I ordered it in late Feb this year, took almost 5 weeks to arrive, probably due to back orders and panic buying in general. The barrel bands were not as easy to get off as the Youtube videos showed, but I got it apart, de-cosmolined, and oiled up. As I understand it the Russians took these rifles apart, re-finished the parts, and then put them back together, probably by picking the parts back out of a bin once they were re-finished. I'm guessing that's why only the receiver & barrel SNs match and the stock has the receiver's SN etched into it?
I found SNs on at least 16 parts in the rifle, none of which match any other part. Some of the SNs are just 2 digits, I'm assuming the last 2 digits of the rifle they match?
Personally I just wanted a German Kar 98K and was quite happy to find that it still had the German Eagle on the barrel and receiver, still had the German proof marks, and the only Russian mark I found was a X on the butt plate. I plan on leaving the stock well enough alone and just taking it the range once in awhile.
The receiver is dated 1938. As you can see in the first picture the importer, PW Arms, was nice enough to put their mark on the barrel rather than billboarding it across the receiver like CAI has an annoying habit of doing. I don't think I did all that bad for $360, even with it having a straight bolt. I'm guessing it's the bolt from a Gewehr 98?
I found SNs on at least 16 parts in the rifle, none of which match any other part. Some of the SNs are just 2 digits, I'm assuming the last 2 digits of the rifle they match?
Personally I just wanted a German Kar 98K and was quite happy to find that it still had the German Eagle on the barrel and receiver, still had the German proof marks, and the only Russian mark I found was a X on the butt plate. I plan on leaving the stock well enough alone and just taking it the range once in awhile.
The receiver is dated 1938. As you can see in the first picture the importer, PW Arms, was nice enough to put their mark on the barrel rather than billboarding it across the receiver like CAI has an annoying habit of doing. I don't think I did all that bad for $360, even with it having a straight bolt. I'm guessing it's the bolt from a Gewehr 98?