All Matching Mauser Oberndorf 1917 dating Gew98

Absolut

Absolut

Senior Member
I've had some time, so I took out one of my nicest Gew98 rifles to take some pictures of it ... find them attached. It is all matching numbers - even the cleaning rod matches the rifle. The only two bad things about it is that one of the two action screw locking screws is missing (well, unmarked ones from factory, so should be replaceable, but I never bothered much on it), and the second is the fact that the follower has been milled to close on empty magazine. Barrel is mirror bright, stock is one of the best I've ever seen, as it was stamped yesterday. Note it is a jointed stock as well. Serial number from inside is from the handguard, I didn't take the stock off since it was anyway serialized on the outside.

Looking forward to comments and anything that I missed about this rifle. Did I by the way read the suffix correctly with "w"?
 

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I thought G98’s of that era/vintage all had the followers milled to close on empty chambers??
 
That has to be one of the finest WMO's I have seen, damn thing looks like its been in a closet since 1917... the suffix is "w" (though who am I to tell a German, or Austrian, their alphabet). Also as stated, original followers do not stop the bolt on empty, the follower has not been altered, - it was German practice after the war to notch the follower to stop the bolt, when seen (stopping bolt) you know the rifle either saw republican era work or someone postwar altered it (it is fairly common to see an WWI G98 bringback with this modification, - it is kind of strange the Germans didn't modify the rifles "officially" during the war, it is an obvious flaw in the design, minor as it surely is)

Wonderful rifle, pictures and angles!

** I haven't been on my main computer in nearly a week, but when I get the chance to trend it I might find some thing else to add. I have been checking in on a laptop, but relying upon memory is something I try to avoid.

Absolut said:
I've had some time, so I took out one of my nicest Gew98 rifles to take some pictures of it ... find them attached. It is all matching numbers - even the cleaning rod matches the rifle. The only two bad things about it is that one of the two action screw locking screws is missing (well, unmarked ones from factory, so should be replaceable, but I never bothered much on it), and the second is the fact that the follower has been milled to close on empty magazine. Barrel is mirror bright, stock is one of the best I've ever seen, as it was stamped yesterday. Note it is a jointed stock as well. Serial number from inside is from the handguard, I didn't take the stock off since it was anyway serialized on the outside.

Looking forward to comments and anything that I missed about this rifle. Did I by the way read the suffix correctly with "w"?
Click to expand...
 
That’s a screamer Georg! Un-upgradable in my book. Cool two piece stock too a bit in the late side for that.
 
Glad to have learnt the only issue it therefore has is the missing locking screw at the rear what should be an easy fix since unmarked. Thanks for all the nice comments! Dave must had really liked it since he uses only capital letters, lol. Paul, curious what you'll come up with on that rifle! I had anyway sent you a link on it.

I missed to take pictures of some smaller details, such as the acceptance markings on the right side of the rifles barrel bands. And the front sight of course is matched to the rifle as well. Maybe the detail I like best on this rifle is the branch coming out of the wood right where the serial number on bottom was applied. Almost looks as a bloom in that place.
 
I pulled up WMO trends and TPS (2-piece stocks) are not common for this maker, late 1916 (ff-block is known); most seem to be DWM and Erfurt, at least so far as recorded... the bolt acceptance is out of normal for this maker, typically C/G for the bolt body in this range, but my WMO trends are not fully developed yet.

Also, a walnut stock this late is uncommon for WMO, - again so far as trends go, the vast majority of WMO rifles in the database have not been detailed, maybe 20%, but as most known WMO/17 & 18's are Turks I never set it as a priority. Lately more "German" rifles have shown up, which is very good as not that long ago a "German" WMO/17 would have seemed rare, but they are starting to become just uncommon (of course we have always known most WMO/17's went to the military, - not Turkey - but among survivors they have a lower survival rate.
 
Paul, so basically this rifle falls out of every aspect of your trends? Glad to have helped to get them out of order then! But for a better understanding, how many Mauser G98 rifles did you have trended?
 
Yes, it is an interesting rifle on several issues, but as said, my trend sheets for WMO is maybe 20% of those in the database, - pulling a trends sheet takes minutes for a comparison, going through a database looking at each rifle would take hours. WMO is a large maker, hundreds of rifles recorded, but trends maybe 30-40 WMO/17's trended.

It did pique my curiosity a little though, maybe I will take some of my super-flu holiday time to flesh out 1916-1918 WMO trends. Mostly though to see a better picture of stock types (walnut v. beech) and TPS for WMO, basically to see if the trends I stated hold over a larger sample.
 
That is a stunning example. It must heve been a clerk's rifle! You know what they say, " If it looks like it was made yesterday, it probably was". LOL That has to be your center piece!
 
Paul, checked my rifles, but that is the only all matching Mauser Gew98 that I can help you with. Thanks for the insight on your database, I hope that this sample helps to enhace your DB as well for future reference.

Andy, thank you for your comment! German WWI stuff is not my main field, but if I pass items such as this particular Gew98 I usually can't resist.
 
It certainly helps, - unique is always helpful! Though over time I hope others can be grouped around it, but being so unique within its range makes that rather unlikely!
 
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