite a few.
As for the four separate parts shown, they came together with the scope that I inherited. I believe they are all original parts, but I don’t rule out the possibility that they were made by my relative for better mounting. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know for sure now.
In general, I do collect military optics, mostly binoculars, but this sniper scope is the gem of my collection.
Wishing you all a great day. And sorry in advance - english is not my mother’s tongue, so should be many mistakes.
Tony
I’ve registered here specifically to share with you one very beautiful and extremely rare item — and, hopefully, to get professional insight and help from the experts in this community.
I live on the Baltic Sea coast, in Latvia, right in the heart of the Courland Pocket. The fighting here during WWII was extremely intense. It was one of the last strongholds of the Wehrmacht. There’s a local legend that the German troops held out here and didn’t surrender even after the official capitulation — simply because they had no communication and didn’t know the war was over. Of course, this is more of a myth, as there are documented cases of surrender in this area.
Naturally, I have a deep interest in the military history of this region — it’s rich and ever-present. The forests and abandoned farmsteads around here still hold many secrets, and every time I go out with my metal detector, I find something new. But today I want to show you something else.
In my hands is an incredibly rare MAUSER sniper scope, originally mounted on a K98 rifle. It comes with its original mount and is covered in various markings and stamps. There are many military acceptance marks, practically on every part. Both Imperial and Wehrmacht markings are present. It seems to be so rare that I’ve found virtually no solid information about it online — which is why I hope some of you might help identify it.
I can’t offer any documents to prove its story, but I ask you to take this as family lore: this scope is a wartime trophy, brought back by my great-grand-uncle who served in the Red Army. He got in in battle here in courland pocket in the end of 1944 or early 1945. After the war, it was carefully preserved and occasionally used — in fact, my grandfather (nephew of the owner ) last used it for hunting just a few years ago. The scope has never been tampered with or altered in any serious way. The only non-original element is that, a few years ago, my grandfather carefully applied a new layer of bluing, as the original finish had faded with time. Whether that was the right thing to do or not, it is what it is. Other than that, this scope is in absolutely superb optical and mechanical condition.
Honestly, every time I hold it in my hands, I feel a kind of… excitement that’s hard to describe — my wife even gets jealous
I would really appreciate any insight into this particular Mauser-marked scope model. From what I’ve gathered, it’s quite uncommon for Mauser themselves to produce optics — unlike Carl Zeiss or Hensoldt. Possibly a special contract for elite snipers? Or am I just overhyping it?
I’ll try to post detailed photos soon, especially showing all the markings and serials — there are quite a few.
As for the four separate parts shown, they came together with the scope that I inherited. I believe they are all original parts, but I don’t rule out the possibility that they were made by my relative for better mounting. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know for sure now.
In general, I do collect military optics, mostly binoculars, but this sniper scope is the gem of my collection.
Wishing you all a great day. And sorry in advance - english is not my mother’s tongue, so should be many mistakes.
Tony
Yes, I couldn’t find anything similar anywhere, but I believed so strongly in the existence of this “Mauser” scope that I even registered here just because of it.
