| The SS K98k |
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The SS was originally simply a body guard unit for Hitler. When Himmler got the responsibility to guard
the concentration camps, it was the first time that the SS had a need for military type weapons. They
were not successful in trying to get new weapons as the Heer was very protective of their supply lines.
So, in the late '30s, the SS got pistols and rifles that were Heer rejects and reworked them into serviceable
guns. These consisted, primarily, of P.08s and Gew98s that were reworked to K98k specifications with
a shorter barrel and a sling attached to the side of the stock. When the SS was so successful in being a major force in the fall of Paris, they got more clout. By the end of 1942 Himmler was able to get a contract with Steyr in Austria for new K98ks. To keep them separate from the military contract rifles, single runes were stamped on them. Very few 42 dated rifles are known. The SS contract rifles had a serial number range of their own starting with 1. I will be presenting 5 SS contract rifles for viewing. Most will be for sale. The last 2 are what are referred to as the large "BNZ44" examples. By the time these guns were made, the runes were dropped but the plant still needed a way to identifiy the SS contract guns so they stamped "BNZ" in large letters and below that, "44" instead of using a single "4", like the Heer contract rifles, to denote 1944. These examples, for the most part, still fell within the unique SS serial number range. |