Thinking about a Gew 98...
- Thread starter RangeRover
- Start date
That is a good quick reference PDF, thanks for linking.
Here is my golden resource:
"Rifle & Carbine 98"
Dieter Storz
ISBN 3-902526-05-X (English version)
Got my copy off of E-bay in the U.S. as I was unable to find any in Canada. Can usually run in between the $150 to $200 CDN price range but well worth every penny. There is information in this book that is not printed anywhere else on the Gewehr 98 and Kar 98. The book even goes into detail on training, maintenance, parts changes over the years, and equipment used by the soldiers.
Here is my golden resource:
"Rifle & Carbine 98"
Dieter Storz
ISBN 3-902526-05-X (English version)
Got my copy off of E-bay in the U.S. as I was unable to find any in Canada. Can usually run in between the $150 to $200 CDN price range but well worth every penny. There is information in this book that is not printed anywhere else on the Gewehr 98 and Kar 98. The book even goes into detail on training, maintenance, parts changes over the years, and equipment used by the soldiers.
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
I have a 1916 Berlin GEW98 that had been Bubba'd unfortunately. It shoots very accurately. Who ever did the job did a very nice job but left it in the original 8MM config.I added a Bold Optima trigger.
I truly love the wealth of milsurp knowledge contained on CGN
(yes , your Mosin knowledge too ! )....Would love to see pictures of the rifle and any markings that may be left. Is she marked to Spandau in 1916 ?
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
I am a little ignorant in regards to these rifles. All I can say is that it is Marked Berlin 1916 and that part is under the scope mount now.
Very nice, made by Deutsche Waffen Und Muntionsfabkrien in 1916. The double suffix letter means DWM passed the first suffix block rifles and went into the second suffix block and is a prime indication of the high production levels reached in 1916. By the middle of 1916, surplus production of Gewehr 98s by Mauser Oberndorf and DWM were sent to help Turkey in her fight against the Triple Entente in addition to Gewehr 88.05s being replaced by the now surplus number of Gewehr 98s in inventory.
With that in mind, your rifle may have been one of those Gewehr 98s sent to Turkey but without a shot of the receiver, where a possible Turkish crescent moon property stamp would be, it is difficult to tell.
It is also nice to see the original trigger guard is also present. It also looks like the original bolt is present though it appears to have been jeweled, any Imperial fire proof marks on the underside of the bolt handle ? If you take apart your rifle, you will probably notice the DWM fire proof marks on underside of the barrel which is always nice to admire and look at in regards to the overall quality put into the rifle.
Now the real question, how does she shoot ?
With that in mind, your rifle may have been one of those Gewehr 98s sent to Turkey but without a shot of the receiver, where a possible Turkish crescent moon property stamp would be, it is difficult to tell.
It is also nice to see the original trigger guard is also present. It also looks like the original bolt is present though it appears to have been jeweled, any Imperial fire proof marks on the underside of the bolt handle ? If you take apart your rifle, you will probably notice the DWM fire proof marks on underside of the barrel which is always nice to admire and look at in regards to the overall quality put into the rifle.
Now the real question, how does she shoot ?
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
Very nice, made by Deutsche Waffen Und Muntionsfabkrien in 1916. The double suffix letter means DWM passed the first suffix block rifles and went into the second suffix block and is a prime indication of the high production levels reached in 1916. By the middle of 1916, surplus production of Gewehr 98s by Mauser Oberndorf and DWM were sent to help Turkey in her fight against the Triple Entente in addition to Gewehr 88.05s being replaced by the now surplus number of Gewehr 98s in inventory.
With that in mind, your rifle may have been one of those Gewehr 98s sent to Turkey but without a shot of the receiver, where a possible Turkish crescent moon property stamp would be, it is difficult to tell.
It is also nice to see the original trigger guard is also present. It also looks like the original bolt is present though it appears to have been jeweled, any Imperial fire proof marks on the underside of the bolt handle ? If you take apart your rifle, you will probably notice the DWM fire proof marks on underside of the barrel which is always nice to admire and look at in regards to the overall quality put into the rifle.
Now the real question, how does she shoot ?
She shoots very well. I took the rifle to the range before the Moose Hunt and found it to be giving me consistant groups of 1" or better at 100 yrds. As I said the trigger is a BOLD with about 2.5 lb trigger pull and the rifling is great.
As far as markings on the underside of the bolt handle,I guess we will never know as it has been polished.
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
I have three of the Gew. 98s all are Oberndorf 1916, 1917, & 1918.
One has a finger groove stock while the rest are a standard.
I once had a Polish Model 98AZ Carbine but sold it at a time when I was into Black Rifles.
I would like to have a G 98 Transitional with the 98K rear sight for my collection, but it will come in time.
One has a finger groove stock while the rest are a standard.
I once had a Polish Model 98AZ Carbine but sold it at a time when I was into Black Rifles.
I would like to have a G 98 Transitional with the 98K rear sight for my collection, but it will come in time.
You may have the sister rifle to my 1916 Oberndorf. The serial number on my Oberndorf places her as being made sometime during the first week of January, 1916 (thanks largely in part to the M98 Rifle and Carbine book for providing Oberndorf production numbers for the war). Her quality of make is very high for a wartime rifle.
It is always enjoyable to analyze the rifles of a certain factory over a subsequent period of time. Your three Oberndorfs are certainly very interesting in this regard as you are able to inspect the quality of make over two years of production. This would give you an invaluable first hand look into the possible conditions of the factory, the stress of wartime and shortage of good materials and having to make due with what is on hand, and possibly the condition and stress of the workers themselves. My Kar 98, made in very late 1918, is a prime example of the stressed working environment. However, unlike there cousins of late WW2, the quality of make is still very high with very few short cuts being taken. On the other hand, my 1905 Danzig and 1907 Spandau Gewehr 98s, that I am presently working on restoring, show a high degree of manufacturing and attention to detail. For pre-war Gewehr 98s, this is true as production was not as high compared to wartime.
Does the 1918 Oberndorf have a beech stock by chance ?
I once had a scrubbed Polish Karabinek model of year 1898 (essentially a very close copy of the late war Kar98 of Imperial Germany) but I sold it when I started my collection. I do regret it in hindsight but the sale did fund a range trip for my Imperial rifles at the time.
Gewehr 98 transitional rifles aren't too common but they are out there (especially the 1930s re-worked ones). Weimer marked re-works and Kar98bs are more difficult to find and do command a price premium (especially the Kar98b, I really wish I had one of those *hint hint for those who have one and want to sell*). I got my transitional Gewehr 98 for a steal of a deal at the time so keep your eyes open, you may never know what you bump into.
It is always enjoyable to analyze the rifles of a certain factory over a subsequent period of time. Your three Oberndorfs are certainly very interesting in this regard as you are able to inspect the quality of make over two years of production. This would give you an invaluable first hand look into the possible conditions of the factory, the stress of wartime and shortage of good materials and having to make due with what is on hand, and possibly the condition and stress of the workers themselves. My Kar 98, made in very late 1918, is a prime example of the stressed working environment. However, unlike there cousins of late WW2, the quality of make is still very high with very few short cuts being taken. On the other hand, my 1905 Danzig and 1907 Spandau Gewehr 98s, that I am presently working on restoring, show a high degree of manufacturing and attention to detail. For pre-war Gewehr 98s, this is true as production was not as high compared to wartime.
Does the 1918 Oberndorf have a beech stock by chance ?
I once had a scrubbed Polish Karabinek model of year 1898 (essentially a very close copy of the late war Kar98 of Imperial Germany) but I sold it when I started my collection. I do regret it in hindsight but the sale did fund a range trip for my Imperial rifles at the time.
Gewehr 98 transitional rifles aren't too common but they are out there (especially the 1930s re-worked ones). Weimer marked re-works and Kar98bs are more difficult to find and do command a price premium (especially the Kar98b, I really wish I had one of those *hint hint for those who have one and want to sell*). I got my transitional Gewehr 98 for a steal of a deal at the time so keep your eyes open, you may never know what you bump into.
You are right, the modern day city of G'dansk was the former city of Danzig a century ago. For instance, if you look a little further east on a map you will notice Kaliningrad which was once called Königsberg and was very near the border of East Prussia and Imperial Russia. It is an errie feeling to look at a modern day map and pick off the old cities and borders of forgotten empires.
As for the the "1920 mauser", which one in particular are you referring to in this thread ? I have not yet had the privilege of owning a Polish made firearm with it's markings intact but I do believe the Danzig style of the Imperial German Reichs adler is very close to the Polish one. I do know the Polish government appropriated the Danzig tools and machinery and moved them to Radom to jump start their firearms manufacturing program a few years after armistice was signed.
My 1917 Amberg. Markings are for the post war Einwohnerwehr Bayern, "Bavarian Citizen's Guard". These paramilitaries were conservative counterrevolutionaries, drawn from the citizenry at large unlike the Freikorps who were recruited from demobbed soldiers but fulfilling a similar role in opposing the Bolshevik attempt to fill the political void in post Imperial Germany. Fully matching and untouched.
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Now that is one real beauty too! I have seen EWB marked firearms in the U.S. but yours is the first I have seen in Canada.
The stock appears to be a very nice beech example (B on butt stock) with all the late war features you would expect to find on a Gewehr 98. I am curious, are there any suffix letters attached to the serial number ?
Thank you for sharing this treasure.
The stock appears to be a very nice beech example (B on butt stock) with all the late war features you would expect to find on a Gewehr 98. I am curious, are there any suffix letters attached to the serial number ?
Thank you for sharing this treasure.
s/n 13xxb
Very interesting, she is early 1917 made probably around February or March. The fact that she has all the late war features shows that Amberg had the needed equipment installed and running. As a comparison, my Danzig 1917 made sometime in early January 1917 has a walnut stock and take down disc but no finger grasping grooves.
As far as I have read, the Wz 98 is the Polish clone of the Gewehr 98 and was produced during the mid to late 1930s. They sold their earlier made short rifles and carbines to fund the production process as well. As I understand, one reason Poland went back to long rifles was to have greater accuracy on the battlefield.
If you have a chance, post some pictures so we can hopefully dissect her some more.
