1902 DWM Naval Gew98

Sorry for the delay on this one guys been very busy lately. To tell you the truth this has been the best year of electric work I have had in over 10 years very blessed guys. Just this week I put a bid to remodel the electric work for Gordon Hayward the professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics! And on top of that been working on a buying a house out in the country with 13 acres, plus been cutting and spiting wood these past few weekends for the up coming winter.

Anyway I bought this rifle back in October before I went on vacation and I'm glad my good Gew 98 buddy Mike pushed me to go after it. He flat out told me these are rare regardless of the condition and the few problems present. You have been wanting one for along time this is probably your best chance. I missed out on my Colonial service Gew 98 last year but I'm glad I didn't miss out on this KM Gew 98.

Now the rifle is very interesting and has quite a story to tell. It's matching besides the front sight, hand guard, bolt group, and the cleaning rod. The cleaning rod that is present with it I already own, but it's only 1 number away from matching the rifle! The original front sight blade is not present either, who ever owned it removed and put a different sight in it's place. That will be changed once I find a correct matching sight for it one day. Rifle still has the original barrel but it was counter bored at the muzzle and it's marked for that modification. The rear sight base was designed for 200 yards but the Rear sight can only go back to the 400 yard sighting most likely done by an armorer. Now the cool part the bolt is not matching but it's interesting. For one the firing pin and extractor are unnumbered which I believe are armorers parts. Now the cool part I believe it's a Sterngewehr bolt because the fonts look like a Dresden Sterngewehr font pattern. Even though the bolt is not matching it does match the wear pattern on the rifle so I believe it has been in there since it left the depot. Which that depot was #4 for Cologne. Only thing bad I found on the rifle is bubba really damaged one of the trigger guard screws from using the wrong type of screwdriver. Sill I love this rifle and it's one of my favorites. Even better I own three DWM rifles in my collection now!

By the way I will be posting another cool Kar 88 carbine hopefully here in the next few weeks. I think everyone is going to love it. I tried to get alot of good pictures of this rifle for the data and picture research. Enjoy guys!

Maker: Deutsche Waffen-und-munitionsfabriken Berlin 1902

Receiver SN: 9394a
Barrel SN: 9394a B.46.d
Front sight SN: unmarked
Rear sight SN: 9394
Sight Slider SN: 9394
Ejector box SN: 94
Trigger Sear SN: 94
Front barrel band SN: 94
Rear barrel band SN: 94
Trigger guard SN: 9394
Trigger guard screws SN: 94
Floor Plate SN: 94
Follower SN: 94
Stock SN: 9394 V.M.A 302
Handguard SN: 5931
Buttplate SN: 9394 #4 Cologne
Bayonet lug SN: 94
Cleaning Rod SN: 95
Bolt body SN: 190 1
Extractor SN: unmarked
Safety SN: 90
Cocking piece SN: 90
Bolt sleeve SN: 90
Firing pin SN: unmarked

Stock, Rear Sight, and barrel bands:

Trigger guard group, bolt group, last pictures of the KM Gew 98, and a few teaser pictures of the Kar 88 next week. Have to get that one cleaned up and taken apart first.

Damn that is a nice rifle! This gun has a tale to tell for sure. I would put money that it was redirected from the navy in 1914 and probably saw an immense amount of combat. The rear sight is super interesting, the navy must have had their own way of doing things. Looks totally different from the updates done by the army. No initial or punch mark, but that tiny naval crown is so cool, as well as the four digit serial number.

Thanks Sam I find those details very interesting too. You know it is hard to believe this rifle was already 12 years old when WW1 started. But you and I know we just don't have enough KM marked rifles to go by so I'm glad this one will open up some new research details. And to think I almost passed on this one glad Mike told me not too!

And on a side note every DWM Gew 98 I own in my collection is Pre WW1 rifle! Plus all of them are combat warhorse Gew 98 rifles, which is how I like them.

Warrior1354 said:

.. To tell you the truth this has been the best year of electric work I have had in over 10 years very blessed guys

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So glad to hear this! Cheers to you brother. Hard work is it's own reward. I know you're young but it's interesting to see where your collecting is going.

heavy_mech said:

So glad to hear this! Cheers to you brother. Hard work is it's own reward. I know you're young but it's interesting to see where your collecting is going.

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Thank you for the kinds words HM it really has been a great year for our family electric business. We have a new builder that pays quick and keeps signing more and more houses. Plus I'm very happy for my mother and my stepdad. With the funds we have raised this year my mother is now working part time from her hated job and runs our office. She is much happier. And on top of that I think they are going to try and pay their house off this year and finally be free from a bank. The best part my stepdad was able to buy his dream car a 1966 Pontiac Tempest as well as buy tickets to the Notre Dame football game in Ireland next year. So yeah it's been a great year!

Jordan, happy things are going great for you personally and collecting wise!

Anything on this that points to possibly being re-directed to the Army?

Maybe I missed it...but it would be interesting if this rifle somehow had part of the Naval Mutiny late in the war...now that would be a game changer!

Super cool rifle in any case!

pzjgr said:

Jordan, happy things are going great for you personally and collecting wise!

Anything on this that points to possibly being re-directed to the Army?

Maybe I missed it...but it would be interesting if this rifle somehow had part of the Naval Mutiny late in the war...now that would be a game changer!

Super cool rifle in any case!

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A large portion of KM rifles were reallocated to satisfy the weapons shortage in the 1914-15. I think Koblenz being so centrally located directly behind the Western Front would indicate that this rifle could have been with an Army unit forward of that depot.

Warrior1354 said:

...pay their house off this year and finally be free from a bank.

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that's it! Everything else is gravy! Enjoy

Warrior1354 said:

Thanks Sam I find those details very interesting too. You know it is hard to believe this rifle was already 12 years old when WW1 started. But you and I know we just don't have enough KM marked rifles to go by so I'm glad this one will open up some new research details. And to think I almost passed on this one glad Mike told me not too!

And on a side note every DWM Gew 98 I own in my collection is Pre WW1 rifle! Plus all of them are combat warhorse Gew 98 rifles, which is how I like them.

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That’s a hell of a trio!

Fantastic pick- up Jordan! Thank you for posting so many pics. Pretty sure this is the first I've been able to see in such detail. The stories this rifle could tell!

I agree that the barrel acceptance stamp with the naval crown is badass.

I love the counterbore crown on the barrel/receiver line too. I've seen this on a number of 88s, but have not seen it on a 98 before. Looks to be the same crown as my Loewe 1891.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Interesting rifle for sure. Thanks for sharing!

These three could form a centerpiece all their own.. all incredibly desirable rifles, - all from the best maker at the time. Only ÖWG and Mauser could challenge this sort of quality in Europe.

Warrior1354 said:

Thanks Sam I find those details very interesting too. You know it is hard to believe this rifle was already 12 years old when WW1 started. But you and I know we just don't have enough KM marked rifles to go by so I'm glad this one will open up some new research details. And to think I almost passed on this one glad Mike told me not too!

And on a side note every DWM Gew 98 I own in my collection is Pre WW1 rifle! Plus all of them are combat warhorse Gew 98 rifles, which is how I like them.

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I agree, Jordan has gone further faster than anyone i know.. good skills and instinct, which is why I told him not to get too caught up in getting this rifle. They are rare, this was a fine rifle, but he was young and had plenty of time to find another, probably a better one too because so few know anything about this variation (and those that do are old farts... long term Jordan will probably be the "only" one left..), - and this being an Imperial force not tied to one of the semi-autonomous states makes it a unique variation. (The German Army was formed from the State Armies, the first real national army was created by the Republic, but the Navy had the distinction of being the first "national" military institution of unified Germany)

Anyway, I am glad he listed to Mike, but he has the time and skills to not get too invested in getting any particular rifle...

heavy_mech said:

So glad to hear this! Cheers to you brother. Hard work is it's own reward. I know you're young but it's interesting to see where your collecting is going.

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That it is counterbored is a good clue, they say the older rifles were used to fire grenades and this wore out the muzzles... it is well established the KM gave up most of its modern rifles and took obsolete ones, but by 1918 there was no shortage of rifles, - actually there was a massive glut and I am sure the mutiny/mutineers had access to G98's. The real question was whether these were returned at anytime? Technically they were KM property, paid for through the national legislature, but perhaps they did some sort of bookkeeping calculation? Seems a waste of time rounding up obsolete rifles to return them to the KM during a nasty war.

Besides, as pointed out, the presence of depot stamp means it passed through ordnance depot and those were not tied to the KM.. though there was KM units along the coast, they were probably serviced by these depots, so it is possible this was retained by the KM for front line service and worked its way through an army depot during the war.

pzjgr said:

Anything on this that points to possibly being re-directed to the Army?

Maybe I missed it...but it would be interesting if this rifle somehow had part of the Naval Mutiny late in the war...now that would be a game changer!

Super cool rifle in any case!

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BTW, the barrel code is very interesting, this is the pattern through the early years, but sometime around 1905-06 they take on a more formal pattern typical of the war. These "B" blank provider codes pose quite a interpretation hurdle, is it Böhler or Bismarckhutte? Both start with a "B" and both were routinely used by DWM... Normally I would go with Böhler because DWM had a relationship with them (P08), but Bismarckhutte is well represented pre-war DWM and a German contract might have favored a German firm over an Austrian one... especially from a national legislature providing the funding. (I assume politicians were as crooked in 19th century Germany as they were in the United States, - though both were probably far more honest than the demented psychopaths of today...)

Unfortunately, the numbers recorded, especially their BC's, are so few we are likely to never get a firm handle on who provided the barrel steel. But so far DWM seems o have used Böhler, Krupp and Bismarckhutte pre-war.

Great rifle Jordan, not one you see everyday!

Jordan, this was a great pickup, & for a very, very good price. Congrats & thanks for sharing the pics.

I greatly appreciate the kind words Paul and I hope I was able to cover everything on the rifle. I tried to get almost every detail I could because I know how valuable and rare these are to find. Personally I wish I could find more so I can get more data and research on them but so few are known and the ones that are out there are probably in long-lost collections that have yet been discovered. I do wonder how many of these rifles were lost when the German Navy scuttled most of their Fleet in 1918 before the war ended. But as many have stated most of these rifles were transferred to front-line military service so who knows how many were lost in the trenches.

And I'll be honest I don't think you all give yourself enough credit. Everyone here are the ones that have pushed me to to drive my collecting. You all know who you are and you all had my upmost gratification.

Personally I wish I could do more for Mike. He has helped me out so much over the years with my Imperial collecting. I always try to to make it up to him but he almost always refuses, plus it doesn't help that he has an already incredible Gew98 collection. Hell it was just this evening we have been discussing about him selling me one of his s98 bayonets to go with this rifle. It's Navy marked and its matching. He flat out told me out of all the ones he sent me info on I picked out the best one he had. For some reason I've always had the instinct to pick the best ones!

I was glad to send him a really cool Imperial Navy picture last month before I went on vacation. It was a little surprise to him but I'll be honest I wish I could do more.

Still I'm happy to not only call him my fellow collector, my teacher, but also a friend again thanks Mike.