Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

rather than having the shoulder of the barrel contact the front of the receiver. The custom gunsmith, in threading a barrel for the M98, will cut the threads on the barrel to fit the individual action, and can achieve as tight a fit as he wishes— even with a 60-degree thread cutter.

      Besides a fairly snug thread fit, the ideal fit is also to have both the breech end and the barrel shoulder contact the receiver, but with the breech end contacting the collar much more firmly.

      M98 Military Rifles

      This book is chiefly concerned with the actions of various centerfire turnbolt rifles and what can be done with them rather than with the original rifles. There were so many different military rifles based on the M98 action that to describe them all is beyond the scope of this book. For information on these many rifles, refer to our bibliography. The most informative of these titles are Mauser Bolt Rifles by L. Olson, Mauser Rifles &Pistols by Smith and Small Arms of the World by Smith.

      A number of firms in Germany turned out huge quantities of M98 military rifles and it is estimated that several million had been made by the end of WWI in 1918. They were made by several commercial arms firms including Mauser, Sauer, Haenel and DWM. DWM made a million alone. The German government arsenals in Danzig, Erfurt, Spandau and Amberg also made vast quantities.

      Model 98a Mauser Carbine, one of several German military shoulder arms based on the Model 98 action. The M98a was used mostly during WWI.

      Another of the author’s favorite sporting rifles, this one based on the VZ-24 Czech Mauser action. The stock, of classic design, is made from a fine-figured piece of American black walnut. It has a 24” sporter barrel and a Weaver K-10 scope. The action has a very fine Miller single-set trigger. This particular action and rifle has seen a lot of service. The action was made in 1939 and the military rifle from which it was taken had seen hard use since the bore was nearly worn out when it was obtained in 1945. The action was first fitted with a 220 Swift barrel. After firing about 1000 shots through this barrel it was replaced with one in the 220 Improved Swift caliber. After firing about 1500 times, it was replaced with another one in 225 Winchester caliber, and that one finally replaced by one in 243 caliber.

      In the years following WWI there was only limited production of the M98, but in the mid-1930s, when Hitler began rattling his saber, production again went into high gear. This time many more firms got into the act, including some in German occupied countries. No one knows how many million M98s were made from this time until the defeat of Germany in 1945, but the quantity was immense.

      The principal M98 arm of the pre-1918 period was the rifle with a 29.13” barrel. The main carbine version of that period was the M98a with a 23.62” barrel. The most common M98 developed after WWI, and the principal shoulder arm used during the WWII period, was the M98k with a 23.62” barrel. There were other variations, too numerous to mention, plus several variations of sniper’s rifles used during both wars. The M98k carbine was developed in the mid-1920s and it eventually became the most frequently produced German military shoulder arm.

      Markings

      As previously mentioned, the many variations of the M98 military rifles were carried out by a number of different arms making plants in Germany, and later on in different plants in a number of other countries. In the period prior to the 1920s it was standard practice for each plant to stamp its name on the receiver ring, along with the year in which the rifle was made. The left receiver wall was usually stamped to indicate the model of the arm, such as “M/98,” “GEW.98” or “KAR.98.” Sometimes the name and address of the maker was stamped on the side of the receiver. The maker’s insignia or the crest (coat of arms) of the country for which the rifle was made, was also sometimes stamped on the receiver ring.

      In the 1930s a number-code system was inaugurated. Each of the producers of this rifle was given a code numeral which was stamped on the receiver ring, along with the date (year) of manufacture. Around 1940 this number code was largely replaced by a letter code; for example, the letters “byf ” stamped on the receiver meant that the rifle was made by the Mauser Werke plant in Oberndorf. Earlier, when the number code was in use, the Mauser firm had the code number “42.” During WWII usually only the last two digits of the year were stamped on the receiver, like “41” instead of “1941.” During 1944 many manufacturers merely stamped one “4” on the receiver. Many of the early code numbers never have been unraveled, but the code letters are known. The list of these codes is too long to include here, but the interested reader can find them listed in Mauser Bolt Rifles by L. Olson and Hatcher’s Notebook by J.S. Hatcher.

      It was normal practice to prove all M98 military rifles and give them a serial number. Such proofmarks, the number of marks and their location on the receiver, barrel and perhaps on some other parts, varied. Since these are so varied and of little importance, I shall make no further mention of them. As for the serial numbering practices, there probably was no universal system employed among the many manufacturers during the entire period they were made, except that they did number them. It seems that some manufacturers merely stamped consecutively higher numbers on each rifle they made, and when the number reached a certain point they started over again. Thus there may be more than one rifle made by the same or a different manufacturer having the same serial number. Later on, each manufacturer was assigned a letter to be added to the serial number, for example 7436d, so that production figures could be kept secret. Regardless of the system or systems used, the serial number itself is not important since the date and manufacturer’s name, or code, are stamped on the receiver. Generally, the full serial number is stamped on the side of the receiver ring and barrel, and either the complete number, or the last two digits of it is stamped on most of the other parts of the action. If all the numbers are the same on a given rifle or action, this indicates that all the parts are original with that rifle or action. That the numbers match may be of some importance to the owner of an M98, but having matching numbers on an action which is to be used for building a rifle is of no consequence.

      The 8mm Mauser Cartridge

      Germany adopted the 8mm smokeless powder cartridge in 1888 along with the Model 88 Commission rifle, with which Paul Mauser had little to do. This cartridge is based on a rimless, bottlenecked case and was loaded with a bullet of .318” diameter. It was then officially known as the 7.9x57I or 8x57I^*. The first figure in the cartridge designated the groove dimensions in millimeters, the second figure is the length of the case in millimeters, and the “I” stands for the German word “Infanterie.” This military cartridge was normally loaded with a 227-grain jacketed round-nose bullet having a muzzle velocity of about 2100 fps at an average chamber pressure of about 45,500 psi.

      Built by the author, this medium-weight (about 10 pounds) varmint rifle has a 24” medium barrel chambered for the 219 Improved Zipper cartridge. Stock is of extra fancy American black walnut fitted with Niedner-type checkered buttplate and pistol grip cap. Weaver K-10 scope is mounted very low in steel Tilden mounts. Front and rear of magazine are blocked off, the follower shortened to handle the rimmed cartridges. The action is fitted with a German double-set trigger.

      When the M98 was adopted by Germany in 1898, it was also chambered for the 8x57I cartridge. The Germans soon wanted better ballistics from this cartridge, so about 1905 they adopted a new spitzer (pointed) bullet for the 8x57mm case, with a new diameter of .323”. This cartridge was designated 7.9x 57IS or 8x57IS. This new bullet weighed 154 grains and in the new cartridge it was driven to a muzzle velocity of 2870 fps at a breech pressure of about 49,800 psi. When this larger bullet was adopted it became necessary to enlarge the rifle bore a accordingly. This was done by increasing the groove diameter only, from .320” to .324”. M98 rifles already made for the “I” cartridge were then rebarreled and chambered for the “IS” cartridge. Later on, a heavier spitzer bullet with a boattail base was adopted and the 8x57 case loaded with this bullet became the standard German