1743

Rare WWII German "bnz" Single Claw Sniper Rifle with Hensoldt Scope

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:3,750.00 USD Estimated At:7,500.00 - 9,500.00 USD
Rare WWII German  bnz  Single Claw Sniper Rifle with Hensoldt Scope
This is a very nice example of a late WWII 98K rifle as manufactured by the Steyr factory that was produced as a single claw sniper rifle. This style of sniper rifle was produced in early 1944 and uses the tried and true German claw mounted scope system that was employed though out WWI and into the pre-war WWII years. It is a very strong and durable mounting system but highly time consuming to produce and was used only on a limited basis. This system has the large bases soldered to the front and rear receiver rings with the opposing claws mounts fitted to the scope rings. The bases and rings were hand fitting and were always numbered to match, (the scope on this rifle does not match). The scope is a correct Hensoldt version, that is marked on the side "DIALYTAN 4X/65218/bmj/Blue cross". The left side of the front claw mount is numbered "F/9123" and the rear scope ring is numbered 9123 on the upper and lower half if mount. The top of the receiver ring is completely covered by the base with the rifle serial number (982 J) stamped on the side. The top of the barrel only has a single WaA623 proof mark. The receiver side wall is marked "MOD 98" which is correct for this series of rifle. It has the standard tangent rear sight inverted 'V' front sight along with the correct milled barrel bands, trigger guard and floor plate. The stock and handguard are the correct late war laminated versions with the cupped buttplate with the take down hole through the buttstock. There are 16 notches/hash marks cut across the pistol grip area to assist with grasping the pistol grip; most likely period applied by the sniper. The right side of the buttstock has a single illegible Waffenamt proof and the rifle is complete with an original WWII cross-hatched leather sling.
BBL: 24 inch round
Stock: laminated
Gauge: 7.92 mm Mauser
Finish: blue
Grips:
Serial Number: 982J


Very fine with 75% of the original wartime blued finish remaining overall, with finish loss on the exposed section of the barrel, the front and rear barrel bands, the exposed surface of the trigger guard and floor plate. The top/front section of the barrel and front barrel band also have some areas of light pitting/corrosion on them. The scope retains 10% of its original blued finish, primarily in the protected areas around the rings with the balance of the scope have a spotty brown patina overall, with some area of minor pitting on the sides of the scope tube. The scope is also missing the top section of the elevation knob with the range markings, however the elevation knob moves the cross-hairs up and down correctly and the optics are clear and sharp. The stock and handguard are both in fine condition showing minor handling marks from field use overall. The rifle has matching numbers on the various parts/components but not the scope and scope rings. A very nice original representative example of a scarce WWII German Steyr single claw sniper rifle.