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Gewehr 98 Maker/year list

Jim's Militaria

Well-known member
Hi,
I am looking for a list of the makers of the Gewehr 98 and the actual years that they produced the rifles.

This is what I have so far...

Amberg -
C.G. Haenel Suhl -
Danzig -
Deutsche Waffen Und Munitionsfabriken. Berlin -
Erfurt -
J.P. Sauer & Sohn Suhl -
Simson & Co. Suhl - 1915 - 1918
Spandau - 1899 - 1917
V.C. Schilling & Co. Suhl -
Waffenfabrik Mauser A.G. Oberndorff A/N. - 1898 - 1918
Waffenwerke Oberspree Kornbusch & Co. -
Waffenwerke Oberspree - 1918 only

Any help filling in the blanks would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Jim




:biggrin1:
 
Mikes & Bruce's new book covers Imperial rifles (Vol. I, Pgs. 18-38), it lists the makers and the years they made rifles on page 24. Here it is again according to my research into known (observed) production. This list (including the one on page 24 in the book) takes into consideration acceptance patterns and who "assembled" the rifle. For instance Spandau/1918 dated receivers exist in significant number, but none were assembled by Spandau, further the below list doesn't include rifles made by depots (Hannover, Dresden etc..)


Prussian Arsenals:

Spandau: 1899 - 1917 (1918 dated receivers exist)
Erfurt: 1899 - 1908, 1915 - 1917 (Gap between 1908 and 1915)
Danzig: 1899 - 1909, 1914 - 1918 (Gap between 1909 and 1914, receivers exist 1912 & 1913, but assembled 1915)

Bavaria:

Amberg: 1903 - 1908, 1912 - 1918 (Gap between 1908 and 1912)

Commercial producers of the Gew98 (patent holder firms):

Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf A/N.: 1898 - 1918
Deutsche Waffen-Munitionsfabriken, Berlin: 1899 - 1909, 1914 - 1918 (Gap between 1909 and 1914)

Commercial wartime producers of the Gew98 based in Suhl:

J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Suhl: 1915 - 1918
V.C. Schilling, Suhl: 1915 - 1918 (1919 dated receivers exist)
C.G. Haenel, Suhl: 1915 - 1918 (1919 dated receivers exist)
Simson & Co.,Suhl: 1915 - 1918

Commercial wartime producers of the Gew98 based in Berlin:

Waffenwerke Oberspree Kornbusch & Co. - Waffenwerke Oberspree: 1915 - 1919
 
Perfect! That's exactly what I needed. Now I just need to fashion a chart and start filling in the missing ones. Something tells me that this will be a long journey. So if I shoot for the war years it's just 48 rifles. If I go for 1898-1918 it's just insane! War years should be more than enough.



Thanks for the list and the amazing article.




:biggrin1:
 
Ambitious! Even sticking to the war years alone it will be a challenge, some of the makers/years are incredibly tough, perhaps the toughest will be finding an "original-matching" Erfurt/1917 Gewehr98, only two are known and they are both train wrecks.

Many others are darn tough too, a DWM/1914 only one has been recorded, pretty high serial range so maybe others exist, but it is possible it was assembled in 1915.

It is possible other makers-dates exist, many top tier collections aren't exactly open to researchers, some are very shy (secretive) or want to keep the most valuable asset a collector has to themselves (knowledge)
 
So in terms of Maker/Year rarity, how does a collector know what's out there and what isn't? Is there a colletors registry floating around that can be viewed or added too?
 
Jim, I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep my Gews in order. Numismatics was my first collecting obsession, so I use the same approach with Gewehr 98s. The thing that bothers me about my spreadsheet is the lack of a Sterngewehr row, still haven't figured out the best way to add that.

And I think my Kar years are off on some of the makers.
 

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Thanks PM! That is a great way to keep track.

It's been a month or so since I have added to the collection so I hope to find a few more soon.



:biggrin1:
 

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