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Mauser Model 98 Markings and ID

45K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  gdmoody 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I need some expertise to help with identifying this Mauser and its markings. The bolt is non-matching but everything else looks correct. I have never seen a Mauser without a production date and not sure what the significance of the 4 is on the receiver. Thanks for your help!
 

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#2 ·
The BNZ means it was an SS contract rifle made by the Styer Diamler Puch. The receiver has been tampered with at some point. The 4 is part of the year it was made, but it's missing the last digit, so it was made between 1941 and 1944. There is no acceptance code above the BZN so it's not standard military production, meaning it was made under separate contract.
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
Welcome and thanks for posting your questions about your Mauser. The BNZ markings were the German ordnance code for weapons made by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, at Steyr Austria. Originally when Steyr started making Mausers, it used the code "660" to identify its rifles, but then changed to BNZ in 1941, reportedly after exhausting parts that had been supplied to it by other manufacturers. The single number "4" on the receiver is known as as a "type 2" marking and indicates manufacture in 1944. The waffenamt 77 is one of the standard military acceptance codes for Steyr. The stamped barrel band is also standard for the BNZ Steyr rifles. Now for the non-matching bolt. At the end of World War II, captured Mauser rifles were often "stacked" on pallets with one row going one way and then another row going the other and so on until there was a block or brick of rifles approximately 4ft x 4ft x 4ft. Well, even with the bent bolt, the only way they would stack this way was to remove the bolts. So, generally, they were stored without the bolts. In the years between the end of WWII and 1968, lots of companies imported these rifles by the pallet, and each pallet had an accompanying box of bolts; they just didn't match and sometimes they weren't all bent or straight as would be appropriate. Importers such as the old Hunters Lodge (when in Alex. VA, not the one now in TN) and others advertised them in places like American Rifleman and shipped them right to your door for anywhere between $14.99 and about $4o.00, depending on condition, accessories, etc. Rifles from this period generally do not have an import mark. After 1968, import marks became the norm. Once again, generally speaking, rifles without the import mark are more desirable and therefore more valuable, but lots of folks have simply "removed" that little stamp from the barrel or wherever it is/was. One other point about your rifle is the wear on the hand guard retaining ring does not appear to match the rest of the metal parts of the rifle. These rings were among the thinnest metal parts and therefore often rusted through and/or broke. They also generally did not have a number or mark on them.

A few years ago, a company that will go un-named claimed that it "found" a stash of pristine BNZ Mausers and was offering them to the public at "record low prices" or something like that. Well, this unnamed company was reworking and cleaning some pretty tired old Mausers that it had found somewhere and charging an arm and leg for them. One of the unintended consequences was that it pushed up the prices on all the other Mausers that hadn't been so thoroughly scrubbed. If you do a search on BNZ Mauser, you'll find all sorts of information but not all of it is accurate. You'll also find references to the single-digit "type 2" marking. Probably the best source of information is the book by Law & Stevens, Backbone of the Wehrmacht, but there is also good information in Ball, Military Mauser Rifles of the World, and it's a little cheaper. Thanks again for the questions and congrats on owning a nice Mauser.
 
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