My own Kar 98k is a very dark mahogany ( the rifle is stamped 43 on the breech housing so i'm assuming that's when it was manufactured) maybe as the war progressed and materials became low perhaps the wood used in the manufacture was changed just a thought as i'm no expert i'll try to get a pic of it uploaded soon (if i'm permitted to by the admin i'm not exactly sure if i need to seek permission or not due to the nature of the photos subject matter)