ZF41 scoped rifle

Erich71

Member
I picked up this rifle with a scope, and wanted to get the thoughts of those who know more about these. The rifle appears to have two sets of SNs. The entire bolt assembly matches itself, and the rifle has another set of SNs all matching. However, the scope SN does not match the rifle. Is this normal?

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Welcome!
What you have is a K98 rifle with a rear sight having a rail for a "flat roller" mount.
Your scope mount is righteous and has been issued but to another rifle, not yours, as the serial number on the mount doesn't match your rifle.
The scope looks legit and has its own factory issued serial number which doesn't need to match the rifle's serial number.
The scope mount you have is not made for the scope rail on your rear sight. The scope mount you have has beveled rollers which have started to cut a groove into the rail. Not good.
You need to find a scope mount with flat rollers or just find flat rollers and modify your mount (but keep the original beveled rollers, of course).

The bolt assembly has a different number than the rest of the rifle. This has not been done in the factory but happened somewhere down the road as the rifle changed hands. It's called a "bolt mis-match".
 
Thanks for the welcome and info gunkraut.

So, normally the mount's SN should match the rifle, but not the scope's SN?

Also, it's a bit hard to see from the photos, but in the full rifle pic (just under the scope rail) someone carved their initials into the wood "AK". The carving marks appear very old. Is it possible, or was it normal for a sharpshooter to carve his name into the stock of his rifle?

Any idea on the value of the entire package?
 
Nice find! No the soldier who was issued the rifle would not have carved on it. Defacing issued weapons was verboten. Likely initialed by the GI who brought it home.
 
Nice find! No the soldier who was issued the rifle would not have carved on it. Defacing issued weapons was verboten. Likely initialed by the GI who brought it home.

Thanks, interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I know it was a Canadian vet bring back as I got it from the family member of the vet after he passed.
 
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