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My 1917 C.G Haenel Suhl Gew 98

CM0087

CM0087

Senior Member
Picked this up last year from off a tip from a bloke I shoot with at the local range. Set me back $400, which is pretty good (Gew 98's don't turn up much down under)

1917 Haenel Gew 98 WWI bring back. I'm told it came back 100% matching, but over the years somehow the cleaning rod and saftey were lost (have been replaced with un-numbered examples). Other than that, rifle matches to the screws. Unfortunately, the rifle was neglected for many many years until the gentleman I purchased it from bought it from the grandson of the digger who brought it home after WW1. Severe pitting on the right side of the barrel towards the muzzle, and pretty heavy patina on the receiver area (looks rust coloured in some photos, that's the camera flash; it's actually a grey/black colour.)

The stock was treated, and was an ugly yellowish colour. I just got it back from S/42 today, who did an absolutley outstanding job to return it to how it would have looked in 1917 :hail::happy0180: thanks mate!

Anyway, here she is. She's nothing great to look at compared to most of the examples on here, but she'll do until I find another.
 

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And more.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how or even if I can clean her up and remove the patina from the receiver, bands, etc?

Cheers, Chris.
 

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This is an "e" block, a nice one too, stock features fit this range perfectly as does the barrel, which is a JPS made barrel (S&S = JPS), most consortium barrels were made by JPS.

As for cleaning it, I do not see a great need to do much, if anything at all, but generally I use 0000 steel wool and a quality gun oil, Kroil or others are available. Be very reserved on any blued components, barrel, TG/FP, or use bronze wool. Obviously do nothing to the stock if at all possible.

As said earlier, this is a tough maker, though of the three consortium member, it seems to be the most commonly encountered. They were the lead firm in the consortium, dealing with the military authorities, so it stands to reason they would be responsible for a good share of the rifles made.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

I might give it a light go, with some bronze wool & a little ballistol. The stock won't be touched, I just wouldn't mind trying to clean her up a bit.I've only taken her to the range about 3 times for a grand total of +/- 50 rounds, the 400m sight is a pain in the arse at a 100 & 200m range with my eyes :facepalm: LOL. The bore is dark but with strong rifling, but the corrosion at the forend under the wood is pretty bad (although safe to shoot)

Cheers
Chris :happy0180:
 
In my mind, the most you should do the the rifle is clean up the in-the-white parts of the gun as non-destructively as you can. The wood is good as-is with sharp edges and cartouches, so it's in great shape given how old it is.

Great find! How's the bore condition?
 
Yeah, that's as far as I want to take it, if that far. Just remove a bit on the receiver, and some light rust on the bands.

The bore is dark, but with strong rifling. It shoots quite well with my hand loads on the rare occasion I take her to the range.

Cheers
Chris
 
The wood is fully restored. When Chris sent it up to me, it was in a sordid mess - plastic putty filly gouges, chemically cleaned (I suspect) back to bare beech, which was then varnished with Marine varnish (being a UV cure, that was DIFFICULT to remove!). IT was a sickly baby poop yellow colour, with splotches of pine coloured plastic wood filler.

I carefully picked out all the putty, which also exposed edges of the varnish, so could work my magic more easily. I had to use automotive paint stripper - CAREFULLY, whisking "layers" off until JUST above the wood (this is easy to tell). The final "layer" was oh so carefully removed with acetone and methylated spirits mixed (keep shaking ;) ). I then set about mixing the correct stain, based upon photos of the 2 Haenels I owned, and visiting a friend who has one of the 2 I owned. I think I got it CLOSE.

I then CAREFULLY prepared the wood, removing sanding scratches where visible by careful and judicious use of 180 grit on a foam pad. I then HAD to "clear" the grain again, so had to wash the wood down with warm water with a little dish soap added, plus some vinegar to neutralise any salts left in / on the wood. This evened the colour out again and I left it to dry for 3 days, before staining. It got 3 coats of my stain mix (you cannot buy the colours in the USA, so don't ask which ones - Aussie made traditional cabinet maker stains), which then dried for 2 days.

Oiling consisted entirely of a pure organic Danish Oil mix - the type I use is MOSTLY pure linseed oil, with some citrus oil added, with a SMALL amount of Tung Oil. There are NO driers or other additives used by this company, and it is sold as an ORGANIC oil. It takes at least 4 days to oxidise, so it got 1 coat every 4 days for 1 month, rubbing by hand and by a piece of linen every time. I rub the linen hard enough to polish the wood - just as years of rubbing with a rag by a soldier would. I then sent it back to Chrs, with the instructions to now only rub only a thin smear of ballistol every 2 months - if that - and to apply vaseline under the woodline to the metal. I would personally NOT be touching the wood ANY more.

As to the metal, I concur with the others mate - LEAVE IT ALONE. It deserves to be there. The wood was an issue - the metal is not.
 
S/42 said:
The wood is fully restored. When Chris sent it up to me, it was in a sordid mess - plastic putty filly gouges, chemically cleaned (I suspect) back to bare beech, which was then varnished with Marine varnish (being a UV cure, that was DIFFICULT to remove!). IT was a sickly baby poop yellow colour, with splotches of pine coloured plastic wood filler.

I carefully picked out all the putty, which also exposed edges of the varnish, so could work my magic more easily. I had to use automotive paint stripper - CAREFULLY, whisking "layers" off until JUST above the wood (this is easy to tell). The final "layer" was oh so carefully removed with acetone and methylated spirits mixed (keep shaking ;) ). I then set about mixing the correct stain, based upon photos of the 2 Haenels I owned, and visiting a friend who has one of the 2 I owned. I think I got it CLOSE.

I then CAREFULLY prepared the wood, removing sanding scratches where visible by careful and judicious use of 180 grit on a foam pad. I then HAD to "clear" the grain again, so had to wash the wood down with warm water with a little dish soap added, plus some vinegar to neutralise any salts left in / on the wood.
This evened the colour out again and I left it to dry for 3 days, before staining. It got 3 coats of my stain mix (you cannot buy the colours in the USA, so don't ask which ones - Aussie made traditional cabinet maker stains), which then dried for 2 days.

Oiling consisted entirely of a pure organic Danish Oil mix - the type I use is MOSTLY pure linseed oil, with some citrus oil added, with a SMALL amount of Tung Oil. There are NO driers or other additives used by this company, and it is sold as an ORGANIC oil. It takes at least 4 days to oxidise, so it got 1 coat every 4 days for 1 month, rubbing by hand and by a piece of linen every time. I rub the linen hard enough to polish the wood - just as years of rubbing with a rag by a soldier would. I then sent it back to Chrs, with the instructions to now only rub only a thin smear of ballistol every 2 months - if that - and to apply vaseline under the woodline to the metal. I would personally NOT be touching the wood ANY more.

As to the metal, I concur with the others mate - LEAVE IT ALONE. It deserves to be there. The wood was an issue - the metal is not.
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:hail::hail: as said previously, can't thank you enough, mate! I knew it would be a tough gig but WOW!:thumbsup:
The metal will stay as is, too.
Chris :happy0180:
 
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