1908 DWM (brazilian contract)

First of all, hello to everyone from the Dominican Republic.
That said, this is my quandary:

I am a military history buff, and it led me to become a firearms collector. Anyhow, I got my hands on a fully functional DWM 1908 Ge 98 wich I have slowly restored to working condition, as I had to change the stock, the original was in horrible shape. Bueno, to make the story short, I am thinking on installing a scope on this rifle, could I be advised on make and model to install and wether the straight bolt handle will be a problem?
Keep in my mind I am new to this whole world of firearms, so be patient with my ignorance.
Thanks.

DWM said:

First of all, hello to everyone from the Dominican Republic.
That said, this is my quandary:

I am a military history buff, and it led me to become a firearms collector. Anyhow, I got my hands on a fully functional DWM 1908 Ge 98 wich I have slowly restored to working condition, as I had to change the stock, the original was in horrible shape. Bueno, to make the story short, I am thinking on installing a scope on this rifle, could I be advised on make and model to install and wether the straight bolt handle will be a problem?
Keep in my mind I am new to this whole world of firearms, so be patient with my ignorance.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum.................bill

Welcome to the group, - regarding the DWM/08, what are you seeking? To make a representative example of a Imperial German sniper rifle, or just outfit your rifle with a scope?

If you are trying to make a German sniper rifle the bolt will have to be bent, and you should have a bolt cutout in the stock. The bolt is easy, just use a 98k bolt, but the cutout is a little tricky, you could try and find a 98b stock (it will have a side sling arrangement though, which is not right for a German sniper rifle) which isn't too hard, the Albanian import had a lot of them, many quite rough so they are around. Or you could have someone add a cutout to your stock. Or you could go without a cutout and have the bend of the bolt altered (like the G29ö).

As to the scope, the Germans used a bunch of different arrangements, Wolfgang or the sniper forum probably could help with alternatives for such a project.

Hmmm Thanks.
Well, I want to add a scope, simply. I do not pretend to know enough or have the contacts to actually re-create a german sniper rifle.

So, there is no way to add a scope with the straight bolt handle?

DWM said:

Hmmm Thanks.
Well, I want to add a scope, simply. I do not pretend to know enough or have the contacts to actually re-create a german sniper rifle.

So, there is no way to add a scope with the straight bolt handle?

Click to expand...

First, welcome!

If military historical accuracy is not a goal for you, Iron Elite used to make rear sight mounted no-gunsmithing mounts which were offset to the left of the reciever to accomidate Vz.24 straight bolts without tearing up a nice original rifle.

I'll see if I can find a link. But sadly, though he does great work, Bob's turn around is quite slow, and I honestly an not sure if he even does anything anymore.

Jeff

Scope on 1908 Gew98-style Mauser

DWM said:

Hmmm Thanks.
Well, I want to add a scope, simply. I do not pretend to know enough or have the contacts to actually re-create a german sniper rifle.
So, there is no way to add a scope with the straight bolt handle?

Click to expand...

Using a B-Square M98 rear sight scope mount, I installed a Long Eye Relief scope ("Swift 661M") on my K98k, and it is an awesome shooter. In the 300-yard target image below, the coin (shown for scale reference) is a US quarter-dollar, about 23mm across, and I was shooting WW2 German surplus ammunition. Although the K98k already has the turned-down bolt, nonetheless, if it did have the straight bolt (as for your rifle), this installation avoids the requirement to bend the handle. The optical distance of the eye relief for this scope is about 12 inches. Obviously, this in no way remotely resembles a Gew98 sniper.

BTW: A further bonus is there is no gunsmithing involved with this rock-solid scope installation, and I can still return the rifle to 'standard' configuration with its original issued tangent leaf rear sight in less than three minutes.