K98 Bring Back

[Dstout]

I posted this on the CMP "Barn Finds" thread and thought I might get some feedback from you guys here.

Not a barn find but it was a closet find. I had a lifelong bachelor great uncle who was an ambulance driver in WWII. He went ashore on D+1 and drove until the end of the war. My grandfather said that he never talked about his wartime service. Sometime during his travels he picked up a numbers matching (except for the bolt) K98 from the battlefield and brought it back with him. When he passed away in the early to mid 80's my grandfather was cleaning out his house and came across it, still packed in cosmoline, in a pillowcase in the back of a closet. He gave it to me for helping to clean out his house. I was either 14 or 15 and you'd thought that he gave me a million bucks. I went down to Wal-Mart, bought two boxes of Remington 8mm ammo and shot as much as I could. Damn did that thing kicks. I still have one of the boxes that I bought in my gun cabinet. It still has a bunch of the cosmoline on it but now has a little more pitting that I remember. The Romanian ammo in the picture is some that I bought at a gun show last year.



here are the rest of the photos.

K98 Mauser pictures by deesnikon - Photobucket

***EDIT***
I forgot to add that he found a receipt in one of his old wallets that was from the Department of the Army that proved that it was a "bring back". It had the "655" numbers on it,e the date of manufacture and type of weapon that it was. It was signed by his Commanding Officer. At one time I had the receipt along with his unit yearbook about their time in Europe but it has been lost over the years and moves.
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2nd Bn, 3rd Marines

Information

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[Badger]

Hello and welcome to the site ...

You have a 1940 manufactured K98k, made by:

BCbecker_Maschinenfabrik

Its serial number is a very low #655 and it appears to be "all matching", except for a miss-matched bolt which is #2511 (with a letter I can't quite make out in your pics).

The story (perhaps a myth) goes that when prisoners were captured, the bolts were removed from their K98k rifles and piled in one spot, while the rifles were piled in another. When GI's picked out souvenirs, they simply grabbed a complete bolt in one hand and a rifle in the other, putting them back together without much regard to whether they matched or not. At least, that's how the story goes ...

I've also heard a story that way back when, importers received them all mixed up in a similar manner and just assembled them back together, again without regards to matching.

So, take you pick in stories ....

Nice representative example of a K98k rifle though... congratulations ...

Regards,
Badger

[blackcat_attilio]

Nice kid !!!

[gunner]

Hi and welcome Dstout!

Nice K98k! The Makers code 237 is according to my lists: Berlin-Luebecker Maschinenfabrik in license for Mauser. A bit of cleaning and you have a fine looking rifle and an great remembrance.

Regards

Gunner

[Dstout]

thanks y'all. When I got it, it was completely caked with cosmoline. Even the length of the bore. I was able to get most of it out and oil it down after I shot it but I guess it dried a long time ago. I just recently developed an interest in Mil Surps and decided to get it out of the gun cabinet and see what I had. It has been in there since I was about 18 or 19 (i am now 39). It looks great with my new to me Garand, Carbine and Moison Nagat I am beginning to teach my 9 year old about guns and shooting. As a matter of fact we just got back from a trip to the CMP South Store where he got to pick out his own Carbine.

Thanks again for the information and I look forward to reading all the posts and gathering all the information that you guys can provide.

David Stout

[Calif-Steve]

My Uncle brought back a pile of P38 pistols in 1945. He didn't smoke and kept all of his cigarette ration coupons in his back pack. He was airborne and was at Bastone so he saw a lot of fighting. At the end of the war he walked up to a weapons dump and asked what a pistol cost. He was told one cigarette coupon. He handed over his back pack and was given a small duffle bag full of P38's. He also received a Kar98k. My Uncle rarely talked about WWII and was a decent guy. Passed on now.

[jon_norstog]

David,

You have a good rifle. You also have the documentation for it, which adds considerable to its value. A suggestion: write down everything you know about your uncle, especially his unit and service experiences, put it in a manila envelope with the documents you have.

A lot of people post on this list: "buy the gun, not the story" because the story is usually great but can't be verified. You've got a documented history of this weapon, which IMHO doubles its value and will make this a furture asset, whether you keep it, pass it along or cash it in.

Good luck, and enjoy shooting that baby!

jn

[blackcat_attilio]

Hi D!

I agree with what said by jon norstog in the post above.

[Dstout]

Thanks for the added information and suggestions about writing it down. Now that I think about it, my mother cleaned out my grandfather's house when he passed away. She still has all his books and stuff that was in his bookcase so his unit annual may still be around. I get my pack rat addiction from her. Next time I am over there and have time I will look around and see what I can find. I wish I could get on Ancestry.com to look him up but I don't like paying for that stuff. I will keep everyone posted as to what I find.

[BWEST]

One Nice Mauser, Thanks for the Posting and Information, Dstout !!