84/98 with number stamped crossguard

[timothy]

Many Thanks to Sleepwalker and Frogprince I have seen the Fin SA stamped 84/98 and also Norweign modified 84/98 with US type of pistol belt attachment to the scabbard. Also some of them are modified in bayonet slot for some other type of weapon Norway used and acquired a lot of K98K rifles and some of them are even bored to 30-06 US caliber. Could it be possible this is just a field armory mark, put on by quartmaster in field or armorey? Agree it doesn't fit to be a police issue bayonet with military waa. This was just a thought. Thanks for all the info timothy

[Sleepwalker]

the norwegian most times stamped with a number on the pommel and a "X"

this 5 is also untypical for norway.

it is a mystery.

[Frogprince]

Many Thanks to Sleepwalker and Frogprince I have seen the Fin SA stamped 84/98 and also Norweign modified 84/98 with US type of pistol belt attachment to the scabbard. Also some of them are modified in bayonet slot for some other type of weapon Norway used and acquired a lot of K98K rifles and some of them are even bored to 30-06 US caliber. Could it be possible this is just a field armory mark, put on by quartmaster in field or armorey? Agree it doesn't fit to be a police issue bayonet with military waa. This was just a thought. Thanks for all the info timothy

Hello Timothy, From the information I have the Norwegians did convert a batch of Kar 98k Mausers to the NATO 7.62 x 51mm (.308) round that were still in inventory well after they had gone over to making their own license built copies of the HK G3 rifle. (Noting that the Norwegian version has some small differences from the German Army version of the G3 which is the one that I am much more familiar with.)

With the Norwegian conversion of the SG 84/98 that I believe you are referring to designed for the U.S. M1 (Garand) rifles that were sent to Norway. Having a component that was to be inserted into the M1 gas relief plug. Which may be the ones mentioned with the “X” and number marking (I don’t have the M1 conversion type, and when I was looking at them I was more interested in seeing how they did the conversions). But not on any of the original German issue examples that I have, and I really don’t remember seeing it with some of the others that I’ve looked at. But at the same time it's also true that I was looking for originality and condition, and not paying a lot of attention if an item was a common one that failed either of those tests. Best regards, Fred

[Sleepwalker]

also sweden gets in (or since ?? ) 1939 Karabiner 98k and S84/98 out of the Wehrmacht contract. I don´t know if they were stamped in special way.

[timothy]

Thanks again sleepwalker and frogprince I saw several Norweign rework K98K on a table at KC gun show in the 80's I do remember a couple of them the dealer said were bored to Nato I suspose .308 as mentioned. But he did have one he said was 30-06 bored it had a weird type receiver maybe replaced. He claimed Norway done this to shoot our 30-06 from M1 after the war. K98 bayonet was in a scabbard that had been modified to fit US pistol belt like the clip that a canteen has. timothy

[Frogprince]

Thanks again sleepwalker and frogprince I saw several Norweign rework K98K on a table at KC gun show in the 80's I do remember a couple of them the dealer said were bored to Nato I suspose .308 as mentioned. But he did have one he said was 30-06 bored it had a weird type receiver maybe replaced. He claimed Norway done this to shoot our 30-06 from M1 after the war. K98 bayonet was in a scabbard that had been modified to fit US pistol belt like the clip that a canteen has. timothy

Hello Timothy, Yes, the Norwegian conversions of the SG 84/98 bayonet scabbards had the US style belt hooks attached to the back. And the receiver ring you are referring to may have been notched to accommodate the roughly 6 mm longer 30-06 (@ 7.62x63mm) ammunition from the original 7.92x57mm which is seen with some other adaptations for longer cartridges. But with the only one that comes to mind at the moment a modified FN rifle for another country, and not all Mauser actions are of the same length. Regards, Fred

[Frogprince]

also sweden gets in (or since ?? ) 1939 Karabiner 98k and S84/98 out of the Wehrmacht contract. I don´t know if they were stamped in special way.

Hello Sleepwalker, the short short version: Somewhere in their hierarchy, the Swedish Army wanted a presumably small unit level rifle caliber anti-tank weapon, and the standard Swedish 6.5x55mm M1896 rifles were not up to the task. So in 1939 they ordered 5000 rifles from Germany, including bayonets, using what they called the 8mm patron M/39 cartridge that was the same as the standard German round. With the 5000 taken from Wehrmacht stores apparently having mixed makers, and 1939-1940 dates from a relatively small informal sampling. Which of course became known as the M/39.

Which might have worked against some of the early tanks, but not against the more modern ones. So as we say here: “It’s back to the drawing board.” Now selecting instead the preexisting 8x62mm machine gun cartridge in use by Sweden, and reworking which reduced the effective magazine capacity to four. But also having twice the energy of the 6.5x55mm round which is what they were looking for. But machine guns are a lot heavier, and they soak up recoil much better than rifles and there were injuries. So they installed a muzzle brake to compensate, and called that version the M/40, with the muzzle brake precluding the use of a bayonet.

With some dissatisfaction still in the ranks. We fast forward to the end of the war, and at least a number of the rifles made their way to Israel. Which was where one of the ones that I’ve looked at fully intact was reported to have come from - in the much better than average condition that you might expect of Swedish weapons. While others were simply rebarreled by Israel to 7.62x51 mm (NATO), and now look just like any other Mauser from that region. Except for the “G.B.” (Gustaf Bjorkenstam) receiver side rail stamping that identifies it as having come from Sweden. Which is a special stamping, but not from the original German source. Regards, Fred