All:

My in-laws recently visited and brought down a family heirloom that they possessed and gave to us. It’s a military Mauser that looks to be in fairly good shape considering it’s fairly old. Anyways, I know a lot about hunting rifles but not a whole lot about these Mausers. What specifically would I look for to identify and determine where it was made, and the year it was made? I can provide pictures if that helps. I just need to know specifically what to take pictures of. Any of you Mauser experts opinions would be appreciated.

Thank you, RAS

Need some good pics of : crest on top of receiver, L&R side of action, trigger guard (bottom metal) . Should be enough to get started , but, the more the merrier.

Nazi symbol, I think.

On sling

Damn! Where do folks get these friends, buddies, family members, etc., bestowing guns! Am I in some kind of 'stingy alternate reality'? Well... Life IS good!

Looks to me like a conventional so called "Standard Modell Mauser" in terms of commercial proofs. This subvariety to the DRP as Deutsches Reich Post. Mail serivce. Not uncommon for most of these Standard Modells to be found nowadays, matching excepting bolts. This bolt with it looks like a G33/40 characteristcally hollow ball bolt. The 33/40 rifle never with such issue bolt handle root eagle, 'to my recollection'. The original DRP rifle bolt would have been straight ^ later ones bent. These were commercial quality actions as sucked up for military/government contract repurposing. I have one such commercial proof as yours with "1934" included datie, in pretty terrible shape and one such omitting date marking as better shape. Neither of mine sustaining any DRP markings. My latter, original bolt but mismatched.
Surely an expert along to fill in and with any corrections of my observations! To me this 'net-net', a typical mismatch. The bolt may have some particular value in restoring a 33/40 in 'look alike' context. The SN of such bolts, aft side of bolt handle bend, curving around. Might look for any residual of such there.

Interesting rifle in any context!
Best!
John

RAS;
Good afternoon sir, I hope besides having a wonderful example of a prewar Mauser that all else is going well.

As iskra said, the bolt looks to be a G33/40 which in itself isn't something one bumps into every decade - well I haven't.

The Mauser roll mark and date stamp are super crisp too. Wow....

My walking around rifle is a between the wars commercial Mauser roll marked rifle, but it came to me in way, WAY worse shape where the date is gone and one can just so make out the roll mark.

The serial number on the rest of the parts match... again - Wow..

I don't see any Nazi proofs on it either, which makes sense because they were just getting into power then. The walking around rifle I mentioned has no Nazi proofs either.

The DRP to me and again I'm no expert, likely was Deutches Reich Post. The Germans were not supposed to be rearming, but the treaties allowed for things like the DRP, Border Patrol and various LEO to be armed, so there were "a lot" of rifles made for various branches for sure.

An interesting piece for sure, thanks for sharing.

All the best.

Dwayne

The DRP rifles came with a standard K98k bent bolt. That bolt is from a G33/40. Nice 'gift".

Thank you for the information so far. What is so special or different about the G33/40 bolt?

RAS;
The G33/40 was a special rifle.

I've owned the only one I've ever seen and by the way, it didn't have the correct bolt, it had a standard K98 Bolt.

Here's the short version.



Here's the longer version.



Hope that helps.

Dwayne

Mauser porn at its best. Congrats!

Below a singular pix of my "1934" nomenclature inclusive receiver but w/o bolt; a junker. After some considration, I believe you have a potentially collectible rifle. Swap out the G33/40 bolt for a correct genre one. It should sell for a good price! The correct bolt with commerical proofs, likely difficult to find, but possible. Moreover I'd think your net from the 33/40 (the holow bolt know is the clue) sale should more than pay for the bolt you need. I'd sell the complete bolt aassembly as it extracts from the rifle and replace on the same terms. Just my suggestion. A Reich DRP rifle, my belief on the more collectible end of the generally collectible Standard Modell spectrum. These were quality rifles!

Congrats on your acquisition and also kudos for the multiple quality photos. Just wish other folks coming with questions would bring such!
Hope this info helps!
Best!
John

Iskra


I think you are correct on the collective nature of this gun but I respectfully disagree on the bolt having to be straight like the one you pictured.

I have seen at least three or four ended auctions for this type of rifle and have noticed that all of them have the same figured bolt as the one that I have here. And they sold for more than I could believe. It might be, like other rifles from that era, that there are batches which have certain features in them. Maybe I am missing something.

I collect Savage 99 rifles and this is definitely the case with them.

Thank you for your help.

Is this a swastika under an eagle? I think it is but not 100%. It is on the top edge of my bolt handle.

This part of the bolt is nowhere near that silver. The flash made it look like that. It was the best picture I could get up close.

Also to add….

I can take more pics of the bolt if needed.

But this one here definitely has a hallowed out bolt. So the Krauts maybe switched out a 33/40 bolt after they took power, if ‘only’ 33/40s had hallowed out bolts.

RAS, My apologies. My poor eyesight I mistook your siderail markings as "STANDARD MODELL" - i know... Duh!... and went off half cocked from there. I've gone back through and corrected my posts just before finding this latest one of yours. It was actually Z1R to thank for providing a 'heads up', or possibly 'heads out' . from which I did a bit of reviewing. From there, back to correct both of my prior Posts.
The 'fallout', I stand by my assessment of your present bolt being exclusivey purposed for the G33/40 since such as I'd noted the only one with that hollow handle style. I believe there will be a swarm of guys after such bolt as replacing "sporterized such models! The Swastika I can't tell either per bad eyes anyway. It's not the current German Republik Federal Eagle for sure! Whatever markings it seems to me a moot point in respect of in the wrong rifle.

I also stand by my amended assessment of "collectible" as DRP!
Sorry for off on the wrong foot.

Best!
John

RAS;
Good evening once more, I've found a couple more sources of proof marks for you to perhaps find some answers.

The one proof on the receiver ring is a crown over N which is Zella-Mehlis proofed.

Link;
http://www.germanhuntingguns.com/about-the-guns/gun-indentification/

As mentioned, it appears the rest of the rifle is pre-Nazi so would have pre-Nazi proofs.

The bolt proof is a Nazi eagle sitting on the world and in at least some there's a swastika in the middle of that.

[Linked Image]

For my money, the best book on the subject of Mausers is Ludwig Olson's "Mauser Bolt Rifles"

https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/mauser-bolt-rifles/author/ludwig-olson/

Hopefully that's useful to you or someone out there.

Again congrats on a nice piece of history.

Dwayne

BC,

That first link doesn’t work for me.

Thank you for the great information. I really appreciate it

RAS;
Thanks for the reply sir.

Let's see if this link works?

http://www.germanhuntingguns.com/about-the-guns/gun-indentification/

If it doesn't, what I did was search for German firearm proofs before the Nazi era. The linked article is by Dietrich Apel and is a pretty comprehensive one.

As I'm not the most computer literate person in my family, much less anywhere else, I'm not sure what to suggest, sorry.

Dwayne

Tomorrow I will show you a bayonet, scabbard and frog that came with this Mauser. Also a Nazi marked German helmet still with the leather chin strap. I also inherited a mint wartime made Enfield Jungle Carbine with its original magazine.

Lots of cool stuff. Thing is, I am thrilled to get this stuff, but I am not into military guns. Because they are heirlooms, they will never be sold as long as I am breathing.

Nice rifle, Jeff!

Scary how valuable 98 Mausers have become. I cut one of those 1934 Standard Modells up to make a sporter 40+ years ago. It cost me $50 as I recall. Threw away the wood and the barrel, welded on a new bolt handle. Oh well, that's how those kind of rifles were viewed back in the 60's-70's - as fodder for making sporters. A buddy of my father's did it to a G33/40, and to a M1903A4 sniper too. Probably why so few originals exist and why they're now expensive.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the heads up. You are another expert on these weapons. I appreciate you participating. I am learning about them. I need to get 8mm ammo.

All the best

Certainly I am NO Mauser expert... but I am lucky enough to own 4 or 5 of them. A 1919 built Swede, and like 4 other 8 x 57 Mausers...
two CZs and two Turks. I admit to every deer season, I'll take one of them out for a day hunting....for nostalgia if nothing else...My 8mms, my load is always 30 grains of 4198, with a Speer 170 gr SMP....Sorta like a bolt action 32 Win Special equivalent... sometimes I up the load to 35 grains or up to 40 grains of 4198. The Turks are 29 inch barrels with open sites... I leave the bayonet at home...

The CZs have 4 power scopes on top... Tascos, since any shot has always been at 150 yds or under it seems, they work just fine...

As I said, sort of a bolt action 32 Win Special...

When I take a deer with one of those, for some reason I always feel more proud of doing it with an old military rifle, that are pre WW 2 in age.

Wouldn't be without a Mauser.. they are just fun and nostalgic, and the load I use, doesn't really kick that much...but its not hard to hit your game with any one of them.. and they never fail to drop the deer on the spot...never had to chase a blood trail ever with one... guess I'm just lucky...

Great news, you are not selling - so; you dont need to fix what aint broken.

If you were going to sell the rifle, absolutely maximize the return. That is a big dollar bolt. I see this as part of the history of the gun even if we dont know exactly who,when or why it up like that. There is way to much swapping out and changing stuff "by the book". I say this and yet I do it often myself. I usually save and label the take off parts. On a gun this special ( heirloom and German history), I would sure be extra cautious. Just because there are a lot of people wanting to buy your bolt, that is no reason to sell it. You just blow the money on a tank of gasoline or dinner out. I would not sell that bolt, even if I got another I might look for a "buy the book correct" bolt just to make it 'look' right. That is me. Actually I might look for a G33/40 (needing bolt). The urge to swap and make it right is a powerful force. Try and resists.

BTW, Ball's 5th edition Masuer book shows a gun identical rifle in all respects year and factory all markings to yours with a bent bolt handle. And your stock design would also call for a bent bolt.

My point, it may 'technically' be the wrong bolt. It still looks the part. I like the post where is was called a bonus. More talking points.

Fourbore,

Pm sent with a question about your post.

Thanks for the compliment, Jeff, but I'm no expert on German military stuff. I always venerated U.S. milsurps, still do, but to me the stuff from foreign enemies always carried with it a kind of bad ju-ju and besides it's their heritage not mine. I found it difficult to venerate stuff that was used to kill American boys, rather always viewed it as "spoils of war" and as such to be treated as fodder for custom rifles. Sort of a "swords into plow shares" attitude so to speak. Just me. But, I suspect that attitude was rampant among the older generation back in the decades after WWII too.

Beautiful rifle!

gnoahhh;
Good morning to you sir, I hope the day looks bright and fair in your part of Maryland and you're well.

Thanks for that well articulated response, I believe you've hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I'm of the generation who had many of the men in my life who were veterans of WWII, so there was that. Then too interestingly enough, I've known, worked with and had in our family German WWII vets who'd come to Canada for a better life and were if anything much more vehement in their disgust with all things Nazi.

Western Canada was swimming in surplus arms from Commonwealth sources and German arms as well when I was a kid, though into the early '80's we started to see Swedish Mausers and Moisin Nagant rifles too for sure.

Of them, the Pattern 14/P17 Enfield, Mauser 98 and Swede 96 were the most common ones we'd rework into sporting rifles. They were incredibly inexpensive too back then, so it was something we could do in the shop in the evening and not break the bank.

Somewhere along the way too, I wondered what all the different numbers and letters stamped on them meant, so I bought some books and dove down the rabbit hole with both feet. That said, many were made with nothing less than slave labor and I'm cognizant that Uncle Reuben, Mearl, Leroy and Mervin spent a good chunk of their youth ridding the world of the slave masters.

All the best and good hunting.

Dwayne

Shameless hi jack of the OP's thread. And, Bad ju ju - you got to be kidding me.

These were given to me as well. My wife’s late grandfather on her dad’s side brought them home from WW2. He was in Italy and Germany. Her other late grandfather, on her mom’s side, was in the Pacific to include Iwo Jima.

More great family history and wonderful artifacts. If you did not already, you might write up a little something for which ever of your children end up with this.

Great idea.

fourbore;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day's been kind to you and you're well.

If the post above was directed towards myself, I do apologize if it was taken by yourself, the OP or anyone in the ether space as a hijack.

One of the things that I've found difficult to articulate and establish in this medium is just where some posters are at or coming from in the journey under discussion.

My reply to gnoahhh was meant to illustrate through story and photo, how it was I personally came to be first acquainted, then later interested in certain surplus rifles - which as mentioned were common in my part of the world.

Again no offense was intended and I do apologize.

All the best and good hunting.

Dwayne

RAS;
Thanks for the further photos, I appreciate you taking the time.

One of the things I wish that I'd been able to do more often and do better was to connect with the veterans I knew when I was growing up, so perhaps they'd share more of their experiences with me and by doing so preserve them.

The uncles I was speaking of talked about their service later in life, well two of them did and two didn't actually.

One of my handgun shooting mentors was a Canadian Army veteran who was a paraplegic, the result of action in Italy. Ernie was a wonderful exception in that he would tell me stories when I asked, albeit very loudly as grenades during the war and then handgun shooting after had made him quite hard of hearing.

Thanks again for sharing the family heirlooms with us here.

All the best and good luck on your hunts.

Dwayne

No problem. I may get a little sensitive as I had uncles and dad on both sides of that conflict. All were "good guys" as far as I am concerned.

fourbore;
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

Indeed as mentioned many of the men and women in our small prairie community were veterans, most but not all in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Strangely, on my wife's side Uncle Leroy who did 2 ½ tours as a tail gunner on a Lancaster was in the squadron that accidentally bombed his brother - Uncle Mervin - who was a forward artillery observer. Both of those jobs had a life expectancy of weeks, not even months, but they both lived through some tough stuff.

When I moved here to BC I ended up working with two different German vets and as you say, they were wonderful fellows and we worked well together. Both Herman and Wilhelm were POW's after the war, Herman with the French and Wilhelm with the Russians. Both shared horrific stories with me of how they were treated.

In my reply to RAS, I also mentioned a good friend and shooting mentor Ernie who lost the use of his legs in Italy.

One day during a lull in the shooting, I asked Ernie what the conditions were like and he replied, "It wasn't even house to house fighting Dwayne, it was room to room."

Then I asked what he was issued for a firearm and if it worked well for that sort of work. He mentioned he had a Sten that "wouldn't always shut off" as he put it!!

But I still smile when I think of him following that with, "Grenades Dwayne!! We had lots of 'em and I loved grenades! They work!"

Anyways thanks for the memories you've stirred up from long ago of some grand gentlemen I was blessed to know.

All the best and good luck hunting.

Dwayne

👍

Update.

I found a two digit code on the G33/40 bolt as well as a four digit number. Does that information tell you anything like year of manufacture or location of manufacture?

I didn’t realize how desirable these G33/40 bolts are.

The bolt value stems from folks re-converting G33/40's back to originality, in rifles whose original bolts had their handles altered or were replaced entirely with 98k bolts.