ID Mauser bolt

[Chuckindenver]

Hi all,
the other day i picked up a small box of 1903 parts, along with said parts was a complete bolt and trigger guard, trigger guard was an easy ID, BYF stamped, both were dirty and lightly rusted,
cleaned them off, and found some nice markings on the bolt,..anyone able to tell me what i have...just a WTF is it kind a day, snowing and cold, so i have some goofing time.Attachment 27944Attachment 27945

Information

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[Calif-Steve]

German post-WWI era. 1925-1935? Just my guess. Patrick should know this for sure.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Not quite sure about this one. The 1088 above U is the serial number, to be read as 1088U, i.e. No. 1088 of the "U" series. German military rifles were numbered from 1 to 9999 and then continued with 1 to 9999 A, then 1 to 9999 B etc. But this scheme only covers a couple of hundred thousand rifles in one year. If production was higher, then the whole set would (I presume) have been repeated. So the number 1088U does not give you any clue as to the year.

What does give a clue is the stamp below the 1088U. Purely on the basis of it's symmetry (as far as I can tell from here!!) it appears to be a rather mangled double-headed (i.e. Imperial Prussian) eagle. However, this does not match up with the original "Abnahmeschema" for the Gew98 or Kar98, which had the eagle on the underside of the bolt handle. The eagle was, however, still used as for proof/acceptance marks post WW1, until the nazi eagle was introduced. The markings on the underside of the bolt handle do not match the "Abnahmeschema" at all.

All of which adds up to the conclusion that I basically agree with calif-steve. It appears to be a post imperial but pre-nazi bolt for a Gew98 or Kar98.


Patrick

[Chuckindenver]

thanks, i looked at a few proof mark web sights, but no luck..im far from a Mauser collector..just wanted to know what i have, all the other parts are numbered to match.
should this be brite or blue in color?

[m4a3sherman]

Could it be a Polish bolt? Rework or scratch build?

[Sarge]

I'd be more inclined to say it is a Turk. The markings under the bolt handle are not anything I've ever seen from WW 1 thru WW 2 German.
Sarge

[m4a3sherman]

I wouldn't go with Turk; I've never seen any Turk proofs that consisted of much more than a crescent moon and a star. Turkish recycle, maybe. I am still leaning to Polish... Hmmm.... I wonder if seeing the whole thing might help. Could we get some more pictures?

[Patrick Chadwick]

m4a3sherman, I think you were right with your first guess! And my first guess was wrong)

The eagle under the number on the top surface looks like the Polish eagle (see Lapin P.103)
and the triangles on the bottom surface are shown as Polish inspection marks, used 1922-39 (Lapin P.121)


Patrick

[m4a3sherman]

Woot! Polish Bolts, like their rifles, aren't incredibly common anymore- to the right person, that might be a valuable part... Gunbroker it?

[Chuckindenver]

im bluing the sleeve, extractor and safety , will leave the bolt body brite, ill post some pics tomorrow.