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Gene,
If the rifle had the Imperial acceptance eagle stamped on the barrel, it would have been done on the octagonal part of the barrel. The reasons for my questions comes from reports Axel has written in WAIDMANNSHEIL, and maybe here and other forums. Early in WW1, before we were involved in it, The Germans and British were being very "mean" to each other and killing a lot of troops using the fairly new machine guns. Most of the machine guns had steel armor plates to protect the gunners, and a viewing port in the plates to allow the gunners to see. The British tried to defeat these guns by bringing heavy sporting rifles( read elephant guns)to the front in an effort to break the plates. One of the German officers, who was a hunter, brouqht his telescope equipped hunting rifle to the front and used it to shoot British gunners through the viewing port. As a result of this experiment, German hunters were asked to donate telescope equipped 8mm hunting rifles to the war effort, until military authorities could develop enough military sniper rifles to meet the need. The ones accepted were stamped with the acceptance stamp and marked on the stock as to whether it was chambered for the 8x57 I or 8x57 IS. After some continuing confusion they had a metal plate attached to the stock, showing whether it used a round nose bullet( 8x57 I) or spitzer bullet( 8x57 IS). In producing sufficient military sniper rifles, the armorers mounted civilian scopes from the donated rifles to military rifles and removed the donated rifles from service. The ones chambered for 8x57I had a "D" with a number while the 8x57 IS had an "S" with a number on the butt stock. Depending on which units they were issued to, they may have other marks added to the stock. Axel's friend and I each have one of these rifles and both have a Crown with a "K" and "M" stamped on the stock indicating issue to the Imperial Marines. Other units may have used other stamps and they were marked with a variety of different " makers/sellers" marks. When the metal plates were removed, they left 4 screw holes to be filled. Some were poorly filled, and others were so expertly filled so that they were unnoticeable and can't be seen except under close inspection. If you would like to see examples of these markings, Axel's article is found in WAIDMANNSHEIL issue # 47 and is entitled "Militarized Sporting Rifles" or the first modern snipers. If you don't have or can't find this issue, it or a reprint, may be available from " sales@germanguns.com". If it can be established that your rifle is one of these, it will be one of the very very few identified. Unfortunately, that wouldn't mean it would be worth a fortune. For historical reasons, it would be worth a closed examination.
Mike
If the rifle had the Imperial acceptance eagle stamped on the barrel, it would have been done on the octagonal part of the barrel. The reasons for my questions comes from reports Axel has written in WAIDMANNSHEIL, and maybe here and other forums. Early in WW1, before we were involved in it, The Germans and British were being very "mean" to each other and killing a lot of troops using the fairly new machine guns. Most of the machine guns had steel armor plates to protect the gunners, and a viewing port in the plates to allow the gunners to see. The British tried to defeat these guns by bringing heavy sporting rifles( read elephant guns)to the front in an effort to break the plates. One of the German officers, who was a hunter, brouqht his telescope equipped hunting rifle to the front and used it to shoot British gunners through the viewing port. As a result of this experiment, German hunters were asked to donate telescope equipped 8mm hunting rifles to the war effort, until military authorities could develop enough military sniper rifles to meet the need. The ones accepted were stamped with the acceptance stamp and marked on the stock as to whether it was chambered for the 8x57 I or 8x57 IS. After some continuing confusion they had a metal plate attached to the stock, showing whether it used a round nose bullet( 8x57 I) or spitzer bullet( 8x57 IS). In producing sufficient military sniper rifles, the armorers mounted civilian scopes from the donated rifles to military rifles and removed the donated rifles from service. The ones chambered for 8x57I had a "D" with a number while the 8x57 IS had an "S" with a number on the butt stock. Depending on which units they were issued to, they may have other marks added to the stock. Axel's friend and I each have one of these rifles and both have a Crown with a "K" and "M" stamped on the stock indicating issue to the Imperial Marines. Other units may have used other stamps and they were marked with a variety of different " makers/sellers" marks. When the metal plates were removed, they left 4 screw holes to be filled. Some were poorly filled, and others were so expertly filled so that they were unnoticeable and can't be seen except under close inspection. If you would like to see examples of these markings, Axel's article is found in WAIDMANNSHEIL issue # 47 and is entitled "Militarized Sporting Rifles" or the first modern snipers. If you don't have or can't find this issue, it or a reprint, may be available from " sales@germanguns.com". If it can be established that your rifle is one of these, it will be one of the very very few identified. Unfortunately, that wouldn't mean it would be worth a fortune. For historical reasons, it would be worth a closed examination.
Mike
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