Lost in the sauce trying to research the family bubbad Gew98 1914 Mauser A-G Oberndorf, requesting rescue.

[tomy3290]

The more and more I dig into trying to find the answers I have about this gun, the more confused I get and I have totally lost it and am requesting help. I have spent what little time I have had trying to clean/ fix up the Mauser that my uncle willed to me about two years ago. When I don't have access to the rifle I try and figure out where the hell this rifle has been in its 107 years of existence and every single time I end up down some forum from the early ought's at 2 am, completely lost and pissed off. I don't have photos of the inside of the rifle right now but will post them in the morning.
I love what yall are doing here, but please for the love of all that is holy please make it easier to search things up, because I can only find bits and pieces of information and who ever replies to this PLEASE, post a source of your info so I can dive in further to the history of this rife.
I am sorry that it sounds like I am pissed off in this post, but its because I am completely frustrated and lost with the confusing information and lack of sources for said information so that I can do my own research. I am only making this post because of the fact that I am probably 200 hours+ into the research about this gun and every time I just circle back to where I started even more confused than when I started.
If you need better/ more pics of a certain spot just let me know.
I am at the end of my wits here and am just asking for some help.

 

[tomy3290]

More pics

 

[Rutche]

Hey tomy3290, im not the most experienced person here, but what you are showing here is a Gewehr 98M. The updated rear-sight is what designates it as a 98M its what we call a tangent sight. These sights were added post World War 1, in the 20's, and 30's. Many went to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, but others stayed in Germany. You can tell Spanish rifles they have sanded stocks, and usually on the right side of the stock behind the bolt takedown disc, there is a flaming bomb symbol with MP8 written inside. Im not sure if i answered any questions here, but others will definitely chime in, and help. Most here will source it for you as well.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Rutche is spot on. I'll add that the black paint is another indicator that it was a Spanish Civil War Gew 98m, if i remember correctly the importer painted it black to make the finish appear even.

Sources for these are hard. For Gewehr 98s in WWI and immediately after, Dr. Storz's book on the Modell 98 is the unquestionable authority. However, for post-WWI reworks and updates there is not much. This forum is honestly the best source, lots of knowledge here, but it comes from hands on research and examining examples, so citing published material is difficult, sometimes there are articles, or next to impossible, because some things collectors are still trying to figure out. I encourage you to look around the forum for similar examples, and there are a couple straight Imperial 1914 WMOs in the reference thread so you can see what it looked like when it was new.

 

[tomy3290]

Y’all thank you so much. I posted this pretty late last night and I let my emotions get to me sorry about that. I thank y’all two for getting this info but my two biggest questions are about all the markings on the bolt and why is it curved? Would it be curved as a post WWI rebuild or some other reason. And all the markings on the underside of the bolt looks like you have a five year old a box of stamps and a hammer

 

[mrfarb]

Cliff notes version: ww1 Gew98 rifle, reworked in 35/36 by the Nazi’s during rearmament with new barrel and sights ( hence nazi markings on a ww1 rifle), many were sold to Spain to assist anti-communist forces fighting there. Many came back from ww2 as well. This one has low value with mismatched parts and spray paint. Bent bolt doesn’t show up in pics but the rifle is pieced together so most likely just added later by someone putting parts together- a ww1 rifle will accept a ww2 bent bolt with no modification.

 

[tomy3290]

Ok thank you about that, so you say that the barrel is newer one and not from 1914?

 

[PrayingMantis]

Ok thank you about that, so you say that the barrel is newer one and not from 1914?

That's correct. Note the eagle fireproof and different font.

 

[tomy3290]

So just the receiver is just from 1914?

 

[PrayingMantis]

So just the receiver is just from 1914?

At this point, yes, only the receiver is WMO 1914, rest of the parts are replacements.

 

[mrfarb]

Post photos of barrel markings under the wood and we can give more info. The Nazi firing proof means it was proof tested, not something they did to most reworked ww1 barrels.

 

[tomy3290]

Post photos of barrel markings under the wood and we can give more info. The Nazi firing proof means it was proof tested, not something they did to most reworked ww1 barrels.

I do not have access to the rifle today but tomorrow I can run and grab photos of it.

 

[tomy3290]

I got one more question for y’all, I have been think about getting ahold of some reproduced WWII scope and scope mounts to put on this rifle. Would that just be a waste to put on that or not, because I have really good eyesight, can read the bottom line on an eye test no problemo, but even at 100 yards I just lose what ever I am aiming at with the open sights. So would it be a waste on this bubba of a rifle or am I just doing something wrong. I get shots on target it’s just the spread is about 18 inches

 

[ernie8]

If the rifle has a good bore but is not shooting well the ammo is the first place to look . If you have good eyesight there is no reason you could not shoot well at 100 yards with iron sights . I ran military rifle matches for about 18 years and 1 inch 5-shot groups at 100 yards were not uncommon .

 

[BishopofBling]

I got one more question for y’all, I have been think about getting ahold of some reproduced WWII scope and scope mounts to put on this rifle. Would that just be a waste to put on that or not, because I have really good eyesight, can read the bottom line on an eye test no problemo, but even at 100 yards I just lose what ever I am aiming at with the open sights. So would it be a waste on this bubba of a rifle or am I just doing something wrong. I get shots on target it’s just the spread is about 18 inches

18 inches at 100yds? Man that's wide, typically 4 MOA is expected of service rifles of this era with non-match grade/handloaded ammo. If you're shooting military surplus 4 MOA is a fair group some rifles fair better some a little worse depends on barrel wear. Are you keeping a consistent sight picture as 18 is crazy high.

 

[tomy3290]

18 inches at 100yds? Man that's wide, typically 4 MOA is expected of service rifles of this era with non-match grade/handloaded ammo. If you're shooting military surplus 4 MOA is a fair group some rifles fair better some a little worse depends on barrel wear. Are you keeping a consistent sight picture as 18 is crazy high.

I’m using a somewhat put together sandbag setup for shooting at a range with Romainian surplus and I would guesstimate it would have to do something with the gun being cut down and it in not having the sights truly zeroed after it was cut down. To get it to shoot at the correct elevation at 100 yards I have to put the rear sights at 300 yards of elevation so their might be some play in the rear sight block that I can fix. I’ve shot iron sights like this at 100 yards with a lever gun before and had no problem then. I’m going back to the range in a few hours to work on it so if y’all got an ideas on how to fix it that would be great.

 

[BishopofBling]

I’m using a somewhat put together sandbag setup for shooting at a range with Romainian surplus and I would guesstimate it would have to do something with the gun being cut down and it in not having the sights truly zeroed after it was cut down. To get it to shoot at the correct elevation at 100 yards I have to put the rear sights at 300 yards of elevation so their might be some play in the rear sight block that I can fix. I’ve shot iron sights like this at 100 yards with a lever gun before and had no problem then. I’m going back to the range in a few hours to work on it so if y’all got an ideas on how to fix it that would be great.

Probably an obvious question but, has the bore been recrowned?

Some common mechanical reasons why groups are large can be:

1. Improper bedding that messes up barrel harmonics (Lee-Enfields are notorious for this)

2. Substantial nick in the crown of the muzzle

3. Substantially worn throat/muzzle

4. Inconsistent sight picture

Could be a mixture of problems I can't really say without seeing it. The only time I've seen a huge group that was not the shooters fault was when I improperly placed the action of my Lee-Enfield back in the stock and I had to fiddle with it to get it back to factory normal. In short, for a No4 the barrel is supposed to float freely in the middle with a certain amount of pressure needed on the front fore end to push up on the barrel. Mausers typically don't have that issue but who knows.