K98k with Hebrew markings

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kamehouse
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Posts: 291
Joined: 19 Sep 2006, 08:56
Location: Nice France

K98k with Hebrew markings

#1

Post by kamehouse » 08 May 2012, 23:03

Dear all ,
my uncle showed me his Mauser K98k he purchased a while ago and I promised I would try to gather as much information as I could.So thanks in advance for any piece of info you could give me.
Here's some pictures:

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The swastika has been scratched and it seems to have 2 stars of David,one above and one underneath the German eagle?
Also what does the "m" and the stamp on the lower right of the serial number means?

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"dou" means it was built in Považská Bystrica part of the Brno factory in Slovakia.(Waffenwerke Brünn AG,Werk Považská Bystrica).
First I thought it could be a Vz.24 but it seems that the plant switched production to K98k in 1942.So if the number "43" is the year of production,it has to be a K98k,right?
Also what does the 2 letters "dy" and "AN" mean?By the left part of the "dou" ,is it me of it seems it's been rubbed off,I can make out a "2" maybe?

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This is quite puzzling to me..except the 7.62 which would mean the rifle had to be refurbished for NATO ammunition at some point?
What does the "R" in front means?Also the character on top seems to be Hebrew?If it is ,does it mean anything?
And again on the right of the picture the letters "AN" and another set of 2 letters..not sure which ones.What are they?

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Other side ,the 2 unknown letters look like a crown maybe?
What about the letters(they look more like some hieroglyphic cartouche to me) underneath the arrow?

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This seems to some Hebrew markings,am I right?If yes ,what do they mean?

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Is this four pointed star important?

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I guess this should match the other serial number,so if doesn't ,it was reassembled at some point?

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There is also a big 7.62 engraved on the rifle butt.Unfortunately I don't have a picture :cry: .
I believe this is one of the rifles sold to the Israelian army and converted to NATO ammunition.
Although my uncle wouldn't sell it,is it an uncommon rifle?I can read a lot about Russian captured rifles but not much about Israelian ones.
Thanks again for taking the time to read my several questions and even more to answer them.
Regards,
k

Trackhead M2
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Joined: 24 Mar 2012, 17:48
Location: North Utica, IL

Re: K98k with Hebrew markings

#2

Post by Trackhead M2 » 09 May 2012, 01:14

Dear k,
The IDF's first standard weapons were Czech built 98k mausers. They were cheap, reliable and plentiful. The use of 7.62mm by 51mm cartridges was due to the shift due its adoption as the NATO round making the rounds cheap, reliable and plentiful. The IDFs' first fighter aircraft were Czech re-built Messerschmidt ME 109's. It is kind of ironic, isn't it?
Strike Swiftly,
TH-M2


panzerplatten
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Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 23:13

Re: K98k with Hebrew markings

#3

Post by panzerplatten » 09 May 2012, 01:36

The Hebrew markings were part of an ideology to purify
The idf weapons, strange as it seems.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karabiner_98k
Mark.

panzerplatten
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Posts: 405
Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 23:13

Re: K98k with Hebrew markings

#4

Post by panzerplatten » 09 May 2012, 01:47

pean nations used the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle as well as a few guerrilla organizations to help establish new nation-states. One example was Israel who used the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle from the late 1940s until the 1970s.

The use of the Karabiner 98k to establish the nation-state of Israel often raises a lot of interest among people and rifle collectors today. Many Jewish organizations in Palestine acquired them from post–World War II Europe to protect various Jewish settlements from Arab attack as well as to carry out guerrilla operations against British Army forces in Palestine.

The Haganah, which later evolved into the modern-day Israel Defense Forces, was one of the Jewish armed groups in Palestine that brought large numbers of Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles and other surplus arms (namely the British Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle, which was used on a large scale by these groups and the Mosin-Nagant) from Europe during the post–World War II period. Many, though not all, Israeli-used German surplus Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles have had all of the Nazi Waffenamt markings and emblems defaced with over stamped Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Hebrew markings as part of an effort to ideologically "purify" the rifles from their former use as an infantry weapon of Nazi Germany.

As the Arab-Israeli conflict approached, the Haganah and other Jewish forces in Palestine tried to get hold of as many weapons as they could in the face of an arms embargo by British colonial authorities. One of most important purchaseswas a secret January 14, 1948, $12,280,000 worth contract with Czechoslovak Government including 4,500 P-18 rifles, as well as 50,400,000 rounds of ammunition. Later, the newly established Israel Defence Force ordered more numbers of Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles, produced this time by Fabrique Nationale. These have Israeli and Belgian markings on the rifle as well as the emblem of the IDF on the top of the rifle's receiver. The FN-made Karabiner 98k rifles with the IDF markings and emblem on the rifle were produced and sold "legally" to Israel after it established itself as an independent nation in 1948. At some point, Israel converted all other Mauser 98-based rifles in their inventory (most commonly Czechoslovak vz. 24 rifles, but small numbers of contract Mausers from sources ranging from Ethiopia to Mexico were also known to have come into Israeli hands) to the now standardized Karabiner 98k configuration. The original receiver markings of these conversions were not altered, making it easy for collectors to identify their origin. The Israeli Karabiner 98k utilized the same bayonet design as in German service, with a barrel ring added. The Israeli bayonets were a mix of converted German production and domestically produced examples.

During the late 1950s, the IDF converted the calibre of their Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles from the original German 7.92 mm round to 7.62 mm NATO following the adoption of the FN FAL rifle as their primary rifle in 1958. The Israeli Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles that were converted have "7.62" engraved on the rifle receiver. Rifles with original German stocks have "7.62" burned into the heel of the rifle stock for identification and to separate the 7.62 NATO rifles from the original 7.92 mm versions of the weapon still in service or held in reserve. Some Karabiner 98k rifles were fitted with new, unnumbered beech stocks of recent manufacture, while others retained their original furniture. All of these converted rifles were proof-fired for service.

The Karabiner 98k rifle was used by the reserve branches of the IDF well into the 1960s and 1970s and saw action in the hands of various support and line-of-communications troops during the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. After the rifle was retired from reserve military service, the Israeli Mauser Karabiner 98k was given to a number of Third World nations as military aid by the Israelis during the 1970s and 1980s, and sold as ex-military surplus on the open market, with many Israeli Mausers being exported to Australia (the Israeli Mauser is the most predominant variant of the Mauser Kar98k rifle on the Australian surplus firearms market today) and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. The Israeli Mausers provided to Third World armies began to themselves be imported for civilian sale in the United States, and tend to be in significantly worse condition than those sold directly out of Israeli storage.
Wikipedia source,
Mark.

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