Commercial Gewehr 98 WMO 1917 1591

[PrayingMantis]

I posted this one before, when I first got it in 2014. Found it at a local gun store. It was dry, had some surface rust, and a cutdown stock, but it was matching and actually in wonderful shape under the dust and rust. Here are the initial photos and some very helpful information from Jon Speed: http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?12590-Commercial-WMO-1917-1591

For six years I sat on the project, only oiling the metal, because I wanted to find the right stock, and Nathaniel was able to really help me out. I was able to repair it like any duffle cut, actually it was easier since I didn’t have to account for 1/8 inch of missing wood. The stock I got matches very well, glad I held out for the right one. Had already got the rest of the parts from Sam a while back so I was able to put it all together. I am quite pleased with how it turned out!

Paul initially speculated that WMO assembled it postwar using a salvaged receiver. Judging by the low serial it might not have been long after wars end, and the parts look to be not new made but rather salvaged wartime parts with 91 over stamped. Even the receiver has an over stamped serial, though it’s a little hard to see. The barrel might be a wartime reject, it has a faint S and a large A under the rear sights. The stock looks like a wartime spare as well, with indentations for where the acceptance would go. It’s internal serial does not appear to be over stamped, though the handguard is.

Overall it’s a very well made Gewehr. Even though it’s not military, I think it fits nicely into the collection.

 

[PrayingMantis]

The stock and trigger guard.

 

[PrayingMantis]

And the bolt.

 

[chrisftk]

Cyrus, very cool rifle and a great save! Thanks for sharing the updated pics.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[Fal Grunt]

Very neat! I did not know the stock was for a Wehrmann Gewehr! Course, if I had, then I probably would have tried to talk you out of it

Jon sent a note regarding your rifle:

I saw on 98k site Imperial section the new talks on WFM 1917 and its plain to see it has enclosed head and hook extractor so no more questions on its caliber 8.15X46R. A Commercial 1917 Wehrmanns rifle. Question I have is how many grooves does it have 4 or 6 . ? Jon

 

[PrayingMantis]

Cyrus, very cool rifle and a great save! Thanks for sharing the updated pics.

Thanks, Chris!

Very neat! I did not know the stock was for a Wehrmann Gewehr! Course, if I had, then I probably would have tried to talk you out of it

Jon sent a note regarding your rifle:

I saw on 98k site Imperial section the new talks on WFM 1917 and its plain to see it has enclosed head and hook extractor so no more questions on its caliber 8.15X46R. A Commercial 1917 Wehrmanns rifle. Question I have is how many grooves does it have 4 or 6 . ? Jon

Well hopefully you’ll at least get to see it in person sometime soon!

Thanks so much for your input, Jon. It has six grooves, I’ll try to get a photo tomorrow when the light is better.

 

[gew98]

I used to make brass out of 30/30 and 32 win spl for the 8x46R I had. Used cast bullets and all worked well. Some of these 'club' rifles are really super quality builds and most are just ho hum scrape up parts builds. When you come across examples with intricate Haenel rear sights...they are keepers.
The examples like you have usually have an asterisk or stamp mark on the side of the rear sight grads for the standard sight leaf setting to put it on 'zero' for the official distance they were shooting at as the LV rear leaf is still set for 7,92 S patronen.

 

[PrayingMantis]

I used to make brass out of 30/30 and 32 win spl for the 8x46R I had. Used cast bullets and all worked well. Some of these 'club' rifles are really super quality builds and most are just ho hum scrape up parts builds. When you come across examples with intricate Haenel rear sights...they are keepers.
The examples like you have usually have an asterisk or stamp mark on the side of the rear sight grads for the standard sight leaf setting to put it on 'zero' for the official distance they were shooting at as the LV rear leaf is still set for 7,92 S patronen.

Thanks, Bill, I wasn’t sure about the asterisks, that’s great to know. Hopefully I can modify some brass and shoot it at some point. This one is definitely a scraped up parts build, the unused imperial stock illustrates that well, but I like that about it.

 

[PrayingMantis]

And here’s a photo of the six grooved rifling.

 

[gew98]

Thanks, Bill, I wasn’t sure about the asterisks, that’s great to know. Hopefully I can modify some brass and shoot it at some point. This one is definitely a scraped up parts build, the unused imperial stock illustrates that well, but I like that about it.

The brass you can literally fire form . It's super close to the 30/30 or 32 win spl.

 

[Fal Grunt]

Trimming to length is the hardest part.... work wise.

I have found with a couple examples when using 30/30 brass that minor adjustments would need to be made to rim thickness and diameter.

 

[gew98]

Trimming to length is the hardest part.... work wise.

I have found with a couple examples when using 30/30 brass that minor adjustments would need to be made to rim thickness and diameter.

After fire forming I always annealed brass as well. I never had an issue with rim diameter or thickness. I can see different makes having issues as you might get with so many makers salvaging for the market.

 

[Fal Grunt]

I've found actually the brass was the inconsistent part.

Shockingly 30-30 brass isn't quite as consistent as Lapua