Author Topic: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked  (Read 11336 times)

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Offline Phosphorus32

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1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« on: November 08, 2015, 12:59:50 PM »
With all the discussion of Israeli captured SKSs lately...

A couple of months ago I saw an Iraqi marked (Jeem stamped) K98 in my LGS, but the bore was worn, and the bluing was gone, and the price was a bit high, and he wasn't budging...so I passed. But, that encounter spawned a yen (or is that dinar) for an Iraqi marked rifle,  so when I saw this one pop up at one of the big auction houses I went after it. It's a 1945 dou (Brno, Bystrica), of which there were only about 30,000 made, since the Soviets were closing in rapidly from the east. It has a nicely aged Israeli marked sling. It is wearing a walnut stock from Mauser Oberndorf ca. 1943, based on the WaA 135, but with a laminate handguard. It's quite the mixmaster with mixed and force-matched SNs and a stamped Czech trigger guard unlike the "winter trigger guard".  Apparently these were seen on the last Czech produced K98s (post-WWII) known as TGF-50s (Tschechische Gewehr Fabrik), hence it is not original to the rifle either.

So, as near as I can tell, the journey of this rifle was from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, (to Russia), to East Germany, to Iraq, to Israel, to the US. Including Russia is based on the assumption that the Soviets seized these in Czechoslovakia and transferred them to the DDR. If it was directly captured by the Israelis from Iraq, that would imply it was taken in the 1948 wars and it would have been altered further to have that 1950 era trigger guard installed. More likely that Syria was in between Iraq and Israeli possession...and perhaps even a Syria to Lebanese militia transfer before Israeli capture. It has the characteristic "Fed Ord Inc S.E.M. CA" import stamp for these Israeli captured former Iraqi property K98s. Perhaps someone knows when this importer existed and stamped rifles in that manner and would put a late date boundary on the conflicts during which it could have been captured.





















MARKINGS: serial numbers, WaffenAmts, barrel maker's mark, import mark




















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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2015, 09:52:14 PM »
Beautiful gun Jon.  clap1

Fed Ord Inc is Federal Ordinance Incorporated out of South El Monte California.  They were in business from 1966 to 1992 from what I have found.  When they went out, they sold off their assets to Briklee who continued out of S. El Monte until they shuttered in '98.  Not sure if that helps with your dating, but if I had to guess I say it's probably an early 80's import like many of the other Israeli guns.
      

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2015, 10:06:17 PM »
Thanks!  I had it out to the range yesterday (it was Mauser day in 3 different calibers) and it actually shoots well too :)

Thanks for the great info!  That dating opens it up to just about any of the Israeli conflicts, so it could've been among the guns captured by the Israeli's in Lebanon.  Given the wide assortment of WWII to 1982 guns shown in that open bin of guns depicted in the Israeli threads, it certainly could have come from the Lebanese cache.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2015, 10:30:29 PM by Phosphorus32 »

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2015, 10:28:32 PM »
Holy crap... I want it!  I needs it!
      
1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms... It doesn't matter how many Lenins you get out on the street begging for them to be taken.

Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2015, 10:32:35 PM »
Holy crap... I want it!  I needs it!

Why, you don't shoot the ones you got... :P  fart1


Nice thumb1
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2015, 10:33:21 PM »
Holy crap... I want it!  I needs it!

Thanks LC!  I'll take that  drool2 as positive affirmation  chuckles1

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2015, 10:35:56 PM »
Holy crap... I want it!  I needs it!

Why, you don't shoot the ones you got... :P  fart1


Nice thumb1

Thanks GM!  :)

Good of you to drop by to needle LC  :o  :))  Now put Jimmy to bed  rofl

Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2015, 02:19:56 AM »
Sorry P32 ::) .... Jimmy got out of his padded room, took the phone, one minute he was back there melting Lego men with a torch and eating Oreos, next minute, dead silence followed by mystery posts and texts :o. Silence is scary when he is loose.

It is a nice rifle. thumb1

He's all happy and drugged again thumb1
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2015, 04:02:41 AM »
Keeping me in stitches, as usual...and I didn't even need surgery  ???  :))

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2015, 10:05:29 PM »
Jon I don't really comprehend what you have there but it's certainly a beautiful specimen and fascinating!

Offline Worm

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2015, 10:17:12 PM »
So jealous

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2015, 10:57:42 PM »
So jealous

 :)  Thanks!



Jon I don't really comprehend what you have there but it's certainly a beautiful specimen and fascinating!

Thanks Danny! 

Sorry, there were quite a few details I didn't explain. The most significant thing on this Mauser is the Arabic letter jeem (how it's pronounced) or jim inside a triangle, which is the Iraqi Army property mark.  The examples on the barrel and receiver are poorly stamped or badly worn or both.



If it was perfect it would look like this example from an Iraqi Army duffel bag (not mine):



dou is the code used by the Nazi German bureaucracy for the Brno-Bystrica arsenal located in Brno, Czechoslovakia, which made this particular K98 in 1945.

The slider on the sling has the Hebrew letter tsadeh that stands for IMI (Israeli Military Industries). IMI was an Israeli state owned arms manufacturer (just privatized in 2015) that manufactured or refurbished all of the arms made for the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces).


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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #12 on: November 10, 2015, 11:07:12 PM »
Someone say Jeem bag?     :P






      
1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms... It doesn't matter how many Lenins you get out on the street begging for them to be taken.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1945 dou K98, Iraqi marked
« Reply #13 on: November 10, 2015, 11:12:21 PM »
 8)  8)  8)  clap1

The jeem bag is what every stylish Iraqi Republican Guard takes (took) to the gym  :))