I wont have pictures until tomorrow, but I thought I would see if anyone had any idea what I bought...

Ran across a Oberndorf mauser action in 8x60mm with a barrel marked Sempert & Kreighoff. It has a claw mount Zeiss zeilmer scope, and appears to have been done to a pretty reasonable standard (butter knife bolt handle with heavy serrations underneath, nice butt stock trap with a cleaning rod in it, all parts seem to have matching numbers, etc). I am not a Mauser guy (at all), but it all looks nice and period, so I took the chance and bought it.

Did Kreighoff sporterize rifles (they appear to have at least supplied the barrel for this rifle).

Like I said, pictures coming tomorrow.

As far as I know, Krieghoff used Mauser manufactured actions on all their sporters.

If you do a Google search, you will find several good historical article on Sempert & Krieghoff in Suhl, which eventually evolved into the current Krieghoff in Ulm, as well as a couple more Krieghoff sporting arms making firms from Suhl in the early 20th century. I've seen a few Mauser rifles built by a couple different unrelated (business wise anyway) Krieghoff outfits that used commercial Mauser actions. Speeds two books on Mauser 98's say that Mauser sold many commercial action to such gun making firms.

I am familiar with krieghoff. I own a k80, and in fact have been to their factory in ulm for a very nice personal tour. That's what caught my eye on this one. I'll post pics this afternoon.

The 8 X 60 is a fine cartridge.

Is it the 8x60 (.318") or the 8x60S (.323") ?

M

It does not say s on the barrel. Will have to measure it to be sure.

So, a bit more detail...

The barrel number matches the action number, and the action is "waffenfabrik mauser oberndorf". The action is marked with a HK anchor proof mark (Heinrich Krieghoff), and the barrel is marked Sempart Kreighoff). It does have a mannlicher style stock on it.

I will take some decent pictures this weekend, I snapped a few on my way out the door. It came with paperwork from 1954 where a gentleman had it on base in Germany. It also has a nice matching leather sleeve for the rifle, and a matching leather case for the scope (with a lot of age on the leather).

You have a PM.

Please remember to post more and better pics! Thanks

Based on what I can find, this appears to date to 1931(ish)? This being my first mauser, it appears to be a commercial action based on what I can find. Any info would be great.







Ziess marked scope case, caps, and leather case it came with



By far, the worst place on the rifle, the butt plate has some corrosion, but the cleaning kit is pretty cool.

Is that a set trigger?

Does not appear to be a single set trigger. The small screw behind the trigger shoe appears to reduce take up. The trigger feels pretty darn good however.

Fine rifle! Nice lines, good bottom metal etc

M

Really nice. I love the full stocked rifles. Good get!!!

You have a damn nice rifle, I don't know what you paid for it, but I'm bettin you can double your money anytime you want to!!

Check and see if you can push the trigger forward and set it, if not you don't have a single set trigger..

Again, you done did good!

Very nice rifle. Congratulations.

Thanks everyone, I am still trying to figure out exactly what is going on here, but the input has been valuable! It looks like the action was sold to Kreighoff and finished into a rifle around 1931-1932 (based on the serial number on the rifle and scope). The roll mark is older than the serial number, which is apparently not unheard of for commercial actions sold to 3rd parties. I was looking for a project rifle, but I clearly am not messing with this one.

A few people have offered to take it off my hands, but I think for now I am just going to put it on the rack, and enjoy it.

A stunning rifle! Also interesting proof marks with the bore, groove and twist length given which is definitely a later style, but what appears to be a 1914 set of proofs beneath. I would interpret "156 14" as being the 156th gun proofed at that proofhouse in 1914, but the 8x60S wasn't introduced until 1920 (ref "European Sporting Cartridges" vol 1, p 167-168) and the .318 version 8x60 in 1922. I have no idea what the "Ch 26" might mean.

With the 7,85 bore and 8,15 groove I'd call it an "S" bore (for .323") as "Wiederladen" shows bore and groove for "I" bore to be 7,80 / 8,07 and "S" bore to be 7,89 / 8,20 but as always it's a really good idea to slug it and go from there.

And that trigger sure looks like a single set to me. Absolutely Beautiful rifle, congrats!

quote:

Originally posted by bpesteve:
A stunning rifle! Also interesting proof marks with the bore, groove and twist length given which is definitely a later style, but what appears to be a 1914 set of proofs beneath. I would interpret "156 14" as being the 156th gun proofed at that proofhouse in 1914, but the 8x60S wasn't introduced until 1920 (ref "European Sporting Cartridges" vol 1, p 167-168) and the .318 version 8x60 in 1922. I have no idea what the "Ch 26" might mean.

From my understanding (google), the 156 14 marking on the barrel is the gauge number, corresponding to 7.85 mm. I don't know if this is allowed, but here is a link.

I have tried pushing forward on the trigger, and it does appear to swing forward, but there is no reduced pull weight. I will take it out of the stock tomorrow, perhaps something is gummed up with old grease. There was a significant amount of old grease packed into every corner of the rifle when I picked it up. I will provide photos of the trigger. One note, the trigger shoe itself is attached to the bottom metal, while the remainder of the trigger mechanism is attached to the action.

As for the Ch 26 marking on the barrel, it is the steel code (some are apparently common, like Ch 50, Ch 53, Ch 40, and Ch 44), but I have yet to see indication of anyone else having Ch 26 steel. Per most of the discussion I can find, there is no master list that connects the steel code to the supplier, but people have been able to figure out some (ie, Ch 40 is Bohler Steel).

Nate, you are right on about the gauge mark - I should know better, I wrote an article years ago for the GGCA that's still there:

http://www.germanguns.com/tech-corner.html

Very nice rifle, Nate...