Gewehr 98, Spandau 1900, 1. O.R.

Hello Guys,

since this is my first post in this forum I would like to introduce myself first. My name is Vincent and I'm a young german collector of prussian/imperial german bayonets 1860 - 1914. So a big and friendly hello to all of you.
While collecting edged weapons I also picked up some rifles to fit my bayonets. Which brings me to this forum.

Some days ago I was able to pick up this Gewehr 98 made in Spandau in 1900. The main reason to buy it was the unit markings on it. It is one of the few surviving rifles from the Ostasiatische Expeditionscorps or imperial east asian expedition corp. It is marked with 1.O.R. 4.116. Sadly it is in a very bad condition but i think it is still worth the 290 € I paid for it.

My problem is now that i don't know a lot of the few rifles i own. I hope that you guys could tell me a bit more about the early Gewehr 98.

Some Information about mine:

Spandau, 1900
Marked with 7,92
Sights start with 2 up to 20 (this is important, isn't it?)
Serialnumber of the rifle seems to be the 7357

This number (or just 57) is also on almost every other part of the rifle including the inside of the stock.
Only other number i could find is the 77 stamped on the magazine feeder (wright word?).
The Bolt has the number 1?86. The other part of the bolt have a 86 stamped on.


I made some pictures. I hope they are good enough. If you guys need more photos, just let me know and please excuse my bad english.

With kind regards from germany

Vincent

PS: if you guys need some help with german bayonets or unit markings, feel free to ask me

More pictures.

The last few Pictures.

Well done! You have a good eye for scarce unit markings.
If you do not have them already you should acquire the 3-volume set covering Imperial rifles done by Dieter Storz of the BAM and the multi-volume set on bayonets done by Rudiger Franz; you can get them through DWJ.
You rifle has the OAB unit mark cancelled as it it shown. Did you reverse the marking disc? When the OAB returned to Germany its arms were redistributed, the OAB markings cancelled and new unit markings applied. There is a good chance that the other side of the marking disc on your rifle shows the unit to which it was issued when it got back to Germany. If you decide to remove the disc take care in getting it off, it is easy to chip the wood around it if you are not slow and careful.
Rifles and pistols with the OAB mark not cancelled are not common (at least here in the US) but bayonets do turn up with the markings not cancelled.
I have three M83 Reichsrevolvers originally issued to the OAB; two have the OAB unit markings cancelled and a new unit marking added and one has only its original OAB marking which is not cancelled.
For a discussion of Reichsrevolvers and their accessories including the special holsters for the OAB, see Harder, "Der Reichsrevolver...", also available through DWJ.

Welcome to the forum!

Wonderful find, - CB covered the references, none of which i have, other than Storz, but as to observations, no other OER marked rifle has been recorded by me, though there are about a dozen bayonets known. Early Spandau production largely consists of rifles that saw service in the German colonies (KS marked), though a lot of Garde units are known also, much depends on the year, - 1900 most rifles with original, unaltered stocks are KS marked, 1901 about a even mix of Garde and KS. No 1899 has been discovered with a original, unaltered stock.

Of course, others like Craig or Mark Wieringa probably have seen more of these early rifles than I have.

You say the rear sight goes back to 200m, does it slide all the way back or is it just the base is graduated to 200m?

BTW, is the 2.O.R.3 Sg98 an Erfurt/1899 bayonet? What is the maker-date?

The two OAB G98s I've seen both have S-bores and the sight modified 1904+ so that it registers on 400M as the lowest setting. They were evidently modified after their return to Germany. G98s not modified for the S-Patrone are downright rare.
All the KS G98s I know of are converted to the S-Patrone but the sight registers on 200M.

Hello Guys,

thank you for your answers. My bayonet is dated with W00 and ERFURT.

The lowest setting is indeed the 4. There is also a S stamped directly before the sights. I have turned the disc and there is nothing on it.
Shouldn't there b an S stamped on the disc as well?

Interesting, the other 2.O.R's recorded are 1899's but different companies. These are rarely seen, the last two I saw sell went for $250 & $370 more than a decade ago. Neither had matching scabbards.

Spartaner545 said:

Hello Guys,

thank you for your answers. My bayonet is dated with W00 and ERFURT.

The lowest setting is indeed the 4. There is also a S stamped directly before the sights. I have turned the disc and there is nothing on it.
Shouldn't there b an S stamped on the disc as well?

Click to expand...

In the case of the colonial G98s sometimes the disc is stamped S. and K.S. (Nr.) and sometimes only K.S. (Nr.). When you reversed the disc was the other side as corroded as the rest of the rifle? Does the stock SN match the receiver SN?

Yes, the other side of the disc looks like the side with the unit markings on. Does this mean that the rifle was not used anymore after the return to Germany?

The SN of the Stock (the little top part too) matches the one from the receiver.


The reason for the O.R. bayonets being not that rare in comparison to the O.R. rifles is in my opinion the fact that they weren't used again. The soldiers had so much trouble with the weak handle construction that the S98 a.A. from the O.R. were just stored in the depots. That could be the reason why there are no canceled unit markings on the bayonets. The imperial army just switched the old pattern for the more robust construction S98 n.A. (new pattern).