Sad story

Here are pictures of the remains of a 1915 Haenel GEW98. I bought it a few years ago from a walk-in at a gun show. It must have been an all matching rifle when it was brought to the US, though the middle band was missing. It also must have been stored in a leaky barn here in Florida, because the buttstock was rotted off about two inches where it had lain in moisture, and the buttplate was missing. All the screws were trash and the rust had eaten into almost everything. It turned out there was a live.308 round lodged in the chamber. It's a good thing nobody was able to fire it, as there was also a rod welded in the barrel. Surprisingly, some internal parts are OK, and the firing pin and spring were in good shape and complete. I bought it because it was cheap, for parts, and now it is a paperweight. Somebody attacked the bolt lug recesses with a chisel(?) so the receiver is ruined even if the barrel could be removed. Needless to say, it did not cost much, but a few parts may be eventually recycled. The pictures are provided for data.

That's a heartbreaker! Out of curiosity's sake, any pics of the stock?

moconfed said:

That's a heartbreaker! Out of curiosity's sake, any pics of the stock?

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No, I trashed it. It wasn't even firewood.

VCS-1915 is by far the least observed of the three consortium members, but this ties up JPS and CGH at 11 rifles each. They must have made quite a few rifles in 1915, they range through the f-block, but surprisingly few have been recorded, 26 altogether between the three makers, which is pretty low for a war year. It is a near certainty that they (the three members of the consortium) sent their receivers to a central assembler. Which was "probably" JPS or CGH. Most likely CGH as they were the lead firm for the contract.


Good report on the details that remain! A pretty good paper weight imo!

Paul, do you recall what year my CGH was? My memory is fading about it (1917 by memory...)

1917 CGH 4737 e

I don't suppose you have any pictures? You never took a RR or BC, nor any of the stock acceptance patterns, unfortunately.

S/42 said:

Paul, do you recall what year my CGH was? My memory is fading about it (1917 by memory...)

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No, I moved them fairly quickly - the prior owner's pimp shining of the receiver bugged me far too much.