1939 660 K98 Kriegsmarine ... *Pics*

G'day all,

I'm a Military Surplus firearms collector/shooter and thought I might share one of my rifles here for historical and educational purposes. I was lucky to find this one and it was a gem of a find also. I bought it interstate a few years back and only had photographs to go by but given what I could see it looked like it would clean up nicely and present me with a fine example of the K98.

It should be said that not all K98's were created ( or are considered ) equal. There were quite a few manufacturers during the war and many were made in Czech or Poland - amongst collectors it is widely held that the German made K98's are the better made overall and are more desirable. One of the most famous names associated with firearms is Steyr and when I bought my K98 I knew from its war time code ( 660 ) that this was a rare Steyr code. ( 660 = Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, Steyr )

Also marked 112 = Gustav Genschow & Co. A.G., Bouchèstr. 12, Berlin SO

I was happy enough with this fact and that is was an early year, but it was not until I got the rifle home and began a complete strip down, cleaning and conservation that I fully understood what I had. The rifle was all matching stock, screws, bands, receiver - all the usual suspects but for the bolt which matches itself. It is quite normal for a K98 to have a mismatched bolt because when the rifles were captured the bolts were stripped and tossed into one big pile and the rifles into another. In the case of those who picked them up for a souvenir they rarely ever found the matching bolt again. Finding a K98 with a matching bolt generally raises a suspicious eyebrow from many Mauser collectors due to this fact.

My K98 was not a Russian capture however and retained all its Waffenamt, Eagles and markings. What you should know about the 660 code is that it is a rare code as K98's go. In late 1939 660/Steyr ( German ) made only 20,000 K98 rifles under that code before the code changed in 1940. It happened to be that my rifle is amongst the very first 1000 rifles ever manufactured by Steyr itself numbering in the low 900's. If this wasn't nice enough as I got cleaning away the fine surface rust and dirt from the stock disc, I noticed the markings as seen below.




What I saw was the stylised N which indicated Nord for Nord Sea Fleet. In the bottom right corner of the stock disc I could see a K which indicated Kriegsmarine ... so German Navy. To the left of the K you can still see the very faint Eagle. I was now not only looking at a rare and low numbered 660 ( First 1000 built Steyr ) K98 but now even better a Kreigsmarine ownership marked 660 code Steyr with Nord Sea Fleet rack numbers. Kreigsmarine marked K98's are rare enough in and of themselves but to have this combination of Code, Year, Serial Number and then Naval markings really had me grinning from ear to ear.

Upon further investigation of this rifles origins I came to understand that the H ( Heer ) marked butt stock was consistent with early war when 660 were supplying the German Navy from Heer stocks. On later Navy K98's the stocks were Naval marked ... not Army. So all in all I had an incredible find and a rifle I am to this day very proud to own. It should be noted that the bore is in extremely good condition and when I got it the laminated stock had dried out and cracked in the butt stock, laterally across the width near the butt plate screws - I have since repaired it and returned the rifle to its former glory without altering the patina in any way shape or form.

Here is the rifle after conservation ... I'm sure it has a few stories it could tell. The kicker is that it came from the collection of an old German fellow who lives in a well known German mountain community here in Australia. I hope this was informative rather than tedious.

















Best regards, Simon.

 

That's a real beaut, Tiki. I just bought a K98 myself. I may have to post some pics.

 

well im very jealous i am an avid gun collector myself, and have been looking for a good K98 for a long time but have been unsuccessful in my ventures. hopefully though.
Anyway congrats on that gun!

 

Sgt,

Thanks for the kind words mate ... by all means post up the pics of your K98.


BigBoss1,

I wish you luck on your hunt my friend - though my main area of collecting is Lee Enfields I wanted an example of each of the weapons used in WW2. I have a 1944 M44 Mosin Nagant also in mint condition so have filled about half of my quota so far. Thanks again for the well wishes!

 

Your post isn't in the least tedious, tiki ! On the contrary, some excellent photos and info about a historic firearm......

 

Greetings, I also have in my possession a fine example of the Steyr K98. 660. 1939, Luftwaffe
Also early production, serial number in the 600, all matching numbers except for the bolt. Original sling, both metal and stock are in very good condition. Waffen markings are crisp. Haven't figured out how to post photos. Email if you would like to see some photos.
I know that the rifle is somewhat rare, a collector friend wants to buy it, but accurate value determination is difficult.
Stay safe, ched55