Help identifying Mauser Proof Marks

[pete]

Sir,
Good day. I want to thank you for ALL of the info about the Mauser. I do believe your answer has correctly identified my friends rifle. I appreciate, as will he, all of your help. Again....My thanks to you.
Pete

[mike ford]

Axel,
If this is a Reichswerke Erfurt conversion(we don't have a clear photo of the left side wall, so we can't know), since it doesn't have required proof marks, was it Erfurt's official policy that they weren't required to have their's proofed by civilian authorities, since they were a "Royal" arsenal and had inspected/accepted it?
Mike

[algmule]

Hello

Some additional info for those hardcore Ströver fanatics that might be lurking around the board.

”In unser Firmen-Register ist heute unter No. 1218 die Firma Adolf Ströver zu Nordhausen und als deren Inhaber der Büchsenmacher und Waffenhändler Adolf Ströver daselbst eingetragen.
Nordhausen, d. 26. August 1898.
Königl. Amtsgericht. Abth. 2.”


“In unser Firmen-Register ist heute bei No. 1218 – Firma Adolf Ströver zu Nordhausen – eingetragen: das Handelsgeschäft nebst Firma ist nach dem Tode des Inhabers Büchsenmachers Adolf Ströver zu Nordhausen, von dessen alleiniger Vorerbin, der Wittwe Johanna Ströver, geb. Rumpel daselbst, an den Büchsenmacher Carl Ströver ebenda veräussert.
Darauf ist der Büchsenmacher Carl Ströver zu Nordhausen unter No. 397 des Handelsregisters A als Inhaber der Firma Adolf Ströver daselbst eingetragen.
Nordhausen. Den 18. Mai 1901.
Königl. Amtsgericht, Abth. 2.”

Johanna is sometimes given the spelling Johanne and Adolf was Adolph in 1874 and Carl is occasionally spelled with a K.

Kind regards
Peter

[Axel E]

Mike, this is not a post November 1918 "Reichswerke Erfurt" made sporting rifle, but a pre November 1918 military carbine by the Königliche Gewehrfabrik Erfurt, with the military acceptance and inspection marks.The left receiver wall was inscribed Kar 98 originally. Like in most other countries, military rifles were subject to military acceptence only, not to civilian proof. After the German 1918 revolution and the end of WW1 it was "liberated" by someone from government ownership. An unknown gunsmith sporterized and restocked it, without submitting it to civilian proof. Pre-shaped 98 sporter stocks were availble even then from specialized makers to the trade. Even the larger "Name" companies relied on these stockmakers. This makes it hard now to distinguish between Suhl bolt actions from different makers like Sauer & Sohn, Haenel, Funk, Krieghoff and others without reading the barrel address. Most of the Suhl and Z-M guntrade were supplied with stocks by the same makers.
After November 9, 1918, there was no Kaiser or King any more. The former Royal Arms Factory Erfurt was renamed Reichswerke Erfurt and started to make s civilian sporting rifles. Germany was in revolutionary turmoil during 1919 and 1920. Communists established a Räterepublik = soviet republic in Thuringia in the 1919 Spartacist uprising. This uprising was smashed by the army and militias. (Suhl: "In the green forests the red town with a shot-up townhall") The Kapp Putsch followed in 1920, with fightings c lose to civil war again. So the Suhl and Zella – Mehlis proofhouses were out of function or inaccessible during most of the time the RwE sporters were made. The Reichswerke Erfurt simply "proofed" their rifles themselves, using the former military acceptance "eagle" stamp as their proofmark.

[mike ford]

Thanks Axel, I didn't know Germany was under all that turmoil that early, we learned about the financial problems in the Wiemar(?) Republic during the depression and the Communist/ Nazi fighting, but that was all later. I didn't realize the Kaiser was actually gone before the Armistice.
Mike