Looking for info on a Gew 98 1908 which has been in storage for many years.

When my dad passed he left me his Mauser 98 rifle. During my internet search for information on this rifle, I came across a thread in this forum which is very similar to my rifle.
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?22756-Look-for-more-info-on-my-Gewehr-98-Obendorf-A-N

I must admit I know very little about this rifle, or rifles at all for that matter. I'm interested in knowing what the history is, and what's it is worth. While my dad was still alive, I remember him bosting about all the serial numbers being the same, the barrel still being blue, etc, etc. Here are some pics:

This is a commercial G98, not military, these have a following all their own but unrelated to most collectors on this forum. Take better pictures especially of any markings, I would suggest some disassembly if you are up to it.

For further searches, look for wehrmanngewehr

I have never taken a rife apart so I'll pass on that for fear that some spring will come shooting out past my ears and I'll never get it back together again... I'll try to take some better pics but for some reason the symbols / markings are not very visible to my phone camera. As for the "commercial" origin, I thought the same from the similarities to the other thread I mentioned in my first post. The only difference is that mine has a slightly earlier serial number and the bolt SN appears to match the rest of the rifle. Can you confirm the manufacturing date by the SN as being 1904 to 1905? Thanks again for any info!

Loewe said:

This is a commercial G98, not military, these have a following all their own but unrelated to most collectors on this forum. Take better pictures especially of any markings, I would suggest some disassembly if you are up to it.

For further searches, look for wehrmanngewehr

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100% agree with Paul. These are fine rifles. They vary a bit (some single shot, some have standard 5 round magazines) I would suspect yours is built off a recycled receiver and is post WWI (based on the sights), but I can't say for sure.

Wehrmann Gewehr (Serviceman's Target Rifles) were very popular, particularly between the wars) as a military style rifle for civilian use. They were typically in 8.15x46r, the prevailing sporting caliber. These found a lot of use in the secret training/rebuilding of the German army in the early days (sporting caliber, so they skirted versailles rules). It should say the caliber on the barrel somewhere, but another way to tell is to look at the bolt face. It will look like the picture I attached. The extractor is different to grasp the rimmed cartridge.

I have a 1913 dated/produced Mauser Oberndorf Wehrmann Gewehr. It is essentially a full Gew 98 with a special order bent bolt.

If you have real interest in these, Jon Speeds books are wonderful, but out of print, or Bob Simpsons training rifles book has several pages on these.

Enjoy!

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Post WW1? Interesting! I'll have a look at the bolt. I'll post a pic once I do. Hopefully it is possible to see that part without removing it from the rifle as you have. Any Idea on the value? I'm looking to pass this rifle on to someone who truly appreciates this type of firearm.

PeterN said:

Post WW1? Interesting! I'll have a look at the bolt. I'll post a pic once I do. Hopefully it is possible to see that part without removing it from the rifle as you have. Any Idea on the value? I'm looking to pass this rifle on to someone who truly appreciates this type of firearm.

Click to expand...

All you need to do to remove the bolt open it, and pull back while pulling the lever on the back left of the receiver bridge. It'll come right out.

The rest of disassembly is easy too. I'd recommend a youtube video on model 98 Mauser disassembly if you need a visual.

In terms of value, based on limited pics you'd be in the 1500ish realm, as a guess. These have a following but different audience than military models, to Loewes point. I collect both but much more geared to military.

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Peter, I'll send you a PM with a name and e-mail address to contact regarding this rifle. There is a Mauser collector in Australia who is currently rewriting (well, new one, not really rewriting) the book of Jon Speed, he can help you for sure. Plus he might also be interested in purchasing it. I'll tell him that you'll contact him!

Hi Peter
What you have is a Servicemans Rifle. It was built on a Mauser action from before WW1, 1908 by the reciever date. After the war it was rebarreled to 8.15 46R .It was a popular sporting round from before the war and was used in a lot of stalking rifles. It's about the same as a Winchester 32-40. Can be made from 30-30 brass. With a new barrel and rear sight. The rest is all Gew 98. Stock bands and the rest. There were a fair number of firms that did these after the war. Mauser actually built some new from scratch. The conversions were a cheaper way to go rather than buying new. Look around the sides of the barrel or even under it. There may be a marking as to who did the conversion.

I knew that Mauser farmed out the M98 design to a few countries, but I never expected that the German M98s could be such a Frankenstein rifle. I'm beginning to see the attraction in deciphering the history of each unit. As for mine, other than the serial number there are hardly any other markings/stamps on it when compared to some of the sample pics people have posted. Either that, or I don't know where to look...

The problem with these ie. Many times the recievers were scrubed of all markings. Sometims just the proofs and serial numbers. Just depends who did it. after the new barrels were added the rifles had to be proofed again. so now you have commercial proofs instead of the gov't ones. Other parts could be mismatched or renumbered to match. Just depends how much the rebuilder wanted to do. They were buying GEW 98s left over from the war .

I reached out to Steve, and although it is not conclusive we are moving forward in identifying this rifle. One of the more interesting discoveries from my perspective is that the barrel appears to have only 4 grooves. Here are some more pics.

I hope you had sent the new pictures also to Steve? Just read his reply (he forwarded it to me), an awful amount of information he had provided you. I think your metal parts are just thickly in grease, the finish should be perfectly original under it. On the negative side however your stock seems to have two serious cracks, one just where receiver and barrel meets, second one in the pistol grip area.

The 4 groove barrel is as Steve has told you correct for the 8.15x46R caliber with lead bullet (BLG means BleiLaufGeschoss; "LeadBarrelBullet").

Yes, I sent Steve all these pics and a few more. WRT the date of manufacture, the serial number suggests 1922, but with both newly manufactured parts as well as parts from the surplus parts bin. Ie the barrel is dated 1908. We're now looking into "who" built it. As for cracks, etc in the woodwork, yes there are some imperfections. There is also a patch on the RHS of the stock which looks like it was added to cover a knot? I've attached a pic.


Oh, and I found a new engravement in the wooden stock, just behind the trigger. It looks like a stylized M and W. See the last pic of my previous post.

This was likely not a "recycled" receiver per say. Mr. Speed and I discussed these at one time. They were in fact "left overs" repurposed. I own 89572, which has no date stamp, but both commercial BU and Gew. 98 markings and the Waffenfabrik Mauser ring stamp.

Ok, we have answers! First off, I would like to thank Steve for his extensive knowledge and willingness to share his analysis on this rifle. I would also like to thank Georg for reaching out to Steve. You guys are great!!

As for the rifle's origin, I collected the following quotes from the many emails I had with Steve: Enjoy.

1) The rifle was made 100% by Mauser Oberndorf in the 1924-1925 period using an inventory action from 1908. It is theorized that this rifle was part of a batch made up to test the market in the post 1922 period. Prior to 1922, rifle production for Mauser was difficult due to the Treaty of Versailles. There was however no restriction on the 8.15x46R target calibre.
2) The 300m tangent rear sight is 100% fitted by Mauser to a purpose made barrel and not a modified G98 barrel with a Haenel brand rear sight.
3) The rifle is 8.15x46R. The rifling reflects this, plus the extractor has been modified for the rimmed cartridge (that is what the R in 8.15x46R stands for)
4) It is a Commercially proofed Gew98 action. Commercial rifles carried the BU proof marks. Military rifles did not. Mauser made Commercially proofed Gew98 rifles ( in the same configuration as the ones for the German military) to be sold in smaller “standard” contracts for foreign customers.

Thanks for the update - good to see some of the thoughts told on this thread being confirmed as well. Seems like your rifle has a lot of interesting details. Did you end up selling the rifle to him as well?

No I did not. The gun laws here in Canada are VERY restrictive wrt transferring ownership of guns. I found out that I can easily sell the gun face to face, but shipping it is a whole other ball of wax. That being said, I need to find a buyer here in the Ottawa area(or northern New York), or sell it to someone who has a partner local to my area. Until then it will remain in storage.