Gewehr 98 Sporter. Worth the wait?

[DocRock]

I hope so.

There is a post on here somewhere from last Spring, likely late March about the Gewehr 98 Sporter that I won as part of a two rifle lot in an RIA auction. The other was a Mauserbuchsen built on the 1871 pattern in 9.5x47R.

This one uses an early Gewehr 98 receiver with a ribbed aftermarket barrel chambered in the 8x57 IS (.323) cartridge. It was originally all color case hardened but has lost 85%-90% of its coloring. There were claw mounts ready for a scope, a double set trigger, and some tasteful engraving. One presumes this was an inter-war sporter based on WWI arms and likely designed to earn hard currency as an export. There are no import markings.

The double set trigger wasn’t working and the front trigger was quite a heavy pull. The original flag safety was not going to work well with a scope, and it needed rings to go with the claw mounts. Considering the rifle earned about $400 all in at auction, I found the idea of spending a thousand on addressing those issues unappetizing. But, what the heck as one says.

I sent it off to NECG early last August, naively assuming I might have it back for deer season in late October.

It arrived today. The set trigger is spectacular. And while the rings are quite bland, they are perfect, as is the new safety. Before the inevitable harassment about a Bushnell Banner scope, note that it was difficult to find one sufficiently compact to fit the rifle and this is an early 80s Banner made in Japan with Bausch & Lomb glass in the convenient 2-8 magnification.

Anyway, thought it turned out well. Looking forward to shooting it. Provided it shoots to expectations, it will be my fine weather deer and elk stalking rifle.

 

[Riomouse911]

Love the checkered butterknife bolt handle!

Those scope mounts are wild, I've never seen rings over the bell like that.

Certainly it was worth the wait, it's a real beautiful rifle indeed.

Stay safe.

 

[LoonWulf]

I like it! Old Bushnell and all

 

[dieselchief]

very nice. there are no flies on early bushnell scopes. another one to watch for is their scopechief model.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

It's awfully pretty. Decidedly classical.

Is it "worth the wait?"

Here's hoping that you will get back to us on that.

Todd.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Great-looking classic!

Check the threads on the scope caps -- maybe you can swap them with some Zeiss, Swarovski or other suitably Teutonic-branded caps?

 

[entropy]

Love the checkered butterknife bolt handle!

Those scope mounts are wild, I've never seen rings over the bell like that.

Certainly it was worth the wait, it's a real beautiful rifle indeed.

Stay safe.

They're quite common on Germanic rifles and drillings. I'd go one further than Dave's idea and look for a Teutonic scope to put on it. Used ones can be found.

Beautiful Sporter, definitely not a Bubba. Maybe Bubbawerke.

And, yes, definitely worth the wait.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Maybe Bubbawerke. .

I'm cribbin' that one!

Todd.

 

[swg1]

NECG fits rings to bases? I will have to research this.

 

[tark]

That's a damn fine lookin' gun, Doc.

 

[Archie]

That is a rifle I would purchase. I might want it in a different caliber (7x57mm seems appropriate) but the final product and execution is lovely.

 

[MacAR]

I not only like it, I want one!

Please let us know how it shoots!

Mac

 

[entropy]

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g.../mauser-rifles-sporter-pre-war.c317_p1_o6.cfm

Call me an enabler.

 

[MacAR]

Call me an enabler.

Ya killin' me smalls, ya killin' me!

Mac

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g.../mauser-rifles-sporter-pre-war.c317_p1_o6.cfm

My preferred woolgathering-and-drooling site is Simpsons Ltd. If you can spare about an hour to run through the hundreds of screens full of Husqvarna and Mauser listings, you'll spot a few fancies in amongst the plainer stuff, occasionally with a tempting price.

https://simpsonltd.com/mauser-commercial-98-sport/
https://simpsonltd.com/husqvarna-46-z46104/

 

[entropy]

I've spent some time there, too. I was just pointing him in the right direction for a start.

 

[DocRock]

So, promising but inconclusive first outing. Shot 4x five shot groups. The first three off sticks, the last group off a bag on the bench. This is not a bench rifle. There’s too much drop in the stock and it’s very light.

Loaded 10 x 170 grs Hornady RN (I have a ton of these) with 50 grs Varget as my Persian M49 Sporter loves this load. That’s 0.5 grs below Hodgdon Max for this bullet.

Another 10 x 170 grs Hornady RN with 48.2 grs IMR 4064, another load that has worked well in the sporter. Again, 0.5 grs below Hodgdon Max for this bullet.

Varget loads were a s—t show. Very heavy recoil, hard bolt lift, vertical stringing. Too hot for this rifle. Very unpleasant recoil, more so than my 375 Ruger Patriot! Shot five, will disassemble the other five!

Shot two five shot groups with the 4064 load. First group was 4 of them at just about 3” (100 yards) with a flier another inch right. Second tightened up to 5 under 2.5”. If that’s the best it gets, I’ll be quite happy with that, but I think I can tighten that up. Recoil was much tamer and bolt lifts were easy.

It’s very light. I haven’t weighed it with scope on but I’m betting it’s @ 7.5 lbs. Stock geometry is definitely for field positions.

Very impressed with the Bausch & Lomb glass.

 

[DocRock]

Didn't get around to cleaning it until last night. LOTS of copper fouling. I can't remember the last time I've seen that degree of copper fouling in a bore before. Enough to make me check the bore again. Definitely .3235" Quite strange though. Patches coming out bright blue to start!