Greetings and first Mauser!

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Livefreeorcry603

Member
FNG here from NH. My uncle is passing down his old 7mm Mauser to me so I joined to learn more about it.

It’s a model 1908 DWM Brazilian Contract rifle that my uncle got from his best friends dad many years ago. Said Dad was a navigator on a B-17 in WW2 that flew 23 missions. I’ll have more pics when I take delivery of it next month but here is what I have. Happy to be here!
 
Welcome!
A dozen or so forum members admit to being NH residents.
The specific sub forum where you’ll likely get the most info on your rifle would be the first on the list, “The Imperial Era” covering 1871-1914. Looks like a nice example, there was quite a small arms race going on in South America late 1800s-early 19s. I have a couple of M1909 Argentine carbines made by DWM around the same time, amazing quality & finish in a time when ‘automatic’ machine tools were operated by cams rather than computers.
 
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Muncher 1953 said:
Welcome!
A dozen or so forum members admit to being NH residents.
The specific sub forum where you’ll likely get the most info on your rifle would be the first on the list, “The Imperial Era” covering 1871-1914. Looks like a nice example, there was quite a small arms race going on in South America late 1800s-early 19s. I have a couple of M1909 Argentine carbines made by DWM around the same time, amazing quality & finish in a time when ‘automatic’ machine tools were operated by cams rather than computers.
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I have pawed through that thread already a bit. When I actually receive it from my uncle I’m going to take more pictures, verify serial numbers, and try and get a good understanding of its history and rarity if any. I already have dies for 7x57 and about 50 brass cases and a box of bullets so I plan to try and work up a decent load for it.

Either way I’m excited to learn more about the Mauser platform and the history.

One thing I can’t really figure out is the K98 nomenclature and if my rifle falls into that title. I’ve seen Gew98 thrown around when talking about other mod1908 rifles so that might be more accurate? Still learning and trying figuring out all the different models.
 
Livefreeorcry603 said:
I

I have pawed through that thread already a bit. When I actually receive it from my uncle I’m going to take more pictures, verify serial numbers, and try and get a good understanding of its history and rarity if any. I already have dies for 7x57 and about 50 brass cases and a box of bullets so I plan to try and work up a decent load for it.

Either way I’m excited to learn more about the Mauser platform and the history.

One thing I can’t really figure out is the K98 nomenclature and if my rifle falls into that title. I’ve seen Gew98 thrown around when talking about other mod1908 rifles so that might be more accurate? Still learning and trying figuring out all the different models.
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your rifle isn’t a ‘K98’, they weren’t ‘invented’ for another 30 years after your rifle, it is a model 98 in the Gewehr 98 pattern, having a 29” +/- barrel, vs 23-5/8” for a ‘K98k’. Karabiner (carbine, = ‘shorter than gewehr length’) 98 (model 1898) k (‘kurz’) meaning ‘short carbine’. There was a rifle known as the ‘K98’ (not the lazyspeak contraction commonly used) that is earlier (20s-30s) & a bit different from a true ‘K98k’. Nice caliber, & nice wood on yours.
Interesting aside, the Brazil model 1908 is on the “to be banned in Canada” list by name, I wondered why, as its not a “high powered rifle”. The Canadian law refers to muzzle energy over 10,000 joules, apparently a popular conversion of Bazil ‘08s is to a much larger bullet/load, though the text list does not specifically state that. (????)

There’s a lot more activity on the ‘Nazi era’ forum, but the ‘Imperial’ folks are quite knowledgable & accommodating, likely a better source for info on your specific rifle. Either way, enjoy!
 
Muncher 1953 said:
your rifle isn’t a ‘K98’, they weren’t ‘invented’ for another 30 years after your rifle, it is a model 98 in the Gewehr 98 pattern, having a 29” +/- barrel, vs 23-5/8” for a ‘K98k’. Karabiner (carbine, = ‘shorter than gewehr length’) 98 (model 1898) k (‘kurz’) meaning ‘short carbine’. There was a rifle known as the ‘K98’ (not the lazyspeak contraction commonly used) that is earlier (20s-30s) & a bit different from a true ‘K98k’. Nice caliber, & nice wood on yours.
Interesting aside, the Brazil model 1908 is on the “to be banned in Canada” list by name, I wondered why, as its not a “high powered rifle”. The Canadian law refers to muzzle energy over 10,000 joules, apparently a popular conversion of Bazil ‘08s is to a much larger bullet/load, though the text list does not specifically state that. (????)

There’s a lot more activity on the ‘Nazi era’ forum, but the ‘Imperial’ folks are quite knowledgable & accommodating, likely a better source for info on your specific rifle. Either way, enjoy!
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Thank you kindly for your warm welcome and info. It’s greatly appreciated. Excited to get some more pictures and join the imperial ranks soon.
 
moconfed said:
My first was a '23 Spanish my father gave me. My son still has it.
Be prepared - Mausers have a way of getting addictive 😀
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Very nice. There’s something special about guns passed from family members.

And I can see that! I’ve been reading through old forum posts since yesterday. So much information and history. It’s addictive.

I was a bit disheartened to read about mitchel mousers. My uncle that is giving me this Brazilian has an 8mm mitchel that his wife gave him for his 50th birthday. It’s his pride and joy. He loves bragging about its history and rareness. He’s a big war history buff. Thankfully he’s not tech savvy enough to run out about forums and such so he’ll never find out about the scam that they are. And I’ll never tell him. It would probably break his heart.

Functionally it is a very nice rifle though. Fit and finish is beautiful. Needless to say I’m more than happy to take the DWM off his hands.
 
if the mitchell happens to come your way someday, don’t turn it away. they are what they are, but generally good bores & everything works, so good to shoot & learn how to spot ‘enhancements’. a mitchell is rather like a ‘57 Chevy Bel Aire 2 door coupe ‘restored’ by the kid down the street…….
 
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