The next step in my rebuilding of a wartime Gustloff Werke K98 Sniper.

To begin, I was able to get a little more history on the rifle itself. While I don't know where it saw service, I was able to get some information regarding the unfamiliar stamps on it's stock, as well as the re-barreling to 7.62 Nato.

It turns out, that after the formation of Israel as a state, the burgeoning nation needed weapons for it's new armed forces. With millions of K98s having been captured or confiscated after the war, they were a readily available source of arms, so it was a no-brainer to funnel those arms into Israeli hands until they could develop a MBR for themselves. Israel even went so far as to purchase an entire factory from Czechoslovakia in order to manufacture replacement parts.

(I'm sure there was also a sense of wicked irony that weapons manufactured by a regime that sought the elimination of the Jewish race should go toward the defense of the new Jewish nation.)

Around the 1960s, they were rebarreled to 7.62x51, to conform to NATO standard. The Reichadlers were struck off (often with a Star of David stamp) and the stocks and receivers stamped with "7.62". By this point, most of the stocks had been replaced anyway (due to wear and tear over the years).

I'm lucky in that this particular rifle didn't have any of it's markings obscured, despite being rebarreled. The stock is likely Israeli beechwood, but it was going to be replaced anyway.

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Alright, on to what the next step is for this old man.

I was able to find a replacement barrel, also from the Gustloff-Werke factory, but two years earlier.
As can be seen in the photos, the finish on the replacement barrel is not as good as on the receiver, but I don't think I'm willing to try having it reblued/phosphated.

Once I get away from tax season and have some time and disposable income that isn't earmarked for something else, I'm going to take it to smith a friend recommended and get the new barrel put on.

I'll keep you guys updated with the progress on this, as it's a fun project.
If anyone more knowledgeable than me has any advice or wisdom they want to share, I'll gladly listen! I'm an amateur at best, and I'm going to take this slowly so that I don't do more harm to this piece than history already has.