Mauser identification assistance.

[6mm Remington]

98 Mauser Danzig 1917 sn-1804 8mm Mauser
My grandfather brought this 8mm Mauser back with him from WWII. My father used it to kill his first and biggest whitetail deer, a 6x7 buck. I'm just wondering what some of you folks could tell me about it. I have never shot the rifle. I could only imagine the stories it could tell if it could talk.

 

[Guy Miner]

About all I can tell you is that it is seriously cool.

That's quite a rifle and worth preserving, as is.

Might be a lot of fun to run some ammo through it at the range, or take it hunting. What a bear rifle, especially with the bayonet! :grin:

 

[6mm Remington]

Thanks Guy. My dad told me they reloaded for it, and on the second loading of the case you would start to see case seperation. I didn't look for the markings on the bolt when I just took these photographs, but if I remember correctly, he told me it had a different serial number than the action which happened and was quite common way back when from what I have been told. They sometimes had to scrounge parts to put rifles back into working order and that's just what they did. Before I messed with it, it would probably have to have the headspace set. Even though it works fine with the first cartridge shot, I wouldn't want to ruin brass or me for that matter.

 

[Guy Miner]

I don't know much about the 8mm Mauser - but do remember reading that they were made with two different barrel/bullet diameters. Worth checking I'd think.

I don't know what my son's .257 Wby/Mauser 98 started out as, but I suspect it was likely the 8mm also.

 

[6mm Remington]

I researched a bit myself on-line and it appears to have been made in the city of Danzig in 1917 and has an S stamped on the action and one on the barrel just in back of the rear sight.

The make appears to be a Gewehr 98 or Gew 98 as they are called. Any ideas what something like this is worth?

 

[Polaris]

Standard Gewehr 98 "rifle model of 1898" 7.92X57S ("standard".323 bore). Mfg Danzig (now a polish city, at the time it was German) during WW1. That one is in pretty nice condition. Would not have been issued to first line German units. This rifle would have been issued to garrison/reserve/coastal artillerie/secondary units during WWII or stored in an arsenal and sold at the end of the war to servicemen. Your's has an early Nazi waffenampt acceptance stamp so it was German secondary issue. The S means it is .323 bore suitable for standard German service ammo, not the earlier .318 8mmJ service round.

If the numbers match, that's a nice one. Most bringbacks are the much more common Kar. 98. Most of the ones sold as surplus or brought back from the first war ended up as sporters or were loved to death.

At a good gunshow they are priced $500 to $1000 depending on markings. I'm not an expert on collecting these so I don't know the price points based on those. If the headspace is good it should be safe to fire with modern 8mm mauser ammo.

 

[6mm Remington]

Thank you Polaris. That helps a bunch. I did print out some information I looked up on Wikipedia, but it doesn't have all of the tidbits you gave me. They mark the heck out of those things.

1804 - same as serial number on wood stock just behind rear sling swivel. 3384 is also just in front of that stamp next to the swivel.
1804 - on the bottom of magazine twice
1804 - on mid-barrel band, front swivel attachment
1804 - front barrel band and bayonet mount
1804 - on bottom butt-plate
1804 - on top of magazine cartridge guide, or possibly just a marking (proof mark ?) of some kind and then 04 below it, probably just o4 below that mark, 04 on top of bolt release,

bolt - has A3 with a "3" in a circle at the bottom of the bolt handle
440L1 on the top side of the bolt handle
looks like some proof mark on the bolt knob itself but I cannot tell what it is.


bayonet - S/24436 on blade just in front of the handle, 4685 with "h" below that on the same location opposite side of the blade, 59968 on the metal tank portion on the same side of the handle as S/24436 is located.
bayonet sheath - 7284 with a d below it on one side
S/244G on the opposite side.

 

[Polaris]

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarm ... rms_id=275

here's some history on your rifle.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice rifle David! Very cool buddy!

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Lots of history in that one. I can see it being carried by the Kaiser's Imperial Army in a parade with their pickelhaube and Mausers.

I agree, wish it could talk.

 

[RiverRider]

I'll bet the guys over at mausercentral.com would love to see it and can probably tell you a lot about it. It's a good board.

 

[6mm Remington]

I just posted it RR over at Mauser Central. Again, thanks to all. I figured they might like the Mauser porn!! :grin:

David