Hi All,
I'm just going to go ahead and wade into a little controversy while sharing this rifle. A while back, the topic of this came up on my 1915 CGH,, which was heavily patina'ed with no blue on the metal, but rich bluing underneath the wood. The suggestion by another well established collector/member was that it was very possibly stripped by prolonged exposure to poison gas (chlorine is a well-known oxidizing agent, as are some other known chemical weapons). A passage from Storm of Steel mentions rifle barrels being blackened by poison gas. This was also a topic that CB has posed in the past.
In the spirit of this-- I present exhibit A- a Spandau 1915 that I picked up last year. The rifle matches, save a rear sight leaf and slider. The rifle had a trip to Depot #13, so it was likely replaced there.
The condition of the rifle made me think back to the aforementioned CGH thread:
The surface metal of this rifle is rough, blackend with oxidation and have some scattered pitting. It is uniform on any exposed metal. However, under the wood the receiver is bright while and the barrel has rich bluing. If the CGH raised this question, this rifle should too-- is there ever a way to prove it? Doubtful, but makes for interesting discussion; could have just as easily been 75 years of cigarette smoke at a VFW hall!
Either way, it's a nice rifle on its own merits and a solid war horse and the stain from a mudcover on the stock is an added bonus.
Here's the data:
Receiver 2071 n
Barrel 2071 n (Bo (?) 157 )
Front Sight 71
Rear Sight Leaf: mm
Sight Slider mm
Ejector Box 71
Trigger Sear 71
Front Barrel Band 71
Rear Barrel Band 71
Trigger Guard 2071
Trigger Guard Screws 71, 71
Floor Plate 71
Follower 71
Stock 2071
Handguard 2071
Buttplate 2071 (Depot 13)
Bayonet Lug 71
Cleaning Rod 71
Bolt body: 2071 n
Safety: 71
Cocking Piece: 71
Bolt shroud: 71
Firing Pin: 71
Extractor 71
I'm just going to go ahead and wade into a little controversy while sharing this rifle. A while back, the topic of this came up on my 1915 CGH,, which was heavily patina'ed with no blue on the metal, but rich bluing underneath the wood. The suggestion by another well established collector/member was that it was very possibly stripped by prolonged exposure to poison gas (chlorine is a well-known oxidizing agent, as are some other known chemical weapons). A passage from Storm of Steel mentions rifle barrels being blackened by poison gas. This was also a topic that CB has posed in the past.
In the spirit of this-- I present exhibit A- a Spandau 1915 that I picked up last year. The rifle matches, save a rear sight leaf and slider. The rifle had a trip to Depot #13, so it was likely replaced there.
The condition of the rifle made me think back to the aforementioned CGH thread:
Matching 1915 CGH War Horse
Hi all, This one popped up on an online ad and the seller was about 45 minutes from me so I jumped right on it. It's a total war horse, with most of the finish worn away, but appears 100% factory matching and has an original (unnumbered) cleaning rod and sling. This sling is very rough and...
www.k98kforum.com
The surface metal of this rifle is rough, blackend with oxidation and have some scattered pitting. It is uniform on any exposed metal. However, under the wood the receiver is bright while and the barrel has rich bluing. If the CGH raised this question, this rifle should too-- is there ever a way to prove it? Doubtful, but makes for interesting discussion; could have just as easily been 75 years of cigarette smoke at a VFW hall!
Either way, it's a nice rifle on its own merits and a solid war horse and the stain from a mudcover on the stock is an added bonus.
Here's the data:
Receiver 2071 n
Barrel 2071 n (Bo (?) 157 )
Front Sight 71
Rear Sight Leaf: mm
Sight Slider mm
Ejector Box 71
Trigger Sear 71
Front Barrel Band 71
Rear Barrel Band 71
Trigger Guard 2071
Trigger Guard Screws 71, 71
Floor Plate 71
Follower 71
Stock 2071
Handguard 2071
Buttplate 2071 (Depot 13)
Bayonet Lug 71
Cleaning Rod 71
Bolt body: 2071 n
Safety: 71
Cocking Piece: 71
Bolt shroud: 71
Firing Pin: 71
Extractor 71