Steyrs for the Luftwaffe: The G29(ö) aka Gewehr 12/34
Germany
•
14m
When the German government bought up the controlling interest in Steyr in 1938, they made use of its production facilities to start making rifles for the Luftwaffe. Steyr had tooling for the Mauser 98, but not in K98k form - they had most recently made a Mauser-pattern carbine for Chile in 1934 (the M12/34). Under German ownership that rifle was put back into production, simply chambered for 8mm Mauser instead of the Chilean 7mm. About 50,000 in total were made between mid 1938 and the end of 1939, after which production changed to a standard K98k pattern. These rifles are known today as the G12/34 or G29(ö), and they are quite rare on the collector’s market.
Up Next in Germany
-
The Hungarian Alternative: G98/40 Rif...
The German Wehrmacht was always hungry for more rifles during World War Two, and adopted substitute designs made in friendly (or subservient) countries when possible. Almost all of these were minor variations on the Mauser 98 system, but the Hungarian G98/40 was an exception. This was a Mannliche...
-
Spoils of War: French Occupation-Prod...
Allied troops occupied the Mauser factory complex in Oberndorf in April of 1945, right at the end of the war. The factory was put under French administration and by May that same year production lines were restarted to supply French forces (who needed as many arms as they could get). In total, ju...
-
Single-Rune bnz43 SS Contract K98k
In 1942, the SS devised a plan to rent out concentration camp labor to companies in the German armaments industry. Several different rifle production lines were set up to make use of this source of cheap labor, and the one we are looking at today is Steyr’s plant at the Gusen camp (a subsidiary o...
