ZF39 Scope and Mount

[Ce41]

Okay guys, I know some of you would disagree with what I want to do, but I just want an opinion about the quality of the reproduction ZF39 scopes and mounts (the drill and tap kind, oh no!). I am already aware of the hefty prices of gunsmithing.

I want to convert a RC Kar98k into a sniper rifle for mostly reenacting purposes, since I would like to display the tactics used by german snipers on the battlefield (without using a 5000 dollar actual sniper rifle). I've been researching German sharpshooters for a while and feel that they were very interesting and deserve more representation.

Has anyone had any experience with these repro kits? They seem to be the only reproduction ZF39 scopes on the market.

Link: ZF39 Sniper Scope JENA ZIELVIER German scope Mauser - eBay (item 130337062578 end time Nov-12-09 06:17:03 PST)

Information

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[Calif-Steve]

The seller is in California. Anybody know who the seller is? If close I could try to geta look at it.

[Ce41]

I got some info from the guy, these scopes are clearly marked "Jena" instead of "Zeiss", due to being made in Jena in East Germany. So they are blatantly not trying to sell them as originals but as reproductions "made on the same equipment". I'm still looking into it.

[darwinmauser]

I have just bought the same thing from another ebay seller ,we'll see what the quality is like when it arrives. The seller I found was a little less expensive for purchase and shipping.

ZF39 Sniper Scope JENA ZIELVIER German Army / K98 mount - eBay Scopes, Optics Lasers, Hunting, Outdoor Sports, Sporting Goods. (end time 07-Jan-10 08:50:44 AEDST)

I am doing the same as you but I'm using an Israeli rework ,the rifle was given to me ,it has a poor barrel which I will need to replace ,it's going back to being an 8x57 I think .Should be an interesting project.

cheers
Pete

[Ce41]

I have just bought the same thing from another ebay seller ,we'll see what the quality is like when it arrives. The seller I found was a little less expensive for purchase and shipping.

ZF39 Sniper Scope JENA ZIELVIER German Army / K98 mount - eBay Scopes, Optics Lasers, Hunting, Outdoor Sports, Sporting Goods. (end time 07-Jan-10 08:50:44 AEDST)

I am doing the same as you but I'm using an Israeli rework ,the rifle was given to me ,it has a poor barrel which I will need to replace ,it's going back to being an 8x57 I think .Should be an interesting project.

cheers
Pete

I recently bought a new Kar98k, made in 1944, byf (if I recall correctly), and has a stock cut for the left side short rail scope. Supposedly, the whole thing is a vet bringback - but it is mostly mismatched (I believe the bolt was renumbered for some reason). It has no import marks.

Will be interesting to look at the stock and determine if it's real or not. It looked pretty convincing, but I have my doubts. Now to decide if I want to put the scope on that or my other kar98k :/

[darwinmauser]

Well...I received my scope and mount today ,I must say it looks good ,everything seems to move as it should ,the only thing i will need to do is hone out the front ring a little ,the scope doesn't sit perfectly in the ring because it's a little tight, better than being sloppy i suppose.
Optically the scope looks good ,clean and crisp image ,the exterior is nicely blued with clear markings and serial number . Now all I need is the rifle to go under the scope.

[Ce41]

I believe you'll not only need a cut stock but an extensively modified reciever (milling tapping and maybe some sort of metal addition)

trying to figure that out. I know the rifles in ww2 had thicker recievers if they were going to use the LSR.

[darwinmauser]

My kit came with a steel plate that fits the inside contour of the mount and the outside contour of the receiver . I should have my rifle in the next couple of weeks ,Bloody paperwork in Australia!! then I can strip the stock off and see how it fits .

"I know the rifles in ww2 had thicker recievers if they were going to use the LSR."
I was under the impression they selected rifles from the production line for sniper rifles rather than building them as a specialty item .

[Ce41]

My kit came with a steel plate that fits the inside contour of the mount and the outside contour of the receiver . I should have my rifle in the next couple of weeks ,Bloody paperwork in Australia!! then I can strip the stock off and see how it fits .

"I know the rifles in ww2 had thicker recievers if they were going to use the LSR."
I was under the impression they selected rifles from the production line for sniper rifles rather than building them as a specialty item .

Well I've seen a few examples of specialty receivers as well. Perhaps both answers are correct.

[darwinmauser]

Well I received my Israeli K98 on Friday , first impressions........PUTRID!!!! the type of rifle you want to put down and go and wash your hands with sanitizer .
Anyhow it came home with me ,it cost me $15.00 so what the hey, first thing I did was take some happy snaps of it , then I was into it ,I can guarantee you it had not been out of the stock since it was rebuilt back in December 1957 going by the barrel date. Anyhow , stripped all the metal off the wood work and started scrubbing with detergent degreaser ,the tub it was in turned a funny shade of brown but the grease and dirt remained in all the nooks and crannies despite the tooth brushes and plastic scourer pads so I tried again with caustic soda , this time it was clean and it no longer smelt like the back end of a camel ,left it in the sun to dry and it started bleeding oil ,so I left it there and gave it a wipe over with a rag every 20 mins or so . I haven't finished with it yet ,it's got more oil to bleed so it could take a couple of months for that to work itself out.

The metal !!! the receiver is a post war BRNO with the Czech lion on top of the barrel boss, internally it's fine but the exterior looks like it was finished with a 9" angle grinder by the most junior apprentice , the barrel did not look at all promising ,the black hole of Calcutta is an apt description , so , I started scrubbing the barrel out , it felt rough ,after a heap of scrubbing with a bronze brush it still didn't look good so we filled it up with foaming bore cleaner which was left overnight ,the following day we put the brush through it again ,it was better but still had some issues ,there was only one way to fix this I thought and scraping up some of my "best" ammo I headed for the range ,I started with 3 rounds of 243 I found lurking in my ammo chest ,I used these in the hope the high pressure / velocity gas would shake some more rust out without the projectile being tight enough to do any damage, it did make an improvement . I scrubbed with a bronze brush again , then loaded up some Indonesian Pindad rounds that were just laying around waiting for just such an occasion ,after a couple of these rounds the barrel was much better ,another 10 or so rounds and the barrel was looking good . I tried for a group with some Australian MF rounds, we got about 1 1/2 inches at 50 yards ,not bad for a barrel that the day before looked like crap.
The rifle had been parkerised or some type of phosphate finish applied ,it has a green hue to it although it has worn off on the edges and is thinning on the exposed surfaces ,not very many Nazi parts ,I have found WaA's on the magazine/ trigger guard which is the milled type and the rear sight base , the bolt stop/ejector box may have a very indistinct WaA ...can't really tell ,most of the small parts have no markings , and the stock is an Israeli replacement. All in all pretty good ,I was beginning to think it was going to cost more than it was worth but with the barrel saved the project is on track.