K98k info request

Mike36 · Post by **Mike36** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:00 pm

My K98k rifle was made in 1941 at Feinmechanische Werke GmbH,Erfurt(Erma).Looking for any information about the place.Where it was at,who may have made it etc.

Thanks
Mike

timmy872 · Post by **timmy872** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:40 am

try these links. they have a wealth of info for sad people like us! lists all the marking and manufacturer codes ever. I i tried a 10 min search for the factory itself and could not really find anything other than its real name was "Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Berthold Geipel GMBH" sorry. anyway, all the best with tracing any info you are looking for...
tim.

http://www.waffeninfo.net/waff_98k_05.php
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/uniform ... 8index.htm
http://mauser98k.internetdsl.pl/kodyen.html
http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/codes_rifle.html

Mike36 · Post by **Mike36** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:05 pm

Thanks T..Ill check out the sites...Of course we all want to know the impossible..Where our weapon was at, and what it did and saw. I watched,"Enemy at the Gates"again last night and had to pull it out and clean it etc..I read somewhere that many of the rifles captured in the East were marked by the Russians.Mine has no visible marks so perhaps it was at Normandy,Bastogne,Aichen or on the Rapido.Or maybe never left Hamburg.Ya just never know....

Mike

timmy872 · Post by **timmy872** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:31 pm

i have 4 rifles from different years. its true that alot were marked (by the russians presumably) after the fall of stalingrad (300,000 odd small arms) and the other huge battles. also many many rifles were collected up along with every other piece of personal equipment after may 1945 and re issued to countries that requested stocks (shovels, helmets, small arms etc). these were then replaced by their own equipment in the 50/60s and put in reserve stores till a new generation came out in the 90s. that apparently is what happend in russia so huge stocks of smallarms have recently flooded onto the market. just a pity they appeared to have dissmantled them all and put the bits in big piles before putting them back together again.
i know what you mean about the history, i have early and a late ones 1937 and a 1945. one could have seen every action in the war and one possibly was never fired in german hands. if only they could talk.
to anyone else reading this, yes it does sound sad but we must all think... these were the actual items the war was fought with. not uniforms or planes, or medals or helmets. they shaped the world.
regards

Schultz · Post by **Schultz** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:57 pm

The maker Feinmechanische Werke GmbH,Erfurt made something like 20,000 different machine parts including trigger assemblies for the Mauser rifle. It was owned or managed by the firm of Carl Ziess, making telescopic sights and optical equipment for the German military branches.
Probably your rifle was assembled there of course in 1941, so your rifle should have the ax code? being an earlier make.
What kind of shape is it in? Any other markings?

Nice find.

Schultz