Opinions on Kriegsmarine K98k

[Alex W.]

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[Alex W.]

The two take down disks. They have Weimar Eagles on them but the numbers below them are hard to identify

[gew98]

Roc ; This 98k you have pictured has been very rebuilt postwar. There is no telling when or why the bolt body was swapped out. The stock has been fairly cleaned overall. The poor period finish remaining , being covered by black paint clearly presents a post "application". The stock takedown disc assembly is a crude replacement. Note how the tube has been crudely peened into place - definately not german period work.
This rifle is definately a "salvage" type of job postwar. Possibly when the rifle was deactivated they ground the bolt face which prompted it's replacement somewhere down the road. The bolt is from a 337 or early bcd code 98k.
I understand such deacs in europe command big money - even in it's present state. In the US - this would be only about as valuable as the action to rebarrel for a shooter , basically some parts have value still.
Being this rifle is mismatched - the renumbered stock has what appears to me to be a "N" suffix and not an 'M' as the receiver serial has. Nothing smacks about it being pre may 1945 german salvage , but postwar cobbled up likely when it was deactivated. As well the potential for it to have been reworked/repaired to any extent while in postwar non german use is extremely high and most inferred by it's present characteristics.

[Rich Pouncey]

Again, please note that I make no comment about the rifle in question.My comment is strictly about the use of black paint on weapons.

Among contemporary builders of flintlock rifles,especially that version that we call Southern Mountain Rifles, builders use limited amounts of black paint to age a rifle giving it the appearance of one that has seen a number of years' service. While in this case I see no reason to give an aged patena look to a 98k,I mention this simply to point out one use of black paint on weapons that I am very familiar with.

A most interesting Thread,and WOW...but am I learning .

[Frogprince]

Gew98 makes some good observations and points. I did not know that the bolt body was from another rifle myself. And looking closely at the work on the stock disc repair it is not unlike the quality of repairs (for example) as seen on some ex-Romanian 98K’s.

While the metal might be pitted and components reworked to make them serviceable - period German arsenal reworks at least tried to approximate a new appearance. With functionality taking precedent over appearance. And while it might be a stretch, a numbered bolt like that from another rifle conceivably could have been swapped out in the field. But not with an arsenal rework. And it certainly was not manufactured with that bolt body. If my feeling was that the rifle was altered postwar it is only stronger now.

Rich, While I have never seen a period German directive regarding the use of paint, something to think about might be this: Standard German operating procedure as regards refurbishing small arms including bluing them to try and approximate a new appearance. In fact I have seen some early reworks where I had a problem deciding whether the finish was original or redone (actually most reworks are easy to identify - the hard to spot ones were the exceptions). Unless the weapon is completely stripped of all of its paint (with emphasis on completely) getting it reblued properly is going to be a real problem if it was painted. PS: Paint over Parkerizing works great. Lots of places for the paint to grip. Paint over a polished metal surface is guaranteed to chip away - especially on exposed or operating surfaces. Nuff said. FP