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The Gold Standard
Gewehr 98
After more than two decades of development and becoming one of the most influential arms manufacturers on the planet, Mauser introduced his ultimate bolt action design in 1898. The Gewehr 98's action would force its mark upon history, being carried by the Imperial German army in the first and its successor, the Wehrmacht, during the second World War
History
When Germany's "Erbfeind" ("inherited enemy"), France, introduced its new smokeless Poudre B and the Mle 1886 to the world, the young German nation saw its position as the new premiere military power on the continent threatened, causing immediate action to be taken.
This action under the eyes of a military commission would ultimately result in the Gewehr 88 - commonly known as the "Kommissionsgewehr" ("Commission Rifle").
Despite Mauser-Oberndorf having provided the design for the previous generation of standard service rifle - the Mauser M1871 and its later magazine update the M71/84, Peter Paul Mauser was not involved in the design process. Soon however the flaws inherent to the Gewehr 88's design would show themselves, and in addition to a scandal about Loewe produced examples being of low quality, sold as a Jewish plot to hurt the German army (earning the rifle the nickname "Judenflinte"), the ministry of war became increasingly unhappy with the rifle.
As they did not want to make such a costly mistake of a rushed adoption once more, the decision to adopt a new rifle would not come until the mid 1890s.
Thanks to Mauser's resounding success on the international market with the M1893 and M1895 pattern rifles, the new Prussian (not German) commission this time would immediately include him in the process to design and adopt this new rifle. Mauser quickly set himself ahead of competitors at the trials.
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Peter Paul Mauser (1838-1914)
Although quickly abandoned by the German Army due to concerns with the action and public pressure, the Gewehr 88 would have a long-lasting legacy as the grandfather to ŒWG Steyr's export line, as well as war aid to German allies during the Great War
Although quickly abandoned by the German Army due to concerns about the action and public pressure, the Gewehr 88 would have a long-lasting legacy as the grandfather to ŒWG Steyr's export line, as well as war aid to German allies during the Great War
For the new rifle, the commission posted a number of demands, namely:
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Front Locking Lugs
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Gas Relief via a thumb cut
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A new bayonet lug that would negate the need for a barrel ring
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Inclusion of Mauser's new patents regarding the cocking piece
Notably, the rifle was not a pure Mauser design. Unlike previous models, the new rifle featured a pistol grip stock.
Additionally, Mauser's proposed flat tangent sight, which would see use in many of the later M98 pattern contract rifles, was rejected in favour of a sight designed by Lange.
After the decision to adopt Mauser's rifle with the noted adjustments was made, formal adoption happened in April of 1898, giving the rifle its now famous name, Gewehr 98.
Initial production contracts, as was usual in the German Empire, were not unified for the entire nation, but agreed upon with the various sub-states - Prussia being the first, leading to them being the early adopters of the new design, together with the Naval Infantry and the East Asian Expeditionary Force.
By 1901 already, the design would go through its trial by fire during the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1901) where it proved to be a reliable and sturdy design, outclassing basically all the other rifles used by the Eight-Nation-Alliance.
The one big update to the pattern before the war was decided on in 1903, when the German Army went from the round-nose M/88 Patrone, to the new S-Patrone, featuring a conical bullet for improved ballistic performance. This would require new sight markings, moving the minimum range from 200 metres to 400.
Despite initial production being slow, by 1904, bigger contracts were stating to be placed, leading to the German Empire opening the war with more than two million Gewehr 98s (and derivatives like the Kar.98a) at the ready.
During the war the Gewehr 98 faced the same problems that most designs were confronted with. The great length made it unsuitable for the confined spaces of a trench and muddy conditions invited debris into the system. The Lange-Visier with its long minimum range and big "ears" blocking the shooter's peripheral vision was unsuited for the close combat often necessitated by trench warfare.
Nevertheless, it proved to be a sturdy action that was more than up to the tasks laid before it. Over the course of the war, around seven million additional M98 pattern rifles were produced in the German Empire, the lion's share being Gewehr 98s.
Production was enough that by mid-war, the Germans were able to provide their allies with spare Gewehr 88s initially and late in the war even Gewehr 98s for the Ottoman Empire, who fought the war partially with their own M98 pattern Mauser rifle, the M1903.
As was the case with many nations during the war, the Germans too saw the benefit and started to trend towards universal short patterns, in their case the Kar.98a, to arm their troops. With production lines unable to be switched over during the war, the Gewehr 98 remained standard until the end however, only receiving minor modifications such as a bolt-take-down disc in place of the unit disc on the buttstock, finger grooves as well as the initially proposed flat tangent sight. The modified pattern is known as G98M.
The treaty of Versailles, in addition to a plethora of other restrictions, disallowed the further use of infantry length rifles by the German Army. In spite of this, many rifles were kept either hidden, or were simply taken home by returning soldiers, with others being produced in secret under the eyes of the allied arms commission.
Though the overall trend towards a shortened universal pattern would continue, first resulting in the "Standardmodell" ("standard model"), which would later turn into one of the most well known rifles of all time - the Karabiner 98 kurz, or K98k.
With remaining Gewehr 98s being relegated to rear-echelon duties, or having been converted to a shorter pattern, its successor would be carried off to war by the sons of those who carried the Gewehr 98 in the Great War.
Despite being left out of the process to adopt Germany's first smokeless rifle, Mauser Oberndorf developed into an export giant, only rivaled by ŒWG Steyr. Within a decade Mauser designs had been adopted all around the globe, making it an obvious choice for the next German rifle
German troops marching with shouldered Gew.98s
Mechanism
Bolt
The bolt is a one-piece body with two large front locking lugs positioned symmetrically. A third lug at the rear of the bolt acts as an emergency safety lug if the front lugs were to fail.
The lifting of the bolt handle allows he camming surfaces to cock the firing pin spring and provide primary extraction, meaning the case is loosened from the chamber during the initial lift before the bolt moves fully rearwards.
Along the right side of the bolt is a long non-rotating claw extractor. This provides controlled feed: as a cartridge rises from the magazine, the extractor takes hold of the rim and retains control of the round as it chambers, fires, and is withdrawn. The round is not released by the bolt during the feeding cycle.
At the back of the bolt is the three-position flag safety:
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Right: blocks the firing pin and locks the bolt.
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Centre: blocks the firing pin but allows the bolt to be operated for unloading and disassembly
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Left: safety off, rifle ready to fire.
The safety can only be applied when the rifle is cocked.
The bolt and receiver include gas-venting features. Gas escape holes in the bolt body and a flared bolt shroud are intended to direct gas away from the shooter if a primer or case fails.
Magazine
The Gewehr 98 has an integral internal box magazine holding five rounds in a staggered column. A spring and follower lift cartridges into position for the bolt to pick up.
Loading is normally done by a five-round stripper clip. The clip is placed in the charger guides on the receiver bridge and the rounds are pressed down into the magazine. When the bolt is closed, the empty clip is forced out automatically. Single rounds can be loaded directly into the magazine from the top if needed.
The magazine has a hinged floorplate for unloading or clearing, released by its latch.
Markings
Manufacturer, Production Date & Conversion Mark
Prominently on top of the in-the-white receiver, the manufacturer can be found, together with the year of manufacture.
Additionally, on top of the barrel, underneath the rear sight there will in the vast majority of cases be an "S" mark, denoting that the rifle is chambered and sighted for the S-Patrone of 1903.
Note that some early productions kept the 200m graduation on the rear sight even after the conversion, however, it is blocked off.
Acceptance & Proof Marks
The acceptance stamps present as crowned letters, similar to the cyphers and denote the responsible officer overseeing production at the factory. These will be found multiple times as they were applied during different stages of production or heat treatment.
Final assembly was then again inspected and checked off with a mark on the right side buttstock.
The proof mark found on receiver, barrel (underside) and the bolt handle takes the form of the imperial eagle and is a clue as to where the proofing happened as the state arsenals all utilised slightly different styles for the marking.
Serial Number & Model Designation
While most nations limited the use of serial numbers to main components, the Germans went all out on them. You will find the serial on almost all metal components, either in full or represented by the last two digits, even down to the screws and cleaning rods.
On the left hand side of the receiver you will in addition to the receiver serial find the model designation, with an abbreviated "Gew." followed by the model year, 98.
Cyphers
On the right hand side of the buttstock you can usually find a couple of stamps representing crowned letters. These carry information about the German state the rifle was issued in based on the Fraktur letter found.
Contract Rifles
A traditional customer at Steyr, Portugal still could not deny the merits of the Mauser 98 platform. The result was the Mauser-Vergueiro, a hybrid rifle pairing a modified Mannlicher Md.1893 action with a Mauser magazine, sights and stock
The Mauser 98 like its predecessors became an almost instant export hit. With the German army being considered the cream of the crop amongst the great powers, their adopted rifle carried a great deal of reputation - deservedly so.
Starting in the early 20th century, versions of the model started being tested and adopted all over the world from Siam to Chile in a variety of calibres and configurations. Although they mostly shared Mauser's initial vision for the rifle, featuring a flat tangent sight, some nations like Peru would opt to more or less copy the German pattern 1:1, albeit in the cartridge in use with them.
The only nation that used the rifle exactly as the Germans did were the Ottomans. Late in the war, German production had caught up to and outpaced demand, allowing for them to ship Gewehr 98s to the Ottoman Empire, who had already received large amounts of 8x57mm ammunition to use with their Gewehr 88/05, which they also received from the German Empire.
This directly led to the later Turkish adoption of 8x57mm to replace their 7.65x53mm calibre in the 1930s.
However, the 98 pattern would also be used against its country of origin during the war.
In order to alleviate losses from the wars prior, Serbia contracted for a number of 98 pattern Mausers, known as M1910s.
Furthermore, other designs were directly inspired or closely related, such as the Portuguese M/904 Mauser-Vergueiro, as well as the Japanese Type 38 Nambu.