Gew 98 Help.

[tkcomer]

OK, so I buy a bubba 1905 Gew 98. You can see pics of it here: http://www.pixagogo.com/3476834177 Now then, I slugged the bore of the gun and this was what I got. .311/.323. What kinda bore is this? My K-98 slugged .317/.323. I've been all over the web trying to find out who did what to this gun. I had originally had planned to shoot low power loads with Trail Boss, but now I don't know. Any idea what I have?

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Remove the rifle from the stock and look for a large S stamped on the receiver. That indicates a .311 bore rifle that has been re-bored to .323.

 

[NCsmitty]

If your slugging is correct, then you're telling us that in the Gew 98, the land to land barrel dimension is .311" and the groove dimension is .323, is that right? The difference is a little more than usual, but indicates to me that the barrel has very little wear.
Your K-98 dimensions are showing some measurable wear.

Most factory barrels now being made, have .008" difference in groove to land.



NCsmitty

 

[tkcomer]

I have read in the case of the K 98, that the rifle was first bored with a .317 “drill” and then, .003 grooves were cut into it. A .317 bore with a .003 groove on each side totals .323. Same as a .308. A .300 hole with .004 grooves on each side for a total of .308. I have found 1 article that said the old rifles with .318 bores were converted to .323 by cutting larger groves in the barrel, but not drilling the original .311 bore to .317. But I have read a lot of articles contradicting that. That all they did to the old rifles was ream the chambers and throats to the new cartridge specifications and left the bores alone. Then shot the new spec ammo through them without problems. And that no rifles made from 1905 forward had the old bore size. Since I've read so many articles contradicting each other, I'm confused to what I really have. There is a letter/ number on the side of the receiver It says: S/42G Is that the S you're talking about?

 

[Phaethon]

Note the S stamp; this one is a Gewehr 88. The S stamp, to my knowledge, indicates that it was reworked to use the new 7.92mm IS round.

I figure that since the Spitzer point was pretty new at the time, another easy way to tell is to just see if they chopped that small groove into the top of the receiver to facilitate the point of the spitzer rounds.

 

[tkcomer]

No S like that on my receiver

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The S on my 1899 Gew98 was on the bottom of the receiver on the flat behind the recoil lug.

 

[tkcomer]

I haven't taken the action out of the stock.