280k manufactured- by serial range estimates), though "Turk" Gewehr98's are known in the earliest blocks of 1917. These rifles (n block) is almost exactly in the middle of MO production run in 1917 ( 130-140k of an est. I would have to see when the supply line was reliably established, but seeing as Bucharest was taken by December 1916, and the Rumanian/Russians were driven largely to the east by early 1917, it would seem that supply probably would have been restored by early 1917. Rumania had allowed supplies through to Bulgaria & Turkey though it was very erratic and extremely unreliable prior to Rumania being driven from the war. In Falkenhayn's account of the Rumanian campaign, he specifically makes the point that one of the primary goals of the campaign was to open up a reliable supply line to Bulgaria through Rumania, which the Bulgarians and Turks were clamoring for. Rumania was a critical player during the war in the east, the country was incredibly important for the Central Powers due to Rumania's exports of oil & food, which were never entirely stopped prior to August 1916, (though very inadequate from Germany's pov) and the position Rumania held along the supply line to Turkey. Supplies getting through to Turkey were rather meager prior to 1917, especially critical were ammunition.
Turkey (and Bulgaria) when they entered the war were separated from their allies due to Serbia being at war with the Central Powers and Rumania's rather hostile attitude towards A-H. Would you please give Amberg or me, the serial # of any other Oberndorf Gew 98 ex-sniper rifles that you've got (or seen) so the research can be expanded? Perhaps another chapter needs to be added to the story of the legendary "Scharfschutzen Gewehr 98"? The evidence so far seems to show that authentic Oberndorf Gew 98 sniper rifles did indeed exist. However its unwise to jump to conclusions without a lot more examples to base them on. Would it be reasonable to summise that IF Mauser Oberndorf did produce Scharfschutzen Gewehr 98's, they would do it in a more efficient way than the state owned arsenals who selected their rifles at random? But this selection of a block of rifles for conversion to sniper rifles is not consistent with the usual German practice of selecting rifles for conversion to snipers, based upon their accuracy. With the 1917 'n' block range of serial #'s and consistent type of scope mounting pattern, the information gathered so far could suggest a production line sniper rifle conversion from a factory block of rifles - rather than random field assembly from the hundreds of thousands of Gew 98's sold to Turkey. I suspect that most of the Oberndorf ex-snipers have been missed by many collectors because they're in such poor condition & look like standard Gew 98's. Its difficult to see the original mounting hole patterns in some Turkish Gew 98 ex-sniper rifles, because they have been 'restored' to standard gew 98's by having the screw holes filled (using a variety of methods) and their bent bolts replaced with mis-matched straight ones. Its well known that there were numerous mounting options used on the state arsenal made Scharfschutzen Gewehr 98's that served in Europe, but there's only one type of mounting pattern showing up so far on the Turkish examples. Could these Oberndorf sniper Gew 98's have been issued to German troops serving in Turkey? It's also curious that the Oberndorf ex-sniper rifles seen so far - all show the same hole pattern for the scope base mounting. This is unlike the standard Gew 98's used in Turkey that have the 'crescent moon' markings on the receiver.
Maybe they were used by the Turks, but its curious that the examples I've seen so far don't have any Turkish markings. They are a yet-to-be-defined serial# range of Oberndorf made Scharfschutzen Gewehr 98's that have served in Turkey, had their scope & mounts removed, then been refurbished & exported to the US among standard Gew 98's. I think that its fair to say that these rifles were not random bubba drilled & tapped as some previously claimed. It's early days & very limited data at this stage, but there certainly seems to be a pattern forming. Possibly another one once we get the serial #. There are 3 confirmed 1917 Oberndorf 'n' block Gew 98 ex-sniper rifles (1080n, 5115n & 9179n) known to have come out of Turkey.
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