Ichabod, the Kar98b was more than a G98 with a tangent leaf sight instead of a roller coaster sight. Compared to the WW1 standard G98, the Kar98b had a bent bolt handle, both the barrel bands were different, and a slot was cut into the buttstock for a sling. They look very different. The Polish rifle that you mention being used by the Waffen-SS was the Wz 29 rifle. Later, after the Germans took over the Polish factory that manufactured it, it was designated the G29/40. But otherwise you are correct, the SS were generally at the bottom of the barrel for small arms in the Third Reich. Besides using captured weapons, I’ve seen photos of SS troopers with Czech VZ-24 rifles, reworked G98s, G24s, and even regular unmodified G98s from WW1.
SS markings on German WW2 rifles are controversial. Here are a few from Richard Law’s book, “Backbone of the Wehrmacht”. I’ve tried to find examples of the classic lighting bolts in their own, as opposed to the pretty well known death’s heads.
As far as Waffen-SS markings on wooden parts like the stock, the only ones I’ve ever seen, or observed in the publications I’ve read, are a death’s head or an occasional single rune either by the trigger guard, the hand guard, or on the bottom part of the stock. There is no known case of the SS marking the wooden part of the stock by the trigger guard with a Wa coded waffenamt. Sorry JohnF, the mark on your SMG is a fake.
Here are some examples of SS markings on wooden components.
