The single shot action has changed little over the years, as I had a Walther KKJ and GX1 with almost the same styling! It is very smooth, superbly engineered and marked profusely. Length is 44.5” and the weight, 3.5 kg, making it a handful, but balance is surprisingly good and all for the original princely sum of 58 Reichsmarks. Pricing is dependent on rarity and condition, this was £600 trade, but expect to pay much more for SA, NSAP stamped or divisional rifles.
It came from By Sword and Musket (Kirk Emmerich) who specialises in all manner of historic arms and always has a great selection of interesting equipment. Even after 83 years this example has a crisp bore, lovely walnut, good bluing and a mechanically perfect action. These were built to a high standard with decent walnut, all metal machined construction and care. As one would expect, the Walther version is superbly made and puts modern rimfires to shame. Walther sport modellįirms like Erma, Geco and BSW all produced these fine, single shots 22 rimfires, that differed from the other true sporting rimfires like the Es 340, Es 410b, due to their K98 weight and handling. I have here a Walther Sport Modell, to show the thinly disguised attempt at a K98 rimfire as a sporter and also a Mauser DSM-34 that was basically a mini K98 to all intense and purposes. This became the ideal clone of the K98 in both looks, operation and feel and is even rarer to find. The DSM-34 then transitioned into the KKW or Klein Kaliber Wehrsportgewehr (small calibre rifle for specific training purposes). There was now no disguising the fact that Germany was preparing for war, with these rifles being used by the SA, NSAP and Hitler Youth organisations of the day. This model really took on the size, shape, operation and weight of the Mauer K98. As the Nazi rule became more prevalent and there was no need to disguise re-armament, the Sport Modell became more militarised into the DSM-34. This led to some incredibly well made and accurate rifles and the fact that they have endured today is testament to their quality manufacture, typical German engineering. All could produce the Sport Modell to a blueprint design but often with their own take on it. These included Walther, Mauser, Weihrauch, Erma, Anschutz, Haenel, Simson, Schmidt, BSW, Thuringen, Waffenstadt and BUA in differing gun making regions. Mauser were not the only manufacturers like so many of Germanys covert armaments plants, the various requirements were shipped out to many makers. They weren’t fooling anyone, but it led to some superb pre-war 22 rimfires that these days have become highly collectable. You can’t do thatĪfter WW1, Imperial Germany were forbidden to re-arm but got around these rules cleverly by producing rifles that looked very similar to the army’s Mauser 98s in both operation and weight by producing ‘SportModell’ (for sporting use) versions. Lee Enfields, Mossbergs, BSAs and Savages all had their variants, but one particular rifle really stands out for me, the pre-war Deutches Sportmodells and DSM-34 and the later KKW from Germany. Each Army had their own take on what they wanted, often a modified version of the existing combat arm. Every army had to train its soldiers before battle and a cost-effective and easy to use rifle on short indoor or outdoor ranges, like a rimfire, were ideal. I particularly like K98 snipers and, of late, all manner of pre-war 22 Long Rifle (LR) training rifles. Some love the history, campaign strategies and technical advantages that waring armies evoke I like Mausers.
I am not a militaria historian, but certain rifles and periods of time resonate to me as a rifle shooter.