mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-My bound book doesn't have much sourced from Gun Broker these days. But occasionally... I recently ran across a listing: ERMA German pre war 22 training rifle. I expected to see a DSM34, the most common ERMA training rifle. But I was perplexed by what I saw. While it was similar in appearance to a DSM the buttstock was significantly different along with the trigger guard and sling loops.
-Time to pull out Bob Simpsons Training Rifles of Third Reich Germany for an education. Sure enough, it was found towards the back of the book under "Other Models". What I was looking at was the Modell G.98/34, a precursor to the DSM34. This was one of the earliest training rifles designed specifically to specs called out by the Nazi government for a military training rifle. While the designation G.98/34 doesn't appear anywhere on the rifle it shows up it ERMA period catalogs.
-Prototypes were built in early 1933 with production starting in early '34. Very few were built with SNs approaching a high number of 1200. This example is in the high 600s. Bob Simpson has only 10 examples listed with many of them issued to the SA.
-As it turned out I was the only one to bid on the listing and got it for a very modest price. The owner shipped it to me in a nice, sturdy transit case which was a relief. Condition is good with most of the bluing worn thin. While not a safe queen these are so crazy rare that to get one at all was a victory. Bob Simpson has one up on his site for sale with a SA mark that's duffle cut and missing the stacking rod but in overall better condition than mine with an asking price of $2995. So yeah, I'm happy having cut a check for a fraction of that.
-Time to pull out Bob Simpsons Training Rifles of Third Reich Germany for an education. Sure enough, it was found towards the back of the book under "Other Models". What I was looking at was the Modell G.98/34, a precursor to the DSM34. This was one of the earliest training rifles designed specifically to specs called out by the Nazi government for a military training rifle. While the designation G.98/34 doesn't appear anywhere on the rifle it shows up it ERMA period catalogs.
-Prototypes were built in early 1933 with production starting in early '34. Very few were built with SNs approaching a high number of 1200. This example is in the high 600s. Bob Simpson has only 10 examples listed with many of them issued to the SA.
-As it turned out I was the only one to bid on the listing and got it for a very modest price. The owner shipped it to me in a nice, sturdy transit case which was a relief. Condition is good with most of the bluing worn thin. While not a safe queen these are so crazy rare that to get one at all was a victory. Bob Simpson has one up on his site for sale with a SA mark that's duffle cut and missing the stacking rod but in overall better condition than mine with an asking price of $2995. So yeah, I'm happy having cut a check for a fraction of that.
