Third Party Press

Post-War Hungarian use K98k

a single round restrike on the hakkenkreuz is much preferable to the unsightly rat bite marks made w/cold chisels & screwdrivers, file marks a bit less ugly. My dot 44 was peened using a 3/32” flat or ball nosed punch but 3 marks, on the cross & each eagle wing as well. one can still see remnants of the marks, top receiver is ‘file mark/63’.
 
I think I've seen the most info on these here on this forum. The post war, second hand use of the K98k was quite varied and sometimes obscure as far as historical info.
 
Thank you all for the great info and the other thread on these rifles. I just got my rifle home and took it all apart. No parts match except barrel and Receiver, however it has not been scrubbed of any original German markings. you can still see the swaztikas on the rifle and it is marked DUV 41. I am itching to learn more about this curious k98k. If it could only talk....
 
Would you be able to post photos of your butt plate and the left side of your butt stock?
 
Ya I will do that when I get gome from work. It does have the R-xxxxxx stamp on the but plate and the R on the left side of the stock
 
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Here is some more photos
 

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There you go!
That divot-like shape on the receiver is an 'R' within a triangle, and is typical for these. It's interesting that your rifle has retained so many original markings as most of these have been scrubbed of those pretty thoroughly. For example, my Hungarian K98k only has the year of manufacture (1944) left on it.

As far as value goes, it's literally whatever someone is willing to pay. I prefer these over RC's, but that's just me. There's no question that you're much more likely to encounter RC's than one of these, though.
 
For anyone interested: The added rear sling swivels on the reworked K98k rifles are the same as what were used on wartime Hungarian 43M rifles. That makes perfect sense, but also suggests either spare parts quantities exploited for these, or otherwise unusable 43M rifles being cannibalized to cobble together whole, functional rifles in the post-war period.

There has been a rumor that 43M rifles continued to be assembled in small basement workshops during the Siege of Budapest, but never anything like recorded accounts from survivors, at least outside of Hungarian speaking audiences. Bear in mind that the factory for both the 43M and G.98/40 rifles was on Csepel Island on the Pest side of the river, and was subject to Soviet occupation as early as late December 1944.
 
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