Question about an old Gewehr 98

[Jon9021]

Hello everyone,

I picked up an old and battered Gewehr 98 yesterday. Cost me the princely sum of $50.

As you can see from the photos it’s in a pretty poor state (stored in a shed for at least 30 years). I gave it a very basic light clean, and the bolt works, but that’s about it.

It “seems” to be in a sniper configuration (obviously no scope). The stock seems to has been shaped to fit the owner more comfortably. Markings are tough to see due to the condition.

I bow to your superior knowledge on these rifles. Do you have any more information, or is my basic assessment correct.

Thank you!

 

[Potashminer]

I think you should do some reading? From Wikipedia - it appears that the Gewehr 98 rifle had a short hand guard between rear sight and that barrel band - appears to be removed on yours? That must mean that the band was altered? Also, the bolt handle was straight out, not turned down. Those bases could be a military thing, but rifle is sort of - what - 115 years old? So, bases could have been installed at any time since then - I correspond with a guy in Thunder Bay who installed a reproduction set last year. Makes sense for something to be done with the bolt handle if a scope was being used? Not sure that I see the safety flag - has it been removed? Well worth to clean and inspect that barrel's bore before attempting to fire it - could be in great shape if full of grease - could be rusted mostly closed if it was left "bare". As well, that trigger looks much shorter within that trigger guard loop than is "normal" - will be worth to investigate when rifle taken down to check bedding, etc.

Re-reading your words - if that has been in a shed for 30 years, probably going to want to remove the guts from that bolt body and see what is going on in there for grease or corrosion - firing pin, main spring, interior of the bolt body. A WWI soldier would have done that with just his fingers, but if that safety flag is gone, then a bit more complicated, but very doable without issue. Was supposed to be done easily by the user as part of regular cleaning routine - same with dropping the floor plate and cleaning out the magazine box and follower, follower spring. Find some reference material and remove/dismantle the bolt stop/ejector - I have bought several of that age rifles - just astounding how much for rust, dried crud, dead insects, pine needles, etc. can be found in there.

I think was a difference between GEW 98 and K98, was that firing pin - for sure in K98, it has shoulders - so they must pass through matching shoulders within the bolt body - can only happen when the bolt is exactly closed - that usually relied on the bolt handle root coming up against the receiver rail at the bolt handle notch. If the bolt handle has been altered, then likely you will want to verify that the bolt is still "clocked" - in the correct location to fire, when that turned down bolt handle is closed - it needs to close up against metal-on-metal - not touching that wood stock. It may or may not be an issue with the GEW 98, but need to take a look at that, I think?

 

[Jon9021]

I think you should do some reading? From Wikipedia - it appears that the Gewehr 98 rifle had a short hand guard between rear sight and that barrel band - appears to be removed on yours? That must mean that the band was altered? Also, the bolt handle was straight out, not turned down. Those bases could be a military thing, but rifle is sort of - what - 115 years old? So, bases could have been installed at any time since then - I correspond with a guy in Thunder Bay who installed a reproduction set last year. Makes sense for something to be done with the bolt handle if a scope was being used? Not sure that I see the safety flag - has it been removed? Well worth to clean and inspect that barrel's bore before attempting to fire it - could be in great shape if full of grease - could be rusted mostly closed if it was left "bare". As well, that trigger looks much shorter within that trigger guard loop than is "normal" - will be worth to investigate when rifle taken down to check bedding, etc.

Re-reading your words - if that has been in a shed for 30 years, probably going to want to remove the guts from that bolt body and see what is going on in there for grease or corrosion - firing pin, main spring, interior of the bolt body. A WWI soldier would have done that with just his fingers, but if that safety flag is gone, then a bit more complicated, but very doable without issue. Was supposed to be done easily by the user as part of regular cleaning routine - same with dropping the floor plate and cleaning out the magazine box and follower, follower spring. Find some reference material and remove/dismantle the bolt stop/ejector - I have bought several of that age rifles - just astounding how much for rust, dried crud, dead insects, pine needles, etc. can be found in there.

I think was a difference between GEW 98 and K98, was that firing pin - for sure in K98, it has shoulders - so they must pass through matching shoulders within the bolt body - can only happen when the bolt is exactly closed - that usually relied on the bolt handle root coming up against the receiver rail at the bolt handle notch. If the bolt handle has been altered, then likely you will want to verify that the bolt is still "clocked" - in the correct location to fire, when that turned down bolt handle is closed - it needs to close up against metal-on-metal - not touching that wood stock. It may or may not be an issue with the GEW 98, but need to take a look at that, I think?

Thank you. Yes, I did already read that fountain of all reliable knowledge Wikipedia, I was just wondering if there were any collectors out there with a little more than internet knowledge.

 

[The_Red_Rabbit]

It's seems that you have most the hardware. Find a replacement stock and handguard and you should be good to go. Also be mindful of stock fitting with the new stock.

 

[Potashminer]

Mauser Bolt Rifles by Ludwig Olson. The Mauser Bolt Actions - A Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen. I do not own any original WWI material that would have been written for WWI users, and the GEW 98 rifle that I have here is much worse hacked up shape than is yours. The two books mentioned are a very good start - second one probably the best, if you only get one of them.

 

[Jon9021]

Mauser Bolt Rifles by Ludwig Olson. The Mauser Bolt Actions - A Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen. I do not own any original WWI material that would have been written for WWI users, and the GEW 98 rifle that I have here is much worse hacked up shape than is yours. The two books mentioned are a very good start - second one probably the best, if you only get one of them.

Thank you.

 

[green]

Appears to have scope mounts which would account for the turned down bolt.
Noticed a German WW1 sniper scope case on current Switzer auction.

 

[QM 8687]

Very nice. I restored a GEW 98 30 yrs ago, so. I like it.

 

[diopter]

Just might have been a real WW1 sniper but too many variations to confirm. Can you take photos of the top of the receiver?
The mount on the front of the receiver, does it look like the base of the front scope ring rotates into it?
Post the picture here and I compare it to this book.

Robert Spielauer has a bilingual book :
Scharfschützen Zielfernrohre und Montagen 1914-1945
Sniperscopes scopes and mounts 1914-1945
ISBN 978-3-200-01010-9

I have heard not from Robert since around 2008 or so. Know his health was not all that great.

 

[Pblatzz]

You have a Gew 98b rifle stock configuration.

I think your metalwork will clean up nicely. Looks like many coats of oil and earth grunge. Some careful cleaning with bronze wool to remove the surface rust on the metal. Use acetone to remove the oil gung.
The stock looks like it's been made into a cloak gun (buttstock wood removed to allow for the use of a heavy coat). Cool find and great price, a good project. The good news is you can get reproductions that are very high quality.

 

[Pblatzz]

This example is a Gew 98 sniper, but it has similar scope mounts. Different stock.

 

[Coyote Ugly]

Post pics of your rifle and story on K98KForum.com

Don’t do anything to it, get a second opinion as you may have a very valuable rifle.
More rifles get ruined by people cleaning, breaking, sanding, enhancing and disassembling and dicking with a rifle.

 

[Jon9021]

You have a Gew 98b rifle stock configuration.

I think your metalwork will clean up nicely. Looks like many coats of oil and earth grunge. Some careful cleaning with bronze wool to remove the surface rust on the metal. Use acetone to remove the oil gung.
The stock looks like it's been made into a cloak gun (buttstock wood removed to allow for the use of a heavy coat). Cool find and great price, a good project. The good news is you can get reproductions that are very high quality.

Thanks!

 

[Jon9021]

Post pics of your rifle and story on K98KForum.com

Don’t do anything to it, get a second opinion as you may have a very valuable rifle.
More rifles get ruined by people cleaning, breaking, sanding, enhancing and disassembling and dicking with a rifle.

Thanks, I’ll do that.

 

[Jon9021]

Just might have been a real WW1 sniper but too many variations to confirm. Can you take photos of the top of the receiver?
The mount on the front of the receiver, does it look like the base of the front scope ring rotates into it?
Post the picture here and I compare it to this book.

Robert Spielauer has a bilingual book :
Scharfschützen Zielfernrohre und Montagen 1914-1945
Sniperscopes scopes and mounts 1914-1945
ISBN 978-3-200-01010-9

I have heard not from Robert since around 2008 or so. Know his health was not all that great.

Thanks, I’ll do that later on.

 

[Jon9021]

Just might have been a real WW1 sniper but too many variations to confirm. Can you take photos of the top of the receiver?
The mount on the front of the receiver, does it look like the base of the front scope ring rotates into it?
Post the picture here and I compare it to this book.

Robert Spielauer has a bilingual book :
Scharfschützen Zielfernrohre und Montagen 1914-1945
Sniperscopes scopes and mounts 1914-1945
ISBN 978-3-200-01010-9

I have heard not from Robert since around 2008 or so. Know his health was not all that great.

 

[diopter]

I'll post some pictures from the book tonight.

 

[Jon9021]

I'll post some pictures from the book tonight.

Thank you.

 

[diopter]

 

[bearhunter]

There's no way of telling if that rifle was a real WWI sniper, unless there are visible stamps to at show it was military property.

A lot of rifles during the period were ordered by commercial distributors and even small gunshops to cusomize. They were bought in all configurations, from receivers only to complete milspec configuration.

When WWI broke out, the militaries of the time were not really set up with specific, scoped, sniper rifles.

A lot of the rifles that were used for sniping, by what they termed snipers of the day and only wore their issued iron sights, dependent on the eyes of the shooter, as well as his ability to judge windage and elevation under different circumstances. You can find way more info by doing a search or reading several of the great books on the subject.

When relatively reliable scopes became available, they weren't "reliable enough" or usable under low light conditions, so they almost all were set up in Detachable Mount systems. Some of them beautifully crafted and mostly very serviceable and would hold a close to zero position when returned to their bases.

I've owned similar rifles to that in your pics, only one of them had stamps that would indicate it was intended for martial use. I traded it for a half dozen M1 Garands in VG condition.

The best I can say about that rifle is that it may have been built as a military sniping rifle, using commercially available components

One thing to remember, requirements for accuracy during that period weren't nearly as tight as they are now and I've never read about the snipers of the time training to shoot distances out to one kilometer+ other than as nuisance enhancers.

As for the stock ''customizing'' It looks like whomever did it had issues with eye dominance, which some people are under the impression is a recent thing.

Many folks just can't train themselves to shoot with their right eye, even though they're right handed.

IMHO that stock was ''modified'' to accomodate a left eye dominant, right handed individual.

I also believe that the rear Lange sight was taken off and the stabilizing bar was lost.

This is just IMHO of course.

It's always fun to try to hear the siren's calls on those old girls.

If it were mine, It would be left as is and made into a wall hanger.

You can just about bet the interior is almost as nice as the exterior.

Much more interesting as is, than cleaned up and sanded down.