Mauser Shotgun??

[Honk...Honk...Boom]

A friend of mine showed me a shotgun that was once a Mauser rifle (LOL).
What info can you share with me so that I may enlighten him? I dont know much or anything about these I remember something like GEHA in the 20's but I could be waaaaaaay off.

HHB

 

[green]

Yes made from surplus Gew98s in Germany in the 20s and sold here at low prices. Front of bolt fitted with new bolt head to accomadate 12 guage shell and bolt locking lug was the safety lug.

 

[Claven2]

Yeah, the conversion company was named something like Geha? The cartridge lip on the front of the bolt bodies were milled off and a new large diameter head was added. The extractor had a lip welded onto it to resemble a P14 extractor which reached over the shell rim and hte botl handles were bent down. The receivers were also altered enough that many people consider them unsafe to shoot these days. The local smithing shop scraps these regularly as soon as they come in for a parts source to fix more deserving Mausers.

 

[greendoh]

Claven is right - the name I have seen attributed to these is 'Geha'. I'm no expert, and I don't have the whole story, but from what I understand, due to the laws at the time (between WWI and WWII) in order for some of the German munitions factories to stay afloat they had to convert old 98's into shotguns for public sale.

From http:// texastradingpost . com /militaria/geha.html

"GEHA shotguns were converted from GEW 98 Mauser rifles after WWI around 1919-1929, maybe later. These were made from surplus Mausers, in an attempt to "jump-start" the German firearms industry under the Versailles military arms restrictions. Shotguns in safe working condition might be safe to shoot if used with light loads only. A lot of metal and wood was removed in the modification to a shotgun. Current shotgun shell pressure specs are as much as two times what they were once loaded to and may not be safe with this shotgun. GEHA shotguns were made in 12, 16 & 20 gauge. In the conversion process the forward locking area of the receiver was removed in order to allow fitting a 12 gauge barrel, leaving the third "safety" lug as the primary locking lug, along with the portion of the bolt handle that fits into the receiver. Guns converted to 16 and 20 gauge had portions of the forward locking lugs remaining (more on the 20 than the 16 gauge) so the actions on these guns are stronger yet than the 12. One potential problem with these guns is the removable bolt head that was fitted to the modified bolt. They are held in place by spring tension - the bolt head can sometimes be ejected with a fired hull, so one should be careful with rapid follow up shots, perhaps limiting the rifle to use as a single shot. On the stock a good bit of material was removed around the magazine area in order to make them function with the rimmed 12 gauge shell, so another reason to consider using light loads only. Pictured is a "Hard Hit Heart" Brand shotgun with the HHH logo. Pictures provided by Stacy Wilson. A beautiful example!"

 

[tiriaq]

Remo was another manufacturer. Gehas used altered G98 stocks, Remo used new stocks. Remo also made a bolt action shotgun with a new receiver.
Don't know about jump-starting the firearms industry; I suspect it was more a couple of companies that were trying to keep their doors open. I have a sported G98 marked Krieghoff on the bottom of the barrel. Probably not unlike PH, etc. sporterizing Lee Enfield rifles in the 50s and 60s.

 

[Claven2]

Some of the post-WW1 sporters made on GEW98 receivers by makers like Krieghoff, H&H, Greener, etc. are fine works of gunmaker's art. Others, like anything stamped Geha - not so much.

 

[tiriaq]

Mine is a plain jane rifle. Stock isn't sported military, and it is a good shooter, but there is nothing special about it. I have a Geha, more as a curiousity than anything else.

 

[Tanis]

I have a Remo-Rempt 20 gauge that in rather rough shape due to complete neglect by the previous owners (family friends who's relatives brought the shotgun with them when they migrated to Canada after World War I) that I'm trying to restore somewhat. I think I even posted pictures of it on here at one point.

Either way, it would be a rather interesting looking piece if it was new, and it is within the time period I collect, so...

 

[smellie]

Yeah, the Geha and Remo were converted 98s. Germany had to get rid of a PILE of rifles in order to comply with the Versailles Treaty, and thisisone of the ways that they disposed of some nice new Mausers.

BTW, the same conversion has been seen, done to both the Gras and the Chassepot.

Nicest piece of wood I ever saw was on a Chassepot converted like this; I darned near cried, seeing a chunk of wood THAT lovely, stuck onto an army rifle, converted into a shotgun, split down the middle and glued back together by somebody who didn't know what they were doing.