Peeking inside Mauser's facilities
 

Peeking inside Mauser's facilities in Oberndorf am Neckar:

Shaftmaking, ca. 1911:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/shaftmaking.jpg

K98, worker checking a freshly made bolt, ca. 1938:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/98_quality.jpg

L98, final assembly, again ca. 1938.
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/98_assembly.jpg

The first pic is awsome. The PTO pulleys and belts are cool history. I understand some of our civil war factories ran on engines that would be the power equivelent of a modern lawnmower.
In the second pic the bolt handle is straight so I suspect it is WW1. The third pic is great also. The stocks are a light color and the bayonet mounts do not seem to be blued. I would love to pick one off the rack behind him. A prewar k98 is the supreme rifle with a little fixing to the sight picture. IMO

As a gay friend of mine would say... "Ohhh! Goosebump moment!".... :p

Yeah, a time machine would be great. If only..... nah, nevermind....

I will say that I recently visited a orthotics and prosthetics facility in Atlanta that had similar machinery as is seen in the first photo, only larger scale. Belts and pulleys running from floor to ceiling all over the place. The Smithsonian is supposed to yank it from the factory and set it back up again in Washington...

You wouldn't want to get your finger caught in one of those.... :o