Went on vacation and came back with some history

2568 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Timbal, Jun 12, 2009

tofst4u2no

Discussion Starter · Jun 2, 2009

I just got home last night from a vacation. I visited my grandmother in upstate NY. My grandfather passed away about a year ago and left me a few of his old guns to have.

The first one is an original German manufactured Mauser 98k. According to the markings this one was manufactured in 1944. It's in pretty decent shape only very little rust. The stock isn't in great shape leading me to believe this one may have actually been used.

The second is a Krag-Jorgensen / Springfield Rifle manufactured in 1898 and chambered in the 30-40 Krag cartridge. It was the standard issue military rifle adopted in 1892 and the 30-40 Krag was the first smokeless round adopted by the military. This one is in decent shape but has alot of bluing coming off from the action. Other than that it's great though.

And finally the oldest of the bunch is a swiss made Waffenfabrik / Vetterli bolt action made around 1878. It's chambered in the 10.4x38 (.41 swiss) rimfire cartridge which is one of the very few rimfire cartridges ever to see military use. This one is in excellent condition but unfortunately they dont even produce the ammo for it anymore so I doubt I'll ever get to shoot it.

I gotta take them to get checked out by a good gunsmith to make sure they are safe to fire. If they are I'll definitely be at the range shooting them.

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curtis

· #2 · Jun 3, 2009 (Edited)

nice, is the k98 all numbers matching? the hardest thing is finding somebody that is familiar with old milsurp rifles. if there is any concern it would be having the head space checked but i doubt many gun shops have 8mm head space gauges you can buy them yourself from brownells. having said that the k98 is one the best bolt action rifles made and very rarely have any problems. how is the bore condition? it does have the correct laminate stock and front barrel band so it looks matching. they are great shooting rifles my two k98s are tack drivers.
man that is a nice krag i have been wanting to get a krag for sometime it looks great.
thanks for sharing.

go to this website forum there are some very good experts for these rifles there and would be able to answer a lot of questions if you have them.
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/index.php

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SGB

· #3 · Jun 4, 2009

Very Nice rifles.

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Cthulhu

· #4 · Jun 5, 2009

Very nice historical pieces. That Krag-Jørgensen is particularly interesting with that 'trap door' magazine.

-JT

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AirForceShooter

· #5 · Jun 5, 2009

They're from gramps and have some honest wear on them.
They're priceless.
Shoot them and think of him.
You don't get to *****

AFS

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Tula

· #6 · Jun 5, 2009

Those are beautiful pieces. You should have them restored and put them on display.

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airhead

· #7 · Jun 5, 2009

AirForceShooter said:
They're from gramps and have some honest wear on them.
They're priceless.
Shoot them and think of him.
You don't get to *****

AFS

+10
Mine left me an old .410 pump that the safety doesn't work. But I do remember going down to the dump with him. Me with a .22 rifle and him with that old shotgun - rat huntin'
:thumsup

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Uechi

· #8 · Jun 6, 2009 (Edited)

Whatever you do don't mess with them outside of cleaning and oiling. I collect Krag rifles and yours appears to be very nice. How's the bore? Does the rifle's stock still have its' Cartouche? If it does what's the date? If you have a dated cartouche you can check it against the serial number on the barrel to see if it is an original issue or a pieced together. Chances are your rifle is issue. Many Krags where converted and cut down to make hunting rifles and in the process ruined for any historical value. You might even be able to find what Army company it was issued to. I hope you don't sell it, but keep it as a lasting memory of your Grandfather.
As far as shooting the Krag if the rifle checks out as ok by the gunsmith you'll have to find the 30-40 Krag ammo not super difficult but not easy either. Try and find modern ammo not old stuff which will have corrosive primers.Regards.

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tofst4u2no

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 6, 2009

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm really excited about putting some lead through these pieces of history.

Curtis: As far as I can tell the K98 is all numbers matching. I posted pictures of it on the surplus rifle forum and everyone there seemed to think it was. The only thing that was mentioned was that the stock might have been refinished at some point and that the buttplate had been blued. Here's a link to the thread there if you wanna see the pics I posted of it http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=78889

Uechi: I definitely have no plans on ever selling any of these because they have so much sentimental value to me. The bore on the Krag is excellent so I think it will be a real good shooter. The cartouche is visible on the rifle just above the trigger on the left side but unfortunately it's not readable. I posted some pics of it over on surplus rifle to see if anyone could tell me anything more about it. Here's a link so you can check it out too. http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=79041

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curtis

· #10 · Jun 7, 2009 (Edited)

a numbers matching k98 is pretty scarce most out there are russian capture non matching. start look now for 8mm it is getting scarce. but i did find some from here at aimsurplus.
http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/copy_of_8mm.html

the partisan ammo is good stuff. non corrosive and reloadable.
the romanian surplus is good but it has corrosive primers so you have to clean the rifle accordingly.
like others have said just leave them as they are and enjoy them.
that krag is emmaculate.
thanks for sharing.

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Timbal

· #11 · Jun 12, 2009

Wow, thanks for sharing! They're all beautiful works of art, I would proudly display them. :thumsup

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