1941 CE Mauser, J.P. Sauer & Sohn Suhl Question

[Mr. Mister]

My Dad gifted me a CE 41 Mauser with an unusual upper sling mount.

Rather than being on the side of the barrel it's directly under it. The lower sling mount is on the side of the butt stock like a normal Mauser.

I have never seen a Mauser with this type of sling mount. The numbers on the sling mount match the barrel and receiver.

Is this rare or altered? I have done many searches on this and can't find anything like it.

Information

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[Sarge]

Post war made sling band. Don't remember, but either Bulgarian or Romanian.
Is there an import mark under the front of the bbl? Any markings on the left side of the butt stock?
Sarge

[Mr. Mister]

Sarge13,

There is no import mark anywhere on the rifle.

All the numbers match except for the bolt and trigger iron.

The upper sling mount is numbered and matches the barrel and actions serial number.

The wood has no deformities so I believe this sling mount is original to the rifle. It is the only Mauser I have ever seen with one like this.

There has to be a reason or explanation!

Thanks for the reply,

Steve

[Sarge]

I have seen a few of those bands, both on rifles and in someones parts box.
Sorry, But that sling band is Not native to that rifle! That type band was never used by the Germans durring production of the K98k rifles. As I said it is either a Bulgarian or Rumanian post war modification.
As there is no number showing I presume it is on the other side. Since I can't see it I don't know if it is a restamp on a new made band or the original nr and the sling loop was modified.
Sarge

[jmoore]

Thanks for the photos.

It's new to me, which means I'll be no help at all!

[Patrick Chadwick]

A very important clue would be the answer to the question: Where exactly is the number stamped on this strange upper band? Please, we need a photo! And a frontal close-up of the whole band when it is removed from the rifle.

My thinking: In the first and second photos the left side of that band looks curiously flat. Which indicates that it could be a standard band that has been bent to fit in that curious manner. I.e. basically put onto a mandrel and whacked into shape. If the number is now is on top instead of on the side, or there are signs of such a number having been erased, that would confirm my suspicion.


Patrick

[Johnny Peppers]

That is the original band that has been altered so that the sling fits under the rifle rather than on the side. Does it also have a sling swivel added to the stock? Can't recall at the time where those rifles were altered, but it was post WWII.

[Mr. Mister]

Ok, these are the best photos I can get.

There is no import mark so I'm kind of leaning toward a bring back (?) or something brought home by a GI who was stationed in Europe after the war. Who knows???

What do you think of these?

[Calif-Steve]

Sure doesn't look like a GI bring-back. Been rode hard and put away wet. Bulgarian/Hungarian/Polish Army? No idea, but well used post-WWII.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Thanks for the photos. The fact that the number is now on the bottom - and the appearance of the loop - confirms my suspicion expressed in the previous post. I.e. it was a perfectly standard K98-style upper band that was "beaten into submission".