First Mauser: What 98k did I get???

[dugedug]

Anyone wanna tell me what I got? It's a CDNN Preduzece 44 Mod. 98 $139 rework, Walnut advertised as good to average but came 95% blueing and stock in excellent shape with only the usual small dings. Yugo crest is pretty light stamped. Below the the rear sight on the right side of the receiver there is two small birds with WBA 77 under them.

The ejector is still what looks like anodized red. Bolt, receiver, plate, and stock all #'s matching. Nothing forced. It has one of those flat butstock caps, I'm not to crazy about it(know were I can get the thick one?) but it's not beat up at all. Is this an older model because of the stock plate? Only thing that doesn't look like it matches, and I'm not sure it's suppose to, is the rear sight. It has a 4 digit number but nothing near the others.

First thing I noticed was under the armpit of the bolt handle. A little swatstika in a circle being carried by a butcher bird staring at me. Man there is proofs all over this thing.

It may just be my eyes but the trigger looks a bit thicker than all the other M48a's that i've seen which is nice. Not very much cosmo on it but it had a bit of an oil coating.

Now I gotta do some searching and figure out how to take the wood apart to finish looking/cleaning.

Any comments or knowledge of what I have is appreciated. Thanks.

[AKWARRIOR]

Originally these were in service with the Germans in WW2.What you have was captured and put to use by the Yugoslavian commies under Tito.


Regards,

[neilwest]

1. Enjoy, the collecting only gets better.;)

[REDSTAR]

Yeah, sounds like you got alot of Nazi markings. The Yugos ground most of them off. On my K98 there's only one Eagle.

[Schuetzenman]

dugedug,
Sounds like you have an early K98k. These are more desirable from a collectors point of view because they men your rifle is probalby prewar and was made with more care than the cup buttplate models that were made for faster production and to reinforce the stock for crushing skulls and pounding in doors. :D

If you have a true K98k type the stock will be scouped out under the full round bolt handle. Full round bolt is another clue to it being a K98k instead of an M48 or 48A. Last way is look at the wood hand guard on the barrel. A K98k hand guard stops at the front of the rear sight base. An M48 or any other model of 98 Mauser has a handguard that goes around the rear sight base and stops at the front edge of the receiver ring.

[dugedug]

Yessir, it is indeed cupped under the full round bolt handle on the stock. And it has the short upper handguard. I've counted 8 birds on it so far with many more other small stamps all over. There is even a bird with the number 18 under it at the forward most part of the front hooded sight at the base. So you get a bird starring at ya from the buisiness end :) The Yugo crest has two dates on it. They are 1914(so light I might be wrong) and 1943 consecutively.

I haven't found any grind marks on it at all. And the only thing that isn't german to my knowledge is the lightly stamped crest. I'm very please with this rifle. I'm getting anxcious to shoot her. The local store only had one box of remington core-lokt left and it cost me $15 but I can't wait till my surplus order gets here. Hopefully the snow dies down enough to give a good running through. It feels very well balanced and it sights super fast for me.

So, is this flat butplate more desireable? I was thinking because i'm taller than average(6'5") that I could use a little more stock. But if it is incorrect or would be more trouble than it's worth maybe i'll just stick with the one I have and leave the gun as "natural" as I can.

Thanks for the replies.

[dugedug]

Have it taken completely down now with no wood. Found a total of nine b-bird stamps including the one swastika holding one on the bolt handle. There are two marks that are puzzling to me. They are both the same and of what looks like the same size. One is on the flat underside of the receiver block and the other is on the underside of the bolt to the rear were the two step trigger lug is located. To me it looks like an a stick-person seagal holding an "o". or you could say it looks like a "o33" with the 3's being almost ontop of each other. Any ideas?

[dugedug]

Here are some webcam pics of marks.

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211051AM0.9573175.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211051AM0.493034.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211051AM0.1079981.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211053AM0.6334285.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211053AM0.6758981.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211053AM0.6535611.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200211054AM0.6832797.jpg

the third pic down is the one of that seagal looking thing holding a circle. you can't only but see the top half of the circle and it looks like the bird has a head but that is not part of the mark, it's just a pit.

[zouavexx]

Great pictures!

[AKWARRIOR]

See I was right.Right there you have waffen marks.Swatstikas abound.That rifle has probably see a lot of action.Even killed a few souls.Its a captured Kar98k.Gots lots of history behind it.If it could only speak to us.:( Hold on to her.:D

Regards,

[Schuetzenman]

dugedug,
The cupped metal buttplates of the war years don't make the stocks any longer, they just make it stronger at the end so that they could pound on things without splitting out the stock. It also helped keep the laminated stocks together better as it captured more end grain.

If you need more stock length you might be able to put a slip on rubber buttpad that will give you about another 3/4 inches of stock. It will also not alter the original condition of the rifle. In years to come these are going to go up in prices IMO and we don't want to sporterize any of these military rifles.

In the 1950's and 60's many US Springfield rifles were sold for about $20 bucks apiece. They were chopped, cut, rebarreled, blued, engraved, after market stocked and triggered into sporting rifles galore. Today the sporters made on them for the most part are worth far less than an unmolested Springfield rifle today.

Collection of all military rifles is a red hot past time today. Some rifles are hotter than others in demand. But one day they will all run out. It's a finite resource people, preserve them . . . it's an investment and it's history preserved!:)

[dugedug]

I got to thinking this morning that maybe I better just leave her alone as your suggestion and many others. I have to sporterize things. I had to un sporterize my AK. If anything i'll just buy another stock or a whole rifle for that matter and leave this one well enough alone. Only reason that I was wanting to mess with this stock is because someone on another forum mentioned this stock wasn't original for the rest of the rifle because it was missing the bolt disc. Maybe not having it makes it that much more unusual? thanks.

[HomerTHX1138]

Originally posted by Schuetzenman
It's a finite resource people, preserve them . . . it's an investment and it's history preserved!:)

Somewhere, Zouave is smiling... :)

In all seriousness, this is a lesson that people such as myself, who are relatively new to Military surplus weapons, need to hear. I now wouldn't dream of monkeying up any war rifle unless it is in major need of repair.

BTW,

I think I'm ordering one of these same rifles today! It's been several months since I've made a purchase. I'm living like a monk for pete's sake! :p

[zouavexx]

Originally posted by HomerTHX1138


Somewhere, Zouave is smiling... :)



buwhahhahahaaha!

Right now I am smiling about 20 miles north of New York City, and in an hour and 15 minutes I will be smiling at home. :)

:wave::wave:

[Schuetzenman]

Originally posted by dugedug
I got to thinking this morning that maybe I better just leave her alone as your suggestion and many others. I have to sporterize things. I had to un sporterize my AK. If anything i'll just buy another stock or a whole rifle for that matter and leave this one well enough alone. Only reason that I was wanting to mess with this stock is because someone on another forum mentioned this stock wasn't original for the rest of the rifle because it was missing the bolt disc. Maybe not having it makes it that much more unusual? thanks.

The lack of the steel doughnut in the side of the stock isn't necessarily incorrect. I have a flat buttplate early K98k reworked by the Yugoslavs. It has a European Walnut stock on it and it's quite pretty, but it doesn't have the firing pin take down washer in the stock. It is the original stock as pulling the stock out revealed some original markings in the wood that the Yugoslavs weren't going to do to a replacement stock. Then there is the fact of the flat buttplate. All Yugo 48 series used the deep steel cup buttplate. I'd suggest the other reference didn't really know quite as much as they thought they did.

[neilwest]

1. I love those stamps. I just ordered a GEW 98 from Century. Lets hope I have your luck.

[dugedug]

"It is the original stock as pulling the stock out revealed some original markings in the wood that the Yugoslavs weren't going to do to a replacement stock."

Do you have pics of this or can describe them? Then i'll look and see if mine is similar. To my untrained eye it looks like this rifle was not monkeyed with like many others I have seen or heard about.

What it looks like is that the guy on the processing line noticed all the proofmarks and just put the Yugo crest on it and sent it on down the line, knowing that nothing was in need of reworking. Another thing is that there is a stamped "3" in a circle on the lower grip that looks like one of the proofs on the rifle and there is also what looks like and "8k" in a cirle 3 inches aft of that on the bottom of the stock.

I've added the pics of the stock proofs below.


http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200264036PM0.4958765.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200264037PM0.7601544.jpg

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_319200264037PM0.851476.jpg

Last pic is a bird with swastika. I thought is was just a bird until I took a magnifying glass to it. That's two of em now.

[whos2kno]

looks like you got a keeper.
also look where the bayonet connects at.on mine there is 2 eagles with numbers on each side of the bayonet mount.(barrel looking right at you)
i think the last time i counted all of my proof marks it was 13 with out the SS marking.
whos2kno

[dugedug]

yeah, I think i'm going to be hanging on to this one for a while. Shot it for the first time today. Only put 5 rounds threw it but all were dead on at 200yds.

as for the marks on the bayo mount. On one side is a "62" and the other is something I can't quite make out. Looks like an "s" and a "D". Possibly a SS in a circle(only wishful thinking plus I don't think they'd put a ss proof there anywho)?

http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_3192002110642PM0.871258.jpg

[Rabon]

dugedug
I think the WBA is probably a WOA which is a German Waffen AMT Military Acceptance mark.
Pic#2
The bird with the swastika in the circle below him is the German Nazi Military Proof. (The bird has 5 vanes per wing)
Pic#3
If there is a crown on top, this is an East German definitive proof.
Pic#4
This is a German Voluntary proof.
Pic#5
My eyes are going to Hell and I can't hardly see it.
Pic#6
This bird has 3 vanes per wing, if there is a "M" below it is a Nazi Naval Acceptance mark, if there is a "L" or "F" to the right it is a Nazi Police Procurement mark.
Pic#7
Same as #6 look for the M L or F
Are you confused yet?
Hope this helps and have a nice evening, Rabon...

[dugedug]

"Are you confused yet?"
-Thuroughly.

So if the one mark is a cycle and hammer, what is it's significance/insignificance? It seems to be the only russian mark on it. The others being the majority German and a couple Yugos.



http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000028356/1000028356_325200211311AM0.7188074.jpg

Does this help me identify the year of manufacture at all?