picked this up today. 8x57, small ring, 20-ish barrel, 6.2 lbs.
I thought maybe polish. no other marking besides RwE on the side.

Classic of the type, everything where it belongs, very nice.

Just beautiful!!!

After World War 1 the government arsenal at Erfurt was renamed Reichswerke Erfurt and thus your RwE and crownless eagle.

quote:

Originally posted by Ramsgate:
After World War 1 the government arsenal at Erfurt was renamed Reichswerke Erfurt and thus your RwE and crownless eagle.

-a man who knows his Mausers

I love that style

I had hoped that a knowledgeable person would have chimed in by now. Here are my guesses and perhaps my errors will be corrected by a real Mauser person.

First the photos are excellent and thank you.
- the rifle was produced for the civilian market
- the action was/is a Kar98a
- the rifle could be described as Prussian or German
- the factory was the former Royal Prussian armory
- it was produced after November, 1918 after the King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated
- the Imperial Eagle was used without a crown because the Kaiser was gone
- the brief efforts to produce for the civilian market ended when the allies dismantled the factory in accordance with the terms of The Treaty of Versailles
- so a narrow window from late 1918 until early 1920 .... 1919?

This rifle is more than usually interesting and an examination of the history of that time is likely to be rewarding. All in all it would appear to be a spectacular find.

and I do recognize how inadequate and possibly incorrect I might be

Thank you for the info. Very interesting indeed.

Rich

richj


That is my kind of rifle in an excellent caliber to boot.



Cal30

Very nice, it's really got me slobbering onto the keyboard. I was wondering if you could post a pic of the crest, looks interesting.

quote:

Originally posted by Rub Line:
Very nice, it's really got me slobbering onto the keyboard. I was wondering if you could post a pic of the crest, looks interesting.

-bet ya a cold drink it's stippled/no crest.

Bingo.

It's stippled.

Nice rifle. Looks quire similar to my pre-war JP Sauer. Question, what pressure level of loads are suitable for this rifle/action?

quote:

Originally posted by Rub Line:
I was wondering if you could post a pic of the crest.

It's likely that there was nothing beyond a crown with the name of the government arsenal below that and the date of manufacture on the third line. Sooo, crown, Erfurt, year. Danzig would be guess number two.

What technology would be required to identify the original markings ?

Really nice rifle! I picked up and identical barrel action like this at a gun show this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by Siam_Krag:
Really nice rifle! I picked up and identical barrel action like this at a gun show this weekend.

Siam
Are you going to carve a stock for that?
How you been? Hope the Gunsmithing school is treating you well!

Snellstrom,

Things are going great! I plan on stocking it. I am going to at Trinidad this summer to learn stock making from a blank, They do not teach that here just inletting, and shaping both taught by James Tucker and I learned alot from him.