Landser
Member
Hello All!
This is my first posting to the forum and I thought I would start it off by sharing photos of my first Gew 98 I bought last month at a show. It is a 1916 C.G. Haenel that was missing the cleaning rod, I have a repro on it. Otherwise this rifle is all matching, including the wood. I just finished cleaning it up last week and overall I am pleased with it. There was a lot of grease, carbon, and I think bits of mud in a lot of places along with a little rust. The bore has some minor pitting in the throat and the remainder is a little on the darker side and after running cleaning patches through there is some fuzz left in places, however the rifling is sharp. I was a little disappointed the bore did not clean up better, like I thought it would. This is the first one I have seen in years and I figured I had better grab it.
After disassembling it I noticed the tip of the firing pin was a little bent and shorter than I thought it should be. Ends up it is broken and it will not strike a primer. I know I can get a surplus one so that I can try this rifle out at the range just to see how it shoots with some light loads.
Here are some questions I have about this rifle:
Did these originally have the white paint on the Haenel receiver markings?
There is another number on the bottom of the stock near the buttplate that says M 435 also there is a larger 7 further up and additionally there is the serial number to the rest of the rifle. Is M 435 a rack number and does M stand for Marine for the Imperial Navy?
Should I get the firing pin tip repaired by a good gunsmith since the pin matches the rifle or leave as is? I want to shoot at least 20 rounds through it to see how it does, however I am a little hesitant about getting the pin fixed.
I am not new to Gew 98s or 98ks and grew up around these as a kid, however I am not as familiar with all the maker markings and things like that. I am hoping to further my knowledge about these classic rifles and look forward to future comments and information.
Thank you all in advance!
This is my first posting to the forum and I thought I would start it off by sharing photos of my first Gew 98 I bought last month at a show. It is a 1916 C.G. Haenel that was missing the cleaning rod, I have a repro on it. Otherwise this rifle is all matching, including the wood. I just finished cleaning it up last week and overall I am pleased with it. There was a lot of grease, carbon, and I think bits of mud in a lot of places along with a little rust. The bore has some minor pitting in the throat and the remainder is a little on the darker side and after running cleaning patches through there is some fuzz left in places, however the rifling is sharp. I was a little disappointed the bore did not clean up better, like I thought it would. This is the first one I have seen in years and I figured I had better grab it.
After disassembling it I noticed the tip of the firing pin was a little bent and shorter than I thought it should be. Ends up it is broken and it will not strike a primer. I know I can get a surplus one so that I can try this rifle out at the range just to see how it shoots with some light loads.
Here are some questions I have about this rifle:
Did these originally have the white paint on the Haenel receiver markings?
There is another number on the bottom of the stock near the buttplate that says M 435 also there is a larger 7 further up and additionally there is the serial number to the rest of the rifle. Is M 435 a rack number and does M stand for Marine for the Imperial Navy?
Should I get the firing pin tip repaired by a good gunsmith since the pin matches the rifle or leave as is? I want to shoot at least 20 rounds through it to see how it does, however I am a little hesitant about getting the pin fixed.
I am not new to Gew 98s or 98ks and grew up around these as a kid, however I am not as familiar with all the maker markings and things like that. I am hoping to further my knowledge about these classic rifles and look forward to future comments and information.
Thank you all in advance!