My Historical Collection

[Mölders]

As promised a while back, I am going to share with you guys my collection of WW1-WW2 antiques.

Be advised: Lots of images. I have done my best to lower the file size of each image while preserving quality. I apologize if an image is blurry. There are 57 photos in total.

Lets start with my recent acquisition, my Kar98k:

***Mauser Kar98k***

New photos coming shortly


***Bayonets***

Bayonets 1

On top, a 1916 "Butcher" bayonet. On the bottom, a 1938 bayonet. The ruler in between is measured from 1-12 inches to give a sense of scale.

Bayonets 2

Bayonets 3

Bayonets 4

Notice the "16" stamp as well as the crown of Kaiser Wilhelm.

Bayonets 5

Here is the manufacture stamp.

Bayonets 6

Bayonets 7

Bayonets 8

Bayonets 9

The 1938 bayonet manufacture stamp.

Bayonets 10

The date stamp "38" for 1938.

Bayonets 11

***Awards***

Here is my award collection, everything is genuine except for the "Blue Max" or Orden Pour Le Merite.

Awards 1

Awards 2

Awards 3

Awards 4

Awards 5

Awards 6

Awards 7

Awards 8

Awards 9

Awards 10

Awards 11

Awards 12

Awards 13

Awards 14

Awards 15

Awards 16

Awards 17

The wound badge in the upper left in a late war edition. The swastika has been wiped clean off. This was most likely one from a soldier on the Eastern front who was captured. The upper right shows the two helmet pins that would go on a Afrika Korp helmet. The middle left is a replica Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914. The bottom in a late war pattern M44 Tunic Eagle.

Awards 18

A replica Distinguished Flying Cross.

Awards 19

Genuine stamps. Notice the date imprints on some of the stamps.

*** Great Grandfather's Military Pass ***

This is one of my most prized possessions, my great grandfather's military pass. After studying it with the help of my uncle, we uncovered that the pages within are from the original pass and the pass you see in the photos was put together probably in the 1920s-1930s to preserve what was left. The original pages are reinforced by random pieces of paper and this can be seen throughout the pass.

GGMP 1

GGMP 2

GGMP 3

A commendation by the kommandant of the unit he was serving with at the time. Notice the dates.

GGMP 4

The information above shows the day that he was discharged from the Imperial Army in November 21st, 1918 and given his "marching money" in order to return home.

*** Other Militaria ***

OM 1

A genuine German mess tin.

OM 2

Notice the initials "A G".

OM 3

The owner of the mess tin. I found his street where he lived on Google maps.

OM 4

A 1915 ammo pouch. This one would be for the right side.

OM 5

A bottom shot. Notice the wearing on the leather straps. The one of the far right indicates that it was used most often and supports that this was the ammo pouch for the right side of the belt.

OM 6

A shot of the back.

OM 7

A shot of the manufacture stamp. You can barely see "1915" imprinted.

OM 8

This is how the pouch would look like with a clip of ammo in it.

***Mauser C-96 (Pre-war commercial variant)***

Here is my C-96 'Broomhandle'. She has all matching parts and the rifling in the barrel is still quite strong with a very minor ring in the bore. The only thing that is missing is the extractor clip for the bolt. Other than that, she is in great shape. The pictures below are after I stripped her down and cleaned every part.

Mauser C-96 1

Mauser C-96 2

Mauser C-96 3

Mauser C-96 4

Mauser C-96 5

Mauser C-96 6

Mauser C-96 7

Mauser C-96 8

Mauser C-96 9

Mauser C-96 10

Mauser C-96 11

Mauser C-96 12

Mauser C-96 13

Mauser C-96 14

Mauser C-96 15

Mauser C-96 16

Mauser C-96 17

Mauser C-96 18

Mauser C-96 19

Mauser C-96 20

Mauser C-96 21

Mauser C-96 22

Mauser C-96 23

***Gewehr 98b***

Here is my Gewehr 98b. She is dated 1917 at Danzig and retains the majority of her original matching parts. She was re-built sometime in the early 1930s to augment the supply of Kar98k while they were in production. The bolt is not matching serial number wise but has a Prussian stamped firing pin. My guess is that while she was in the arsenal for re-building, the original bolt was removed, put into a pile of other bolts, blued separately, and a bolt (not the original) was put back into the rifle at the end. She was also modified to take the heavy spitzer rounds (denoted by the 's.S.' marking on the rear sight base. She also still retains many of her late WW1 modifications alongside some WW2 and bears the stamp marks of her WW1 home arsenal along with her pre-war Third Reich arsenal. It is also believed the modifications were done by 'Simson Co.', a Jewish owned munitions factory in the early to mid 1930s before the owners fled Germany in the late 1930s. She is also coated in an early form of bluing and is partially covered in a layer of 'patina'.

A beautiful rifle by far and my favourite.

Gewehr 98b 1

Gewehr 98b 2

Gewehr 98b 3

Gewehr 98b 4

Gewehr 98b 5

Gewehr 98b 6

Gewehr 98b 7

Gewehr 98b 8

Gewehr 98b 9

Gewehr 98b 10

Gewehr 98b 11

Gewehr 98b 12

Gewehr 98b 13

Gewehr 98b 14

Gewehr 98b 15

Gewehr 98b 16

Gewehr 98b 17

Gewehr 98b 18

Gewehr 98b 19

Gewehr 98b 20

Gewehr 98b 21

Gewehr 98b 22

Gewehr 98b 23

Gewehr 98b 24

Gewehr 98b 25

Gewehr 98b 26

Gewehr 98b 27

Gewehr 98b 28

Gewehr 98b 29

Gewehr 98b 30

Gewehr 98b 31

***Gewehr 88/05***

Next is my Gewehr 88/05. She is dated 1890 at Erfurt. This rifle is an extremely interesting collectible as it is Germany's first smokeless powder rifle (the Gewehr 71 and 71/84 and rifles before that were all black powder). The "Commission Rifle"s history is too large to list here but mine shows evidence of its transition as Germany switched between three cartridge types during its service life. She cannot use the heavy spitzer round as the action is not strong enough to take the pressures.

She has the 1905 modifications that saw the installment of Mauser stripper clip bridges to the rear of the action (to replace the en-bloc clips that were used by the Mannlicher action). To help the Turkish during 1916 and 1917, she was one of the rifles given to them. Her rear sight has been restamped for Turkish serial numbers but goes from a minimum distance of 400 m to 2000m. The majority of parts do match, including the rear barrel band which lists the unit that this rifle was once attached to.

She is second to my Gewehr 98b as far as my favourite list goes.

Gewehr 88/05 1

Gewehr 88/05 2

Gewehr 88/05 3

Gewehr 88/05 4

Gewehr 88/05 5

Gewehr 88/05 6

Gewehr 88/05 7

Gewehr 88/05 8

Gewehr 88/05 9

Gewehr 88/05 10

Gewehr 88/05 11

Gewehr 88/05 12

Gewehr 88/05 13

Gewehr 88/05 14

Gewehr 88/05 15

Gewehr 88/05 16

Gewehr 88/05 17

Gewehr 88/05 18

Gewehr 88/05 19

[Hackl]

Sweet!

Thanks for sharing Molders.

[Stecher]

Great collection Molders. Thanks for sharing.

[Stachl]

Nice!

[Mölders]

I just picked up a Kar98a today (the predecessor to the Kar98k) at a gun show. I will post pictures when I can to show you guys.

[Heiden]

I just bought a Beretta 92FS today!

[Mölders]

If everything goes well, I'll be picking up a Mauser C96 in a week .

[Mölders]

Edited: Moved to the top, notes updated.

[Heiden]

I've got a nuts-ton of laquer-coated steel-cased 8mm Mauser ammo if you need a few rounds!

[Mölders]

Nice to know. The seller that I bought the Kbk wz 98 off of threw in two boxes of ammo as well so I can't wait until I can go down to the range ;D.

[Heiden]

What sort of ammo is it? If it's mil-surpl please be sure to bring a funnel and some ammonia mixed with water with you. Pour that down the barrel after you're done firing as it will neutralize the corrosive salts left behind from firing corrosive ammo.

[Mölders]

I used two cleaners to clean the bore the day I picked up the rifle, one being MP Pro 7 and other being Gunzilla, both are rated as doing the job of cleaning the bore of any obstructions and what not. The bore on the Kbk wz 98 looks superb after doing a heavy duty cleaning and the Kar98k is excellent.

As for the ammo that the seller is going to give me, I only know that it is 8mm Mauser and is able to be used in the Kbk wz 98 but I'll know more when I pick up the boxes.

[Mölders]

Edited: Moved to the top, notes updated.

[Heiden]

Broomhandle Mauser. Is it in 9mm or 7.63?

[Mölders]

It is a pre-war commercial variant and is chambered for 7.62x25mm Mauser (7.63 Mauser). I checked at a gunshow yesterday and I can still get the reloading dies for the caliber and all the goodies to make my own rounds too.

[Mölders]

I got my Gewehr 88/05 in the mail the other day and it will be one of my last rifles for a while as I have to make the time to take all of them to the range and see what 60-120 years worth of aging has done.

I will post pictures in the next couple days as I am in the process of performing a full cleaning on the Gewehr 88 and my C96.

[Mölders]

Updated the pictures section so every collection of photos was in the first post.

Newly added pictures for:

• Gewehr 88/05
  
• Gewehr 98b
  
• Mauser C-96
  

Photos to come:

• Seitengewehr M.71 bayonet
  
• Gewehr 88 sling
  
• Kar98k re-stored
  
• Mannlicher-steyr en-bloc clips