K98k bnz. 43 S/N 6969f's Thread

Rescue from Bubbaland.

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Photo #1a

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff026-1.jpg
#1b

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff028-1.jpg
#1c Bolt group from another rifle. Bolt stop? Not sure but it LOOKS like "65".

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff031-1.jpg
#1d Rear action screw has only one relief cut.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff032-1.jpg
#1e

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#1f

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#1g
Trigger guard looks odd, but it doesn't "crash" the trigger. It IS a little bent on one side of the bottom of the bow, but otherwise??? Is this a variation to save a little metal on a milled guard, or am I just being hopeful?

Well, fortunately for our side, he didn't decide to make a sporter out of it, but he did lose a part. What to do?

Well...

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#2a

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff018-1.jpg
#2b (Just in case you missed the clever part. ETA: Well I THOUGHT it was clever. Read on...)

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff020-1.jpg
#2c The bayonet lug retaining pin hole just happened to be in line with the reversed front band's hole- at least in the vertical plane, so why not use what's available?

The extra screw is not a big issue-the Finns did it on Mosin rifles, but the plastic wood catagorizes this repair as the work of a well meaning but resource challenged Bubba, "Bub jr.", perhaps?

Not a museum piece, but I reckon a little refurb is in order. Bore's a bit tired and weak at the muzzle, but it'll get a range workout in time- Results coming, I hope!
(Along with an eventual ZF41 test, too, but that's another thread...)

:wave:

I don't know of any special trigger guard for the 98k. Yours is milled and when the 98ks all had milled trigger guards they were nicely made and usually serialled to the rifle. Later of course were the stamped guards. The VZ24 had a trigger guard that looked slightly squashed but not as bad as that one. The rear screw is definitly a replacement. I wish I could help more. The bnz with a period shows that the rifle was produced by Styer, the Radom rifles had no period after the bnz.

I'm guessing both action screws are replacements, as they aren't rusty (brown) enough! Locking screws, too.

What's odd is that there's no sign of the rifle having been apart since the front band "repair". So why bother putting in screws (which must have been ordered from some supplier of milsurp Mauser parts), and not get a retaining spring at the same time?:confused:

ETA, Oh, I did note that the front of the trigger guard bows differ in the dimensions of the front reinforce, so, if there was one change, why not another. Also, it seems difficult to squash the guard to that profile whilst the rifle is assembled. Squashed in the front- that would be easy to just call damage, but this seemed purposeful.

But I'm not a "Mauser guy"!

Gave Bubba too much credit for what I supposed was a minimal solution to a lost part.

The reason the front band appeared to have been fixed in place since the cobble job is because it had! Tried to drive the bayonet lug retaining pin in flush-Nope! Wouldn't move!

So, not knowing what was the drama, I managed to hollow out a short section of the pin, leaving a thin shell that could be easily collapsed and removed:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff002-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff003-1.jpg

Kind of hard to drill as it seemed the pin head wasn't quite square, but I thought nothing of it until the band was removed and saw no sign of the cross pin near the opposite side.
Fortunately, the pin wasn't all that tight, so it was removed with surprisingly minor gyrations. Pulled the bayonet lug off and the mystery was solved:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff007-1.jpg
Bubba had drilled a new hole at a slight angle to the original, but not through the metal. Thus, a rifle that couldn't be disassembled in detail...

Did a little hammer work to the band, it's not as chewed up looking now.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff012-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff011-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tuff0191-1.jpg
Before
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After- initial Mk.I at any rate.

What was really unexpected is the lack of finish on the protected area under the front band- usually it's the other 'way around:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff006-1.jpg

That's it for now- have yet to pull it apart further.

Keep up the good work Jmoore!

There was a special trigger guard in WWII - the so-called "winter trigger guard" intended for shooters wearing gloves. But they are considerably larger in the loop, rather like John Wayne's LAR. This one is not a winter trigger guard. It is not larger at the front, but tighter at the back. So the odd shape may be a result of whatever happened to the donor rifle it came from.

Front trigger guard screw looks original. Locking recesses are milled and the top is chamfered, showing clear space to the recess in the trigger guard. Rear trigger guard screw is a DIY effort, not any original product. Simply compare with the front screw and note the lack of chamfer, poor slot, and I suspect that if you remove it the locking recess has been filed out by Bubba.

Patrick
:wave:

Quote:

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There was a special trigger guard in WWII - the so-called "winter trigger guard"

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this didn't show up until after WWII. it was on Czech model 98s.

Oh, yes, the "Winter Triggerguard". The Czech plant making Kar98k's did not manufacture triggerguards. Everything else, but no TG's. They had piles of parts and were able to make the Winter Triggerguard in 1946(?), for sale on the world market. Not German, not WWII.

The guard S/N matches the rest, roughly, as this rifle seems to have been assembled in poor lighting conditions- aside from the bolt, and maybe the bolt stop, they numbers are all 6968, 6969, 68, or 69. I think the guard was made in this odd shape still, not that it means much to me.

More photos coming.

If the rear action screw is wrong, then the front is too. They look to have been made on the same tooling and are equally crude, except the front has all three lock screw recesses. But I'll try some detail photos for your examination.

VERY confusing- and, apparently, not just me! If the last digit isn't an overstamp on both the receiver and front band...

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tuff0192-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uff02511-1.jpg
#10a and #10b

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#10c (front band)

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tuff0321-1.jpg
#10d

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...uff02611-1.jpg
#10e

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#10f

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#10g

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#10h

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https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff024-1.jpg
#10i and #10j

Oh, and for your further consternation:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tuff0271-1.jpg
#10k