[adamdomo]

Can anyone give me some more details about this rifle? It was my grandfathers and he used it to hunt deer in Pennsylvania. It looks like it was sportorized and added a scope. He’s no longer around and I’d like to know some more about it.
Roughly what year was it made? Any idea where in Germany it was made? What make and model is the gun exactly? (I know it says Model 98, but is it a Mauser k98? Or other variation?) The letter/numbers on the top of the barrel are R210. Any other details would be great. Thanks!

 

[Stan61]

Looks to be a sportered K98k rifle made at the Mauser factory in Oberndorf Germany. I think it's a 1943 or 44 dated rifle. The manufacturer code ( byf for Mauser Oberndorf ) and year would be under the forward scope base, but wouldn't bother removing it to be certain.

 

[PTSanchez]

Welcome aboard.
It is a K98k in the "l" production block. More on this later.
Mauser Werke Oberndorf am Neckar was the largest armory building these.
Any collector value is long gone here, & those "see-thru" scope mounts it wears were a common/gimmicky fad from the 1950s-60s: please be advised that they are notorious for not holding zero.
Re the year it was made: the barrels on these are dated & lot-numbered as a hard/fast rule, so if you were to pop the action out of the stock, you would find a "41", "42", 43" or "44" near where the "R210" rollstamp is. It would then be safe to extrapolate up to another year as the production date for K98k s/n 47669 l.
However, to be absolutely sure, the scope & front base could be removed for inspection - as Stan has alluded to.
So far, the bolt appears mostly unaltered from the pics, & if original, it should sport s/n "7669 l" upon the top face, & an Eagle 140 or 135 on the bottom - have you checked there? While the bolt is out, also please look at the 2 gas vent holes on the lower front end: if they are oval: thru 1943. If round: mid-1944 & later.

Lastly, thanks for posting Grandad's rifle. We see a lot of rust-buckets here, & it's obvious that byf 4? s/n 47669 l was properly cared-for.

 

[Stan61]

I wasn't certain of the letter block on the OP's rifle. The receiver looks to have been buffed and polished when it was sporterized. Might have partially scrubbed off part of the letter block (maybe a "b" block?). I thought L block too at first, but the Mauser L block font looks a bit different and If it's a 1944 L block, it wouldn't have a numbered trigger guard and floorplate by then as those were deleted by that block which was very late 1944 production. That style numbering on the TG and FP looks like early 44 pattern used up to first few months of that year. The bolt letter block might help if a matching bolt as well as the full barrel code before the R210. Early 44 production at Mauser did use a lot of 43 dated barrels as they had a surplus of barrels at that time.

edit-Looking at photos of rifles on the K98k forum it shows a byf 44 "b" block rifle with the same TG and FP numbering pattern and a 43 R 220 barrel code. So would guess OP's was MAYBE a 1944 Mauser Oberndorf "b" block rifle that was lightly struck and possibly got part of the "b" scrubbed off.

 

[PTSanchez]

Didn't particularly flag the receiver as buffed ..... perhaps just honest wear & tear (or else my failing vision). However, I do detect some buffing at the rear sight base position, & aft of the shoulder.

 

[PTSanchez]

I'll buy the "Lightly-struck" argument here, but still like "l" block: note how the characters' depth & width fades-off from left-to-right in the image below.
The "4" on far left is very heavy/deep, while the "9" & "l" are thin/faint:

I wasn't certain of the letter block on the OP's rifle. The receiver looks to have been buffed and polished when it was sporterized. Might have partially scrubbed off part of the letter block (maybe a "b" block?). I thought L block too at first, but the Mauser L block font looks a bit different and If it's a 1944 L block, it wouldn't have a numbered trigger guard and floorplate by then as those were deleted by that block which was very late 1944 production. That style numbering on the TG and FP looks like early 44 pattern used up to first few months of that year. The bolt letter block might help if a matching bolt as well as the full barrel code before the R210. Early 44 production at Mauser did use a lot of 43 dated barrels as they had a surplus of barrels at that time.

edit-Looking at photos of rifles on the K98k forum it shows a byf 44 "b" block rifle with the same TG and FP numbering pattern and a 43 R 220 barrel code. So would guess OP's was MAYBE a 1944 Mauser Oberndorf "b" block rifle that was lightly struck and possibly got part of the "b" scrubbed off.

 

[Stan61]

Very well could be an "L". Perhaps a different font than later rifles. If it's an "L" block then it would be a byf 43 as a 44 "l" block would not have had the numbered TG and FP.

 

[adamdomo]

Thank you all for your replies.
I just took the stock off to do some cleaning. Here are some more pics. Looks like an “L” on the top of the bolt handle.
I also noticed the safety says “Mark II” I’m guessing this was added when it was sporterized? I thought these had a 3 position safety. This safety only has 2 positions.

 

[PTSanchez]

Stan has nailed it: the last set of barrel pics shows "43" before "R210".
Thus, "byf 43" should be stamped on the receiver ring (under that front scope base).

The bolt is native here, as the 5 s/n digits (7669 l) perfectly match the receiver - thanks for that.
The "Mk II" is a common aftermarket sporting safety: it has only 2 positions for scope clearance. As noted, the original German safety has 3 positions.

 

[Stan61]

Yes, the letter "L" font on the bolt looks more like the typical style used by Mauser Oberndorf. They apparently used some different fonts over time, as is typical. The L blocks are late year production, so would guess very late 1943, or even possibly early 1944 built. There was some overlap in letter blocks with more than one block being assembled at any given time. The 1943 dated barrels show up at least until "d" block in 44.

 

[adamdomo]

Stan has nailed it: the last set of barrel pics shows "43" before "R210".
Thus, "byf 43" should be stamped on the receiver ring (under that front scope base).

The bolt is native here, as the 5 s/n digits (7669 l) perfectly match the receiver - thanks for that.
The "Mk II" is a common aftermarket sporting safety: it has only 2 positions for scope clearance. As noted, the original German safety has 3 positions.

I tried to take the bolt apart for cleaning. Since the safety is 2 position, I cannot have the safety in the straight up position (I hope that makes sense), so when I depress the spring, I am having trouble turning the back part of the bolt counter clockwise so I can access the firing pin and spring. Any suggestions here?

 

[PTSanchez]

Yes, makes sense. However, be advised that the plunger in the bolt shroud (hint: this is "the back part of the bolt") needs to be constantly depressed while turning the shroud CCW past the bolt handle/root. It is a bit tricky to manipulate.

The MK II safety retains itself via a nylon button "friction fit", & it removes simply by pulling straight rearward while twisting - there is no mechanical lock on it ala the OEM safety.
Have a look at it here, courtesy of Midway USA: Dayton Traister Mark 2 Safety Mauser 98 Steel Blue

G' luck!