Folded wings

[garryc]

On a K98 Mauser there is what appears to be an eagle with folded wings next to the serial number on both the receiver and the barrel, what does it mean? This is a 1938 S/243.

 

[Tidewater_Kid]

It would be helpful to see a picture.

Found this as a start:

Weimar-style eagles with folded wings (standard on all German military arms mfg. before 1938)

nice site here:

http://mauser98k.internetdsl.pl/kodyen.html

 

[garryc]

Mine is a Mauser AG Borsigwalde 1938 so that figures. I wonder what it's worth. Russian capture all marks intact. And has the capture screws

 

[James K]

Those eagles are sometimes called "Weimar eagles" by collectors. (Weimar is the town where the post-WWI German constitution was drawn up, so the nation that was officially called the Deutsche Reich was often called the "Weimar republic." Hitler put an end to it effectively if not officially.)

The change of the Waffenamt inspectors' markings to the straight-wing Nazi eagle was phased in starting in 1937 and was basically complete by April 1939.

Jim

 

[garryc]

So since I have those on the receiver and barrel, and the full eagle with 280 under it three times on the receiver I have both proof marks.

 

[James K]

Yes. "280" was the number of the inspector assigned to that factory at that time. Actually, he was the head of an inspection team; though he was primarily an administrator, he was responsible for quality control for the products that factory made for the army. With one or two exceptions, the actual names of those men is not known; it was considered secret. The papers were apparently lost and the men involved kept the trust.

The three marks are final inspection of the receiver, final inspection of the barreled action, and final inspection of the completed rifle. The larger eagle is the proof mark.

Jim