bolt action 12ga (mauser 98)

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so picked this up at a gunshow in kamloops. the price was right and i kinda like that i had never seen a bolt action 12 ga before. its a mauser 98 rifle that was converted into a shotgun. it was a common conversion aparently to try to get post ww1 germany's economy moving. lets see if i can figure these pics out.
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geha shotgun

i had one of these, first thing, you dont foire regular 12 gauge ammo in these guns, they are short chambered in 2 1/2" shells
also at the front of the action there are 2 lock lugs, which when was a rifle there was a spot inside reciever for them to lock into, now with the larger chambering of 12 gauge, most of that lock area has been machined away
to alow the 12 gauge shell to pass into chamber, so it relies on the rear lock for saftey, they cannot withstand high pressure shells, typical walmart ammo or many of the "target " loads produce upwards of 10,000psi which is way higher than recommended for these, 5000-7000psi loads are prefered being the only 1 lug to lock bolt in, the bolt head is also only hung on by spring tension, and easily lost, and now impossibl to get so keep an eye on it
i loaded black powder loads for mine and it was ok

just some info to let you know of the gns capabilities
and also no modern slug loads or magnums in it either
pressures are to high
 
HUNTERROD said:
i had one of these, first thing, you dont foire regular 12 gauge ammo in these guns, they are short chambered in 2 1/2" shells
also at the front of the action there are 2 lock lugs, which when was a rifle there was a spot inside reciever for them to lock into, now with the larger chambering of 12 gauge, most of that lock area has been machined away
to alow the 12 gauge shell to pass into chamber, so it relies on the rear lock for saftey, they cannot withstand high pressure shells, typical walmart ammo or many of the "target " loads produce upwards of 10,000psi which is way higher than recommended for these, 5000-7000psi loads are prefered being the only 1 lug to lock bolt in, the bolt head is also only hung on by spring tension, and easily lost, and now impossibl to get so keep an eye on it
i loaded black powder loads for mine and it was ok

just some info to let you know of the gns capabilities
and also no modern slug loads or magnums in it either
pressures are to high
Click to expand...

Oy, if all this is true, it doesn't sound like that great of a gun, except as a collection piece. Here I was thinking a Mauser 98 shotgun, would be an awesomely powerful action, and it seems to be limitted to black powder. Still a neat find, and a bit of history, though.
 
thanks for the info i had done some reading on them. mine has been modified for 2 3/4 i forgot to say that sorry. and i am aware of the locking lugs. its recomended when you buy these to inspect the lug closely and make sure it hasnt cracked. its mostly just a odd little shot gun that i dont plan on hunting with or anything. i have a cooey 840 as well. this one mostly hangs on the wall. i wish they where good enough for slugs like ryan said would make a good slug gun. but i think i paid 60$ or something for it so i just think its a cool different gun wasnt expecting much performance outta it :p
 
geha shotgun

the 16 and even some made in 20 gauge were fine, as thy had lots of meat left up in the reciever ring for lugs to latch onto when bolt was closed in position,so you had 2 front locks and a safety rear to depend on, the 12 gauges were different due to more of the from locking lug surfaces in the reciever had to be machined away to allow the 12 gage shell to pass through
the smaller gauge guns are safer to shoot
as fo heavy loads, its your choice, but they should only be shot with appropriate loads of the time period!!!
 
I have 3 of these 98 conversions 2x16s and 1x12, as far as slugs go I would be carefull as the barrels, at least on 2 of mine, are full choke. This might create pressure problems. The 16 gau. Remo has been converted to slugs by the installation of a muzzel loader barrel some 30 inches long. I have purchased a 20 gauge rifled slug barrel for one of the Gehas as well, hopefully will have a nice deer "shotgun" when it's done. IMHO these guns have got a bad rap (one locking lug), which is odd since most bolt action shotguns have only one locking lug - namely the bolt handle. --- John303.
 
yea john303 im just not gonna shoot slugs out of this one as mine has a very tight choke. i have inspected the lug its in good shape im not too concerned about it. i have now completely disassembled the gun (barrel is still in recever its just not gonna come out) sanded and restained the stock today. started sanding the barrel (going to be polished steel) need to get some more paper and some more polishing compound. i actually like how it feels. thanks nathan i think its a neat gun too. ill post pics of it again once im done.
 
The saftey lug on the m98 is what retains the bolt in battery. This is true but have you ever seen how much bearing surface is on the locking lug of a 870 pump?
The main cause of failure for these guns is the loss of the bolt head. The gun can still be fired with out it. But the results are catastrophic.
Has anyone taken a good look at the savage model 10? Its a 110 converted to a slug-gun, pretty similar.
 
like new

so the stock has been sanded down and re stained some of the metal parts have been wet sanded down to be polished metal. it still needs the stock to be clear coated and the steel is only sanded to 600grit need to go to 1000 then 1500 then polish maybe even 2000 if it dosnt clean up. couldnt help myself however so i put it back together to see what it is gonna look like and i am very very happy with it heres some pics.
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sorry for the crap quality
 
Just couple more comments, on the 98 Remo which is a higher grade than Geha both in looks and mechanically, the bolt head is also held in place by a very small set screw. With the chokes on these guns don't shoot anything close up, won't be much to bring home. Just for fun do some pattern shooting. In the last couple of weeks there have been 3 Gehas for sale on EE. Nice work on the gun so far, it looks like you need an indexed front guard screw - Tradeex might have some. FWIW --- John303.
 
yea i took my 12 ga cooey out and compared spread to the geha. the geha has a crazy tight choke ill try to get some pics of it on cardboard or something. thats funny the remo's bolt head has a set screw my roommate actually sujested we add one to the bolt. there was another grade of these guns in between the remo and the geha called the "hard hit heart" from my understanding they where basicly all for export to here or the states. and thanks for all the positive comments i think its starting to look really good.
 
From the info. I have I believe your friend is correct. It goes something like this, first there is a Remo Popular which is not based on the 98 but built on an action in which the bolt handle is the lug eg. - Mossberg. The 98 Geha & HHH are the same except as I understand the HHH is better finished, both use a "converted" military stock. The 98 Remo though based on the 98 is more refined in every respect mechanically with a very nice stock with side panels & checkered grip (not very many of these around). I have never ran across a 20 gau., they must be very scarce, I've looked for years to no avail. --- John303.
 
Nice Geha. I recently picked up one and had the gunsmiths at Ellwood epps put their stamp of approval on it as far as inspection and test fire goes. Mine turned out to be a 12 gauge, 2 3/4 inch with a full choke. I was told the test fire shot was a commercial target shot, Winchester I believe. The dirt and grime cleaned out quite nicely with some steel wool and the high polished bluing is still intact underneath (not bad I say). You can just make out the Imperial German crown on the top of the receiver as well.

Mine has a couple of cracks in the wood but they have been, more of less, stabilized. I am really looking forward to taking this geha to the trap and skeet range. I plan on leaving her "as is" except for fixing a few small cracks in the wood.

I read that many of these converted rifles were former Spandau made using sub contracted parts to help keep production as high as possible. I am guessing mine is circa 1917 at Spandau. Does yours have an intertwined "SH" marking on the bottom of the receiver (like the one in the photo) ?

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i just looked and cant find that marking no. yours has wooden geha symbols as well aparently from what i read that means it is an earlier one later geha's has the symbol in metal on the stock. i would have left mine but the blueing was getting pretty thin in some spots and the wood had some good scratches in it so i refinished it all. now ive gotta break the bolt down and we are gona drill and tap for a tiny little set screw. proboly wont be for a little bit though im having fun shooting it lol.nice shot gun if its the same choke at mine you will have great distance with skeet
 
From what I have read, the ones with the wooden "Geha" inserts in the stock are the basic model, the ones with metal inserts are a step above, and the "Hard Hit Heart" ones are premiums.

I did have an idea with my Geha and that is to attach a screw in swivel right at the front of the stock. There is a small hole that was filled in, so I will try to make use of this. I have a detachable swivel in my parts bin that I can use as well. I think it is just a simple matter of picking the right sling.
 
cool im thinking of putting a sling on mine as well. but first ive got a bit of an issue lol. the crack in the stock that i glued rebroke ive noticed. so im starting to think a new stock might be the way to go. do you know if the stock is the same as a 98 rifle. playing with the idea of making one as well ive got a chunk of walnut that is big enough....
 
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