Weapons of War: Germany Mauser Gewehr 98 Rifle

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Gewehr 98 with Bayonet and Stripper Clip

The 19th century saw many innovative firearms designs, from Sam Colt’s famous single-action revolver to Winchester’s cowboy-favorite lever-action rifles, but one of the most important firearms to make its debut in this era was from not America but Germany. You’ve probably seen this firearm referenced in a shooting magazine or book—in fact it’s hard to pick up any literature on firearms today and not see this gun or its action mentioned. I’m talking about Peter Paul Mauser’s Model 98 bolt-action repeating rifle.

Noted for its extremely strong action, the 9-lb, 49-in long Mauser 98 was the basis for military shoulder arms for the first decades of the 20th century. While the lever-action rifle so popular when the Mauser 98 was introduced could offer a slightly faster rate of fire, the capability of firing cartridges with flatter trajectories and greater accuracy gave the edge to Mauser’s bolt-action design (especially when longer shots are concerned).

Most bolt-actions look similar from the outside, but there are many differences in how they are designed and function internally. Mauser’s design, for instance, doesn’t require the use of an internal hammer. (Note: a gun’s “hammer” can be external, like on a revolver, a Colt 1911 semi-auto pistol, and many lever-action rifles, while the majority of repeating shotguns and rifles have internal or “non-exposed” hammers.) The Mauser 98’s “lock time”—the time between the end of the trigger pull and the detonation of the cartridge, something measured in fractions of a second and important to a gun’s accuracy (faster is better)—was much faster than the lever guns so popular when the 98 was introduced. So just how good was the Mauser 98? To give you just one example, Winchester cloned the Mauser 98 when it released its now famous Model 70, and that rifle would go on to earn the moniker “The Rifleman’s Rifle.”

Stripper Clip

The 98’s action is centered around the bolt. That bolt is operated by a handle on the shooting-hand side of the rifle’s action. In operation, the handle is raised, cocking the action (readying the gun for firing), and the bolt is pulled rearward. This exposes the magazine underneath the bolt. When the bolt is pushed forward, the topmost cartridge in the magazine is picked up by the bolt’s face and pushed in the chamber. On the down stroke of the bolt, the bolt’s two “locking lugs,” located on the front of the bolt, engage a matched set of grooves milled into the breech, thus sealing the breech. These two lugs are central to the Mauser 98 action’s great strength.

After firing the cartridge in a Mauser 98, the shooter would once again lift the bolt handle. This time, though, the action’s huge “extractor” pries the fired cartridge case from the chamber. When the bolt is pulled fully rearward, the case, also being pulled backwards, meets the “ejector,” which kicks that empty case out of the action. 

German Infantry Carrying the Model 98, Poland, 1914

The Gewehr ["rifle"] 98 saw its earliest service in the Boxer Rebellion and in colonial Africa in the preceding years. At the outbreak of WWI in 1914, the German Army had 2,273,080 Mauser 98-rifles of all types; an additional 7,000,000 were produced during the war. It proved a powerful and accurate rifle with long range. German opticians developed excellent sniper scopes for use with specially fitted rifles. The rifle, however, was poorly suited for the close quarter fighting of trench warfare. The considerable length of the rifle and the minimum sight setting of 400 meters (far in excess of the typical range in trench battles) were particular handicaps. Still, the weapon was used by German troops for more than 20 years.

Sources:  "Let's Go Shooting", The Firearm Industry Trade Association; NRA websites; War History Online