The German Gewehr-Prüfungskommission ( G.P.K.) (Rifle Testing Commission) adopted the Gewehr 98 on 5 April 1898. In the interim decade, Mauser rifles became recognized as the world standard, and the German Army became outclassed by a German-made product in the hands of others. The 1888 replacement for the Mauser was an internal design from the Army, but failed through an impractical design. Mauser was already selling similar 1895-design weapons to many other countries, and had supplied less advanced Mauser rifles to the German Army from 1871 to 1888. The bolt-action design was the latest refinement of the 1895 design patented by Paul Mauser on 9 September 1895. The Gewehr 98, was introduced into German military service in 1898, replacing the Gewehr 1888. 2.1.4 Modern civilian offspring of the M98 system.2.1 M98 controlled-feed bolt-action system.The Gewehr 98 saw further military use by the Ottoman Empire and Nationalist Spain. It first saw combat in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion and was the main German infantry service rifle of World War I. The Gewehr 98 replaced the earlier Gewehr 1888 as the main German service rifle. The Gewehr 98 action, using a stripper clip loaded with the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge, successfully combined and improved several bolt-action engineering concepts which were soon adopted by many other countries, including the UK, Japan, and the US. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k, a shorter weapon using the same basic design. The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser firing cartridges from a 5-round internal clip-loaded magazine.
Imperial Arsenals of Amberg, Danzig, Erfurt, Leipzig, and SpandauĤ.09 kg (9.0 lb) with empty magazine Gewehr 98Ĩ78 m/s (2,881 ft/s) with 1903 pattern 9.9 g (154 gr) ball ammunitionĥ round stripper clips in an internal box magazine.From the collections of the Swedish Army Museum It looks like you're buying from an auction site so you probably won't get to check the barrel, but barrel condition is probably the most important aspect if you're looking for accuracy.Gewehr 98 made in 1898.
The receiver's serial is also usually stamped on the left side of the buttstock, parallel with the line of the barrel. Most RCs have electropencil on the top of the bolt, on the trigger guard, and potentially on other metal parts (crossing out mismatching serials and in some cases, but not all, replacing them with the receiver's serial). This one doesn't seem to have gotten the "X" mark that's one of the defining features of RCs, but did have the swastikas peened out. I found it enjoyable to take it apart and catalog everything. There are 17 different acceptance marks on the various parts on my RC, which has a 1939 Oberndorf receiver, a Sauer bolt, Steyr floorplate, etc. So you get completely random mixes of manufacturers and years. I believe the front barrel band is correct for 1944.ĭuring the postwar preservation process the Soviets first took every rifle apart, applied their "bluing" on everything metal, varnished the stocks & handguards, and then picked randomly from bins to put rifles back together. So this stock combination would be less common than others, and from a distance it looks to still have nice acceptance marks on the buttstock. From what I've read the Germans switched to the cuppled buttplate to help prevent delamination.
This rifle looks to have an earlier flat buttplate with a laminate stock and a later stamped and welded front barrel band.