Wmo 1899

mauser1908

Senior Member
Picked up this long term project. It has been re-barreled with an Argentine 1909 barrel for whatever reason. Figured it would be worth the pain due to the rarity of the rifle, unit mark (Garde Schutzen Battalion, 2nd Company, 55th Weapon), and early style bolt. All parts match, and the receiver lacks a firing proof. Should be along term project. I have replacement barrel on the way and found a front end of a duffle cut stock. The stock is numbered internally only like both my other early rifles (Spandau and Danzig 1900). It was interesting to see how tiny the font is on the stock number.

a.jpgb.jpgc.jpgd.jpge.jpgf.jpgh.jpgh.jpgi.jpgj.jpgk.jpgl.jpgm.jpgn.jpgo.jpgp.jpgq.jpgr.jpgs.jpgt.jpgu.jpg
 
Last edited:
Garde-Schützen-Bataillon is exceedingly rare, and for an infantryman who is also a collector, its the premier infantry unit of the Imperial German Army, - it just doesn't get better... its like the Großdeutchland IR of WWII.

Obviously the rifle is incredibly rare, in any condition, and when brought to my attention by another, - who passed upon it, I have to admit I thought it the coolest rifle that I have seen in a long time. It is incredibly unfortunate that some numbskull vandalized the rifle, placing a ridiculous barrel on it, among other crimes against sanity...

To aid your project I will attach pictures of the only other GS related rifle I have encountered, a stock I once owned years ago. Interestingly I picked it up through Lewis (S/42) who use to have a rather decent little Imperial collection, he lives in Australia and there is some speculation that it may have been brought back to Australia by a soldier. The G.S served the last stages of the war in the Balkans, so perhaps it encountered some Australian units, which would explain the stocks presence in AUS and the rarity of surviving items from the btl. (though being such a small unit, such material would be scarce regardless..)

Notice the different maker on this stock vs. your example, 7661 being Danzig in my opinion, though this is more a matter of elimination than evidence. Factory rifles from 1899-1900 are almost unheard of, handfuls across the spectrum, and none are problem free. Mostly trends revolve around components... Anyway, having another example to gauge your project by should help. (7661 did not have the early BL, so a latter upgrade)
 

Attachments

  • MVC-312F.JPG
    MVC-312F.JPG
    73.6 KB · Views: 28
  • MVC-304F.JPG
    MVC-304F.JPG
    125.5 KB · Views: 32
  • MVC-305F.JPG
    MVC-305F.JPG
    50.9 KB · Views: 22
  • MVC-306F.JPG
    MVC-306F.JPG
    46.1 KB · Views: 18
  • MVC-307F.JPG
    MVC-307F.JPG
    45.4 KB · Views: 16
  • MVC-308F.JPG
    MVC-308F.JPG
    44 KB · Views: 15
  • MVC-309F.JPG
    MVC-309F.JPG
    57.8 KB · Views: 14
  • MVC-311F.JPG
    MVC-311F.JPG
    65.5 KB · Views: 18
  • MVC-313F.JPG
    MVC-313F.JPG
    57.5 KB · Views: 13
  • MVC-315F.JPG
    MVC-315F.JPG
    35.6 KB · Views: 14
Glad too see one of our own get this rare piece. Of course it always seems too be the rarest and most scarce guns out there bubba got ahold of them. But it be one of hell of project and restoration for you. Give me a drop on what parts you need and I'll see what I can do. Always hunting for Imperial parts and items for myself. Doesn't hurt too help someone else who needs the same stuff. As for the stock you might be able too use the front section of a M1909 Mauser stock. Find one of those stocks cheap and splice the pieces back together. There are a couple on gunbroker right now for under $100.
 
Cyrus, thank you! I actually got it on gunbroker.

Paul, Thanks for the great info. Thanks for posting the photos of another GS stock. The for section I found on ebay actually matches perfectly. Locally there was a shop that was bought out by another larger gun shop. With all the items there are hundreds of Gew 98 parts. I was actually able to find an early un-numbered bayonet lug, and un-numbered armorers trigger just to have. They have tons of numbered Gew 98 parts as well, mixed in with broom handle parts as well. Not sure if they found an old armorers repair kit with parts. Not sure if that even existed for gew 98s, but every now and again P08 kits turn up with tools and un-numbered parts. That being said, if anyone is looking for anything in particular let me know. I will search through the bin.
 
Glad too see one of our own get this rare piece. Of course it always seems too be the rarest and most scarce guns out there bubba got ahold of them. But it be one of hell of project and restoration for you. Give me a drop on what parts you need and I'll see what I can do. Always hunting for Imperial parts and items for myself. Doesn't hurt too help someone else who needs the same stuff. As for the stock you might be able too use the front section of a M1909 Mauser stock. Find one of those stocks cheap and splice the pieces back together. There are a couple on gunbroker right now for under $100.

Thanks I appreciate it! I actually found a front section on ebay, like from a duffle cut that got lost or something. It matches perfectly.
 
Great glad too hear it. I think the hardest part too find will be a barrel. Its been awhile sense I have seen a spare Gew98 Imperial barrel for sale.
 
What an awesome rifle-part-kit-thing. Very early and with interesting unit markings. Congratulations and good luck with finding the missing parts.

Since i know a lot more about imperial bayonets then imperial rifles there is not much interesting stuff i can add to this thread, but one thing came to my mind when looking through the pictures of these "Garde-Schützen-Bataillon" marked rifles.

From 1898 until mid 1899 the imperial german army was still conducting trials to find out what the bayonet for the newly adopted Rifle 98 would look like. For this reason they produced 10000 trial bayonets of the pattern that would later be adopted as the bayonet 98. These 10000 bayonets were only issued to 4 elite regiments/bataillons and they were all marked with a 4 digit number on the back of the handle.
These 4 units were the "Garde-Jäger-Bataillon", the "Garde-Schützen-Bataillon", the "1. Garderegiment zu Fuß" and the "Infantry School" in Berlin.

Keeping this in mind i strongly think that this rifle was part of this very large bayonet trial. To make things a bit more interesting ill add pictures of my "Garde-Schützen-Bataillon" marked trial bayonet 98.


With kind regards

Vincent
 

Attachments

  • 1.JPG
    1.JPG
    231.6 KB · Views: 21
  • 22.JPG
    22.JPG
    148 KB · Views: 16
  • 3.JPG
    3.JPG
    288.9 KB · Views: 26
  • DSCN0159.JPG
    DSCN0159.JPG
    289.5 KB · Views: 21
You are very fortunate the originality and completeness of your rifle. I am in the process of restoring 2170 a and I was not as fortunate as you. It had the original barrel, but it had been cut to an awkward length that would not permit me to restore it to any form of rifle. Unfortunately the stock was sanded, heavily, and also chopped to a useless length, and worst of all, to me, was the absence of the original bolt.

The gentleman I was bidding against had already voiced his intentions to finish sporterizing the rifle, and I certainly over paid for what it is, but I couldn't bear seeing an 1899 being drilled and tapped.

Absolutely beautiful rifle. I am very happy to see it being restored.
 
Over the years i have recorded a few G.S. bayonets, - I assume your bayonet is Erfurt? Is it dated? Hard to say, almost looks like a faint crown above the acceptance and the acceptance is similar to others:

1898 Erfurt G.S.1.23
1899 Erfurt G.S.3.206
1899 Erfurt G.S.4.39
1899 Erfurt G.S.4.185 (JeffNoll)
1899 Erfurt G.S. (no numbers)


From 1898 until mid 1899 the imperial german army was still conducting trials to find out what the bayonet for the newly adopted Rifle 98 would look like. For this reason they produced 10000 trial bayonets of the pattern that would later be adopted as the bayonet 98. These 10000 bayonets were only issued to 4 elite regiments/bataillons and they were all marked with a 4 digit number on the back of the handle.
These 4 units were the "Garde-Jäger-Bataillon", the "Garde-Schützen-Bataillon", the "1. Garderegiment zu Fuß" and the "Infantry School" in Berlin.
 
Last edited:
Over the years i have recorded a few G.S. bayonets, - I assume your bayonet is Erfurt? Is it dated?

Yes, my bayonet was made in Erfurt and is dated with a crown over 99 but its very hard to take a picture of the date since it has almost worn completely off. The other G.S. bayonet that i know from is marked G.S. 1.57. but i don't know the date.

Since the bayonet that was adopted as the "Infanterie-Seitengewehr 98" was 100% the same as the trials bayonets the 4 units that had participated in the trials just continued wearing these trial bayonets.

With kind regards

Vincent
 
Great bayonet info, I don't have a lot of experience with them. I only own one currently. It would be sweet to at least outfit my unit marked rifles with appropriate unit marked bayonet.
 
You might want one less if you hear what they sell for:

1898 Erfurt G.S.1.23 sold for $705 in October 2008 (seller UK, but very nice rig); even the "G.S." without company and weapon number, no bard, from Poland (which always carries risks... a lot of frauds come out of Poland...) carried $132. Early Sg98's are almost always expensive, almost all 1898-1899 Erfurts are super cool units and carry strong premiums, - forget sawbacks... when i sold mine, a super nice 1899 Erfurt (1st Garde Reserve Regiment), it pulled nearly $1600, - probably more than I could sell my truck for...

Bayonets are an expensive hobby, especially really nice Imperial bayonets attributed to cool units. They can cost as much as the rifles...
 

Attachments

  • 109797-1.jpg
    109797-1.jpg
    39.4 KB · Views: 14
  • 109797-3.jpg
    109797-3.jpg
    37.5 KB · Views: 17
  • 109797-5.jpg
    109797-5.jpg
    39.4 KB · Views: 14
  • 109797-7.jpg
    109797-7.jpg
    42.9 KB · Views: 14
  • 109797-8.jpg
    109797-8.jpg
    41 KB · Views: 12
  • 109797-9.jpg
    109797-9.jpg
    37.5 KB · Views: 12
  • 109797-10.jpg
    109797-10.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 13
That does look like a nice one, matching bard would make it expensive if it is problem free. Matching Sg98's can be damn difficult to acquire, especially with nice leather on the bard.
 
That does look like a nice one, matching bard would make it expensive if it is problem free. Matching Sg98's can be damn difficult to acquire, especially with nice leather on the bard.

I know where there are a handful of early Erfurt SG98s up here, 1899-1900 time frame. I should try and pick some up. Some nice 98/05s too, I picked up a sawback about a year ago. I will post photos.
 
I know where there are a handful of early Erfurt SG98s up here, 1899-1900 time frame. I should try and pick some up. Some nice 98/05s too, I picked up a sawback about a year ago. I will post photos.

Sounds interesting if the price is right worth every penny. Good luck in your search. I'll also be on the hunt for nice Gew98 barrel for you as well. I may be in luck at the SOS show if you don't make it next year too it.
 
Back
Top