This is a Mauser Gew98m that was used by Germany in WWI, and was part of the 1920 rearmament of the Wiemar government. It was updated and used in WWII by Germany. Since German SS divisions often used non-standard weapons, and there were a number of them operating in the Balkans, this rifle could have been captured from an SS unit. It has a number of markings showing partisan usage.
Milovan Djilas was a political member of the Supreme Staff of the Tito Partisans. While the Partisans were being routed and on the run from German attacks, two members of the Seventh SS Prinz Eugen Division were captured:
"Some five hundred yards ahead--in the woods beneath the cliff, by a spring-- we stumbled onto two Germans. Our advance guard--if one can so designate the group at the head of our disjointed, disorganized crowd--had already disarmed them.
'Where are the German soldiers?' I asked in German.
One of them replied in good Serbian, making a circular motion with his hand, 'All around.'
This heightened my outrage,. both at the carelessness of our own troops and at the insolence of the Germans. . . .
I unslung my rifle. Since I didn't dare fire, because the Germans were some forty yards above--we could hear them shouting--I hit the German over the head. The rifle butt broke, and the German fell on his back. I pulled out my knife and with one motion slit his throat. I then handed the knife to Raja Nedeljkovic, a political worker whom I had known since before the war, and whose village the Germans had massacred in 1941. Nedeljkovic stabbed the second German, who writhed but soon was still. This later gave rise to the story that I had slaughtered a German in hand-to-hand combat. Actually, like most prisoners, the Germans were as if paralyzed, and didn't defend themselves or try to flee.
I then took the rifle of one of the Germans. It was well cared for and precise, similar to the one whose butt was broken. I was to carry that rifle until I was sent to the U.S.S.R. in the spring of 1944, at which time I left it with the battalion escorting the Supreme Staff, where it got lost--probably during the German raid on Drvar on May 25, 1944."*
On the right side of the action, it says "ЕНЧУ НИКОЛАИ ЈОРГАЧ" or Enchu Nicolai Yorgach, with the date of "1 VIII 45r" or 1st August year 1945, a flower, and "ΠOCT No 8" or Post #8. The left finger groove says "ШИ|И| |А НИКОЛА/V" with "ШИ|И| |А" again on the left behind the rear barrel band; in the past Macedonian could use i for a j, which the first | could be, but | | could become H, П, И, Ц, etc. (perhaps it is Shijina Nicolai)? On the left pistol grip, "ΠOCT No 8" is faintly repeated, with "ЖМИX," an unknown word, on the buttstock.
The rifle was likely used by a Serbian/Montenegrin/Macedonian, seen by the Cyrillic and the letter "J" use, and later may have been given to Albania. There is a Century Arms import mark on the barrel, and this is what gunboards.com member "Betonfahrer" says about the provenance:
"Century brought in a lot of Mausers from Albania in the mid 1990s.My friend was able to go there and sort through about 300-500 rifles.He told me there were a lot of Gew-98M rifles,98K,Vz-24 and so on.He did pick me up a Polish 98A long rifle in a 98b stock and a Gew-98 with Lithuanian proof mark.He said there were a fair amount of Gew-98 in the piles.He pulled out about 30-50 G-98/40 and no one knows what happened to them.Also seen were several Iranian Cz-98/29 long rifles with lots of wear.As far as the 98K rifles he was able to bring back 3 with the fixed sheet metal rear sight.If your rifle is import marked I think it came in with that mass of rifles.I had several Gew-98M from gun shows that were import marked with dark bores from that batch.My friend also stated that a lot of the rifles were still loaded!"
*. I quote Wartime by Milovan Djilas, translated by Michael B. Petrovich, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.
Milovan Djilas was a political member of the Supreme Staff of the Tito Partisans. While the Partisans were being routed and on the run from German attacks, two members of the Seventh SS Prinz Eugen Division were captured:
"Some five hundred yards ahead--in the woods beneath the cliff, by a spring-- we stumbled onto two Germans. Our advance guard--if one can so designate the group at the head of our disjointed, disorganized crowd--had already disarmed them.
'Where are the German soldiers?' I asked in German.
One of them replied in good Serbian, making a circular motion with his hand, 'All around.'
This heightened my outrage,. both at the carelessness of our own troops and at the insolence of the Germans. . . .
I unslung my rifle. Since I didn't dare fire, because the Germans were some forty yards above--we could hear them shouting--I hit the German over the head. The rifle butt broke, and the German fell on his back. I pulled out my knife and with one motion slit his throat. I then handed the knife to Raja Nedeljkovic, a political worker whom I had known since before the war, and whose village the Germans had massacred in 1941. Nedeljkovic stabbed the second German, who writhed but soon was still. This later gave rise to the story that I had slaughtered a German in hand-to-hand combat. Actually, like most prisoners, the Germans were as if paralyzed, and didn't defend themselves or try to flee.
I then took the rifle of one of the Germans. It was well cared for and precise, similar to the one whose butt was broken. I was to carry that rifle until I was sent to the U.S.S.R. in the spring of 1944, at which time I left it with the battalion escorting the Supreme Staff, where it got lost--probably during the German raid on Drvar on May 25, 1944."*
On the right side of the action, it says "ЕНЧУ НИКОЛАИ ЈОРГАЧ" or Enchu Nicolai Yorgach, with the date of "1 VIII 45r" or 1st August year 1945, a flower, and "ΠOCT No 8" or Post #8. The left finger groove says "ШИ|И| |А НИКОЛА/V" with "ШИ|И| |А" again on the left behind the rear barrel band; in the past Macedonian could use i for a j, which the first | could be, but | | could become H, П, И, Ц, etc. (perhaps it is Shijina Nicolai)? On the left pistol grip, "ΠOCT No 8" is faintly repeated, with "ЖМИX," an unknown word, on the buttstock.
The rifle was likely used by a Serbian/Montenegrin/Macedonian, seen by the Cyrillic and the letter "J" use, and later may have been given to Albania. There is a Century Arms import mark on the barrel, and this is what gunboards.com member "Betonfahrer" says about the provenance:
"Century brought in a lot of Mausers from Albania in the mid 1990s.My friend was able to go there and sort through about 300-500 rifles.He told me there were a lot of Gew-98M rifles,98K,Vz-24 and so on.He did pick me up a Polish 98A long rifle in a 98b stock and a Gew-98 with Lithuanian proof mark.He said there were a fair amount of Gew-98 in the piles.He pulled out about 30-50 G-98/40 and no one knows what happened to them.Also seen were several Iranian Cz-98/29 long rifles with lots of wear.As far as the 98K rifles he was able to bring back 3 with the fixed sheet metal rear sight.If your rifle is import marked I think it came in with that mass of rifles.I had several Gew-98M from gun shows that were import marked with dark bores from that batch.My friend also stated that a lot of the rifles were still loaded!"
*. I quote Wartime by Milovan Djilas, translated by Michael B. Petrovich, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.