The K98k's after WWII
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:07 am
I was looking at a facebook page hosted by one of the remaining 101'st paratroopers from WWII. He showed a cleaning snake issued by the Germans he brought back from the war as a souvenir. I went looking for one of my two reparations K98k's after trying to find a photo I thought I must have posted here at one time or the other and not finding what I was looking for. I wanted to post a photo on the page as an illustration of what kind of rifle he was talking about.
Early in the War the K98k had wood stocks and forged steel furniture. As the war progressed the solid wood was replaced with laminated stocks and the furniture became stamped to speed up the manufacture process and it was probably somewhat cheaper. The laminated stocks were thought to be better stocks actually. Less likely to pick up any warp from the elements these battle rifles were exposed to on the Russian Front in the dead of winter. My two rifles exhibit the characteristics of the two rifle versions.
The K98k was to the German Army about what the Enfield was to the British, the Mosin Nagant to the Russians and the Garand to the US. After the war there must have been a hell of a lot of them to divide up and several train loads to take to the scrap iron plant. The ones I have went through the famous Preduce 44 plant in Czechoslovakia sometime shortly after the war. And... like the Mosins.. all rearsenal commies believed in taking everything apart and sorting the parts into bins and them assembling rifles back together with whatever parts came to hand. If any serial numbers match on the ones I have it is an accident worthy of a Ripley Believe it or Not story. However, I have shot both of them and nothing adverse happened.
Early in the War the K98k had wood stocks and forged steel furniture. As the war progressed the solid wood was replaced with laminated stocks and the furniture became stamped to speed up the manufacture process and it was probably somewhat cheaper. The laminated stocks were thought to be better stocks actually. Less likely to pick up any warp from the elements these battle rifles were exposed to on the Russian Front in the dead of winter. My two rifles exhibit the characteristics of the two rifle versions.
The K98k was to the German Army about what the Enfield was to the British, the Mosin Nagant to the Russians and the Garand to the US. After the war there must have been a hell of a lot of them to divide up and several train loads to take to the scrap iron plant. The ones I have went through the famous Preduce 44 plant in Czechoslovakia sometime shortly after the war. And... like the Mosins.. all rearsenal commies believed in taking everything apart and sorting the parts into bins and them assembling rifles back together with whatever parts came to hand. If any serial numbers match on the ones I have it is an accident worthy of a Ripley Believe it or Not story. However, I have shot both of them and nothing adverse happened.