German buttplate to be identified

[Jean-Loup]

Thanks for posting these good close up comparison photos. Mine doesnt seem to have any type of Waffenampt marking on it.
Does anyone know what the meaning of the top makings are?
The force required to bend this piece out of shape like this must have been considerable.

[phild]

Thanks for posting these good close up comparison photos. Mine doesnt seem to have any type of Waffenampt marking on it.
Does anyone know what the meaning of the top makings are?
The force required to bend this piece out of shape like this must have been considerable.

I will not have a WaA stamp as it was made prior to 1919. The markings are a little non-standard (IMO) in format, but appear to be L.P.T or I.P.T (and the number) I will see if I can nail it down better but I tend to think it is a Trains unit mark as many of these were used by Trains related units (Supply/munitions not Locomotive) or maybe a Police marking for Landes Police as many of these went to police units during the 20s and 30s.

It is very probable that who ever would have been using it by 1944 had not connection to the Police unit that it may be marked to.

[Jean-Loup]

I meant there is also no imperial (not sure of the correct name) or other type of stamp as on the one posted by Alan.
The unit involved where this was found was one of the Grenadier battalions of Reserve Division 148.
I would be interested if you can figure out what the markings mean.

[Alan Smith]

Jean-Loup,

Keep in mind that the buttplate I posted is off of a Kar 98 manufactured in 1909; these carbines were manufactured through the end of WWI in late 1918. Thus, it may be that your buttplate is off of a Kar 98 that never had the Imperial acceptance marking on it (or, more likely, the Imperial acceptance stamp is present on your buttplate but is not visible due to the years of rust).

The Kar 98 buttplate is a very specific design and different from the buttplate used on the Gew 98 and other rifles/carbines, so I think we can be confident that (due to its unique design) your buttplate is from a WWI (or pre-WWI) era German Kar 98.

As the other post mentioned, many of these Kar 98 were used by the Weimar police and military, which resulted in Kar 98 being used in various roles in the WWII period.