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| Your Gew98 | Field Stripping | Gew98 Bolt | Cleaning| Pistols |
Gewehr
98 Rifle
To
get an idea how the Gew 98 looks - Click the link above!
You've bought a Gewehr 98 and your wondering what exactly what your looking at. Well the Gewehr 98 (Gew98) is an internal-magazine-fed, bolt action rifle, with a capacity for five rounds of ammunition. The ammunition that the Gew98 is chambered for is the standard German 7.92 x 57mm round.
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Principal
Dimensions and Weights of the Gewehr 98 Mauser
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Field Stripping your Gewehr 98
A normal field stripping includes removing the bolt and floor plate. According to the regs, the Gewehr should only be taken apart to the point that is absolutely necessary. The Soldat may strip and reassemble the bolt, remove the floor plate, cleaning rod, muzzle cover and the sling.
The bolt is broken down by seperating the bolt body/extractor assembly from the bolt sleeve/firing pin assembly to allow cleaning.
To remove the bolt
Lift the bolt handle, pull it back to be sure the chamber ie empty. Close it, and turn the safety catch to the vertical position. [Note: Very Important step]
Open the bolt again, pull it back until it stops. Next push the forward end of the bolt stop out as far as it will go. You will now be able to pull the bolt assembly out of the Rifle.
To remove the foor plate
To remove the floor plate, take a pointed object (awl) and while pushing in on the bottom, push the floor plate towards the trigger guard. You will see a holding pin and you will push the pointed object in. This will release the floor plate, the magazine follower and the magazine follower spring. To reassemble the floor plate, the floor plate must be pushed strongly against the trigger guard housing, while pushing it forward until the holding pin snaps into place.
To disassemble the bolt
To remove the bolt sleeve and firing pin assembly, push the bolt sleeve stop in as shown. When the stop pin is in far enough, you will be able to screw the assembly out. As you start to turn it, it will be necessary to press the stop pin again to get it around the bolt handle.
To remove the bolt sleeve and firing pin
To disassemble the bolt sleeve, first rest the point of the firing pin against a block of wood to prevent it from getting damaged. Next grasp the bolt sleeve as shown and press down real hard until the cocking piece is clear of the bolt sleeve. Turn the cocking piece 1 quarter of a turn as shown, and lift it off. Ease off the pressure and remove the bolt sleeve and firing pin spring. *Note: Important! Be sure to preform this operation away from your face, the firing pin spring is very powerful!
To remove the extractor
To remove the extractor, turn the extractor away from the bolt handle as far as it will go. Then using a flat tip screwdriver, pry the front of the extractor up and out of its groove. Revolve the extractor a bit further until it is between the locking lugs. Tap the end of the extractor on a work bench as shown. The extractor will snap free, exposing the extractor collar. *Note: Important! DO NOT remove the extractor collar unless absolutely necessary!
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Cleaning your Gewehr 98 Mauser
Okay, this is not a blackpowder musket, so no hot water for this baby! We reccomend that you clean your Gew98 after each time you use it whether you're firing live ammo or blanks. Some blanks that are available to us are very corrosive and can cause your Gew98 to rust. If left for too long in this condition, the Gewehr will not function properly. If the chamber becomes pitted, you will have problems not only feeding rounds but also extracting the spent cases.
It is unbelievable how many reenactors have to use our old Mosin Nagant cleaning rod to remove a stuck case from their rifle. To prevent yourself from being put out of action this manner and to preserve your Gewehr, all you have to do is follow a few basic steps.
For starters, buy a good gun cleaning kit, preferably one with a coated steel rod (aluminum rods have been known to break). At the same time buy a 8mm bore brush (*Note: 32 caliber is about the same size), a big bag of cleaning patches (1000 or so) and a large bottle of Hoppes#9 Solvent. A cleaning brush (toothbrush is okay) is handy!
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1. Remove the bolt and set it aside.
2. Put the brush on the rod and dip it into the Hoppes (dont spill the bottle). Now run this brush up and down the bore 25 passes or so, re-dipping the brush a couple times as you go.
3. Next take a clean patch and dip it in the Hoppes and run it through the bore - it will come out black as a Frenchman's heart. Repeat this 3-4 times or however long it takes for the patches to come out clean. Follow with 3-4 dry patches.
4. Clean out the chamber with a chamber brush dipped in the solvent. We also are using a solution called Really Red that is amazing. At this time, clean the bolt guides with a toothbrush. The receiver bridge should be cleaned now also.
5. Clean the magazine well and follow with patches dipped in your solvent or Ed's Red.
6. At this point, wet a patch with Hoppes and run it through your bore. Then run dry patches through the bore until they come out clean.
7. Now put on some little gun oil on a clean patch and run this through your bore a few times. If your patch does not come out clean, then repeat step 6.
8. Set the Gew98 aside and begin on the bolt. Take it apart as detailed in "Field stripping your Gew98" and clean every part (you don't have to clean the firing pin and spring), paying special attention to the bolt face.
9. Put the bolt back together, lightly oiling it as you go. Next put the Gew98 back together, lightly oiling all the metal parts of the rifle.
10. While your oiling the metal, you might as well oil the stock with the same patches.
Why are you still using that pistol?
How many times do you see soldiers carrying pistols at Great War events. Now the question would be is this correct for your impression. Did the common soldier you are portraying carry a pistol or are you still trying to reenact the "Outlaw Josey Wales?"
Armies issued pistols only to those authorized to carry them. In an infantry company, that was pretty much machine gunners and their assistants and even mortar crews. Officers were supposed to own their own weapons; many had made poor decisions in buying too small or unsuitable ones that didn't work well in the trenches. They could draw an "issue" weapon for the arms room for their use in that case. Additionally, senior NCOs (Vizefeldwebel and Feldwebel) were afforded the privilege of buying smaller, lighter siderarms that could be worn as part of the uniform. Small, light pistols look good and are convenient behind the lines; thay usually don't work for shit in the trenches where you want someone to go down hard when you shoot them.
"Issued" weapons were generally not available for purchase (e.g., the Reichsrevolver, P.0-8, and Mauser C-96). There were commercial versions of the Parabellum ("Luger") and C-96 available, but they were expensive, and all these weapons share a common problem--they're big. Way too big to lug around in a pocket, and they were not allowed to be worn openly on the uniform. Ammunition caliber is also a problem; if they're not compatible with military calibers, ammo can be a problem (Parabellums and C-96s in civil use were generally .30 caliber).
Some soldiers did carry them for personal self defense; that meant they either bought, traded, or captured a small weapon which they carried as a back-up. For those who have actually read "All Quiet on the Western Front," Baumer brings up his "small pistol" twice. Once, he uses it to shoot a dog while stealing a goose, and the second time he laments having lost it when he gets stuck in a shell crater (the famous sequence where he stabs the Frenchman). The early 1900s was a hayday for "Westtaschenpistolen" (vest pocket pistols); they were usually about .25 cal, small, and very reliable automatics. Little Mausers, Ortgies, Brownings, Walthers, etc. flourished and were carried by many in civil life for protection. They were designed to fit in a coat pocket.
On
the whole, a pistol is a pretty poor investment for reenacting unless
you're doing an impression that requires one. It is nice to know what
available, but before you spend $$ on a pistol, I can think of about
100 other things you ought to consider first.