"New to me" 1913 Waffenfabrik Mauser Gew98 and Quillback Bayonet
 

New acquisition over at the Santa Barbara Historical Arms and Blades show. Anyone knowledgeable about the production yields of Mauser at Oberndorf in 1913, please chime in.

It's in original (as near as I can tell) finish, with the receiver in the white and bluing on appropriate spots. though bluing is wearing out around the chamber and there is some minor pitting and darkness in said pitting in the areas in the white. Wouldn't be a bad candidate for some light restoration work. Bore is counterbored on this rifle, about an inch from the crown; was this ever done by the Germans, or could this have been a private gunsmith doing this? Overall, bore is in pretty good condition for a 100 year old rifle, with sharp lands and grooves, with some pitting in the grooves but it's not dark. Stock is matching with the rifle, but it seems like there's a somewhat glossy finish on the wood which makes me think that this rifle was restored from a worse condition at some point in its past. All matching rifle as far as I can tell with proof marks.

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More in next post...

Ctd....

http://i.imgur.com/Zb07m7rl.jpg

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Unknown date S1898 "Quillback"
S1898 "Quillback" bayonet. no maker markings, making me wonder about its vintage. There is no South American markings on the bayonet hilt or ricasso, so could it be a parade bayonet? Blade is still quite sharp, it may have been sharpened. An odd thing about this bayonet is that it fits both my Danzig and Mauser Gew98s, but only on the Danzig does the bayonet locking stud clicks into place.

http://i.imgur.com/2WjhERRl.jpg

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Why does that rifle seem so familiar? Did you get that one from Sandy?

I did not, I bought it from a gentleman who was in one of the corners at the show. Sandy did have a Gew98 that was modified to accept a scope mount, with the weird rear scope mount that was off to the side.

I presume you were at the show; if you hung around Sandy's table like I did, we may have met in person and didn't realize we're on Calguns! Did you manage to score anything you liked?

Sandy tried real hard to get me to buy either his 1896 Finnish/Imperial Russian M91 Mosin Nagant or his FN IDF K98 in .308/7.62 NATO. Or both.

I ended up getting a Finnish M27 Mosin Nagant and a PU Sniper 91/30 with a repro scope.

Lucky for me, I live not too far from Sandy and he will "jail" a gun for me if I ask.:43:

Yeah, I was really tempted to pick up his 1896 Finn Mosin as well, but ended up going for a Remington M91.

You got a Remington? And your buddy that wears the grey service jacket snatched D. Flowers' SVT-40. Curse the both of you!

Why was I five minutes late?

Just curious, how much was the asking for the 1896? and if none of you are interested, can you point me to the gentleman? I'd love to get my hands on a 91.

His name his Sandy. He usually is at every gun show on the Central Coast. He may go to other ones in the state, but I don't travel that much.

Anyway he is easy to find. Has more C&R Milsurp than anyone else at gun shows. If you are looking for Enfields, Mausers, Arisakas, Carcanos, etc. he is the man.

The Fin was at a starting $395, but he WILL haggle which is really nice nowadays.

Then again you will have to beat me to it.:D

Sweet pickup! Love the rollercoaster rear sight :D Do you need help testfiring it?

I can take you up on that offer, Ken! I did take it test firing at the Glass Factory in SB that weekend, as it was finicky with my Yugo 1950s surplus ammo, but that was probably because that ammo is known for hard primers/recessed primers so it wasn't reliable in ignition (as in, 2/10 rounds fired, and the rest have light primer strikes). I can either use other ammunition and see how it works, or change out the spring in the strike assembly to see what's more reliable. I think I'm going to "test" it by loading it with primed brass to see if it snaps Wolf primers reliably before I go about reloading a new batch of 8mm.

I used to shoot that 1950's Yugo 8mm a lot when it was dirt cheap. I would get one dud every 50-75 shots but that was 5-10 years ago. The 1970's stuff was flawless.

Yeah, it seems like the days of cheap 8mm is over. I would have loved to get my paws on some cheap Yugo 70s ammo while they were still inexpensive. :(

You have a weak firing pin spring, get a Wolff 22lb and you won't have any more problems. Any more than 22lbs is overkill, makes for for harder bolt lift, and more wear and tear on the parts. And if 22lbs doesn't pop a Yugo primer 100% of the time, you have other problems.:)
The bayo is a M1898 n/A second pattern.
http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Ide...mperial_2.html

What is the usual firing pin spring weight on normal Gewehr 98s? I figure mine would be less than factory as it's 100 years old by now.

18-19lbs
They make FP springs up to 30lbs!?:eek: I can't imagine any reason to go that heavy. At gunshows, I'm a parts scrounger, and anything new and I know eventually I will use...and it's cheap:rolleyes: ....I'll grab. I picked up a dozen or so Wolff FP springs for Mausers once. All were 20lbs (discontinued), except for a 30lb. I tried it in a 98, and you could feel the difference trying to lift the bolt. Like a Mosin with "sticky bolt" syndrome. Anything that heavy is going to have an adverse effect on the cocking cams, and FP stop.
Look that bayo and scabbard over with a magnifying glass for any markings. Many had unit markings, if you can find them, marysdad here (website I linked) can translate it for you.

I ended up ordering a 24lb spring to replace the factory spring. I'll see how it works when I take it out to the range again.

FYI guys - I've decided to sell one of my spare Gew 98s - a 1916 Danzig - if anyone is interested in purchasing it.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...php?p=10553776

Your 1916 Danzig is one of the ones that Hitler gave to Franco to kick Commie butt and drive the Stalin-backed Bolshevik/Anarchist "Red Republicans" into the sea during the Spanish Civil War. A lot of these were then modified by the Spanish Airforce into Model 1944 rifles during WW2, so nice examples are not that common.

I can't be 100% about the vintage of the rifle or where it's been, but weren't a lot of SCW Gew98s rebarreled to 7x57? My Danzig is still 8x57.

No, SCW German and Polish Kar 98a's, Gew 98's, 98k's, Wz29's, VZ24's, etc. were 8mm rifles and were left that way. The standard Spanish caliber of the M93/95 Mausers before the Civil War was 7mm and some of the Mausers from places like Mexico were also in that caliber, but M1943 and M1944 large ring M98 rifles were 8mm.

The key to identifying your rifle as Spanish Civil War issue is the added serial number on the left side of the stock and the "A" Spanish arsenal marking on the butt.

That G98 is in pretty good shape for a Spanish issue. Most of their civil war rifles are beat to hell. The Germans used to like making fun of them. The Spanish would fight fanatically, but they never cleaned their guns.

Actually, Spanish Nationalist guns are generally in good shape. Their leaders - guys like Franco - were accomplished professional soldiers, as were their friends and advisors the Germans.

The "Red Republicans" on the other hand included not only professional military men, but also Communist gutter rabble whose Marxist mindset was to military precision and proficiency what Lysenko's (the guy Stalin put in charge of all Soviet science, who claimed that if you stood in the middle of a field of barley - "the peasant and worker of grains" and read Marx to it, it would magically evolve into wheat) was to science. Among the worst were the New York slum dwellers in Communist front groups like the so-called "Abraham Lincoln Brigade". These guys were so ignorant of the simple basic principles of firearms operation that when their bolt action Mausers "jammed" and would not fire after the 5th round, they blamed the rifle as being junk then threw it down and ran away. The idea that the rifle held only 5 rounds and that the magazine follower was designed to prevent closing the bolt after the 5th round, so you would know it was empty and reload, was just more than their massive Marxist intellect was able to comprehend and process.

I believe that about the Red Republicans, but the Blue Division did not get many good compliments from the Germans. Good fighters, poor weapons upkeep. I am sure the Falange units were usually professional soldiers, but I have heard horror stories about their weapons. Some of it true, some not. Either way, when I think junker Mauser, a Spanish Mauser comes to mind. Or... a Big 5 Special:D

Still, nice G98 Syntax, hope you have good luck selling it.

Some of the rifles issued to "colonial" troops in places like Africa can be pretty bad, as well as those from places like the jungles of South America and Asia, and from Turkey or Albania. Looking at them you would swear that the former owners must have gone to the "Somali Pirate School of Gun Maintenance".