doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Old Mauser Information Help

Hello, I have this old Mauser 98 and wondering if this is an old military action. There is no makers name on the rifle. There is a serial# and a few markings that I am sharing pictures of. No caliber marking but it is 8mm

Looking for any information who made the action and also what year approx it was made.

How difficult is it to re-barrel to 7x57 and is the action any good for that

Thanks for any help

Some more markings

The action has the loading notch on the rear ring. That says military action to me, but i really don't know.

The cost of a new barrel and the gunsmithing to mount it and add sights would probably come close to the value of the rifle in its current condition. That's no slight on your rifle. It's a good example of an honest period hunting rifle.

Keep in mind that there are two variants of the 8x57. The earlier has a bore diameter of .318. The later (more modern) has a diameter of .323. Slugging the bore will tell you which. If it turns out to be the .323 bore then you could buy an awful lot of 8x57 ammunition for the cost of a rebarrel.

I hunt mostly with a 7x57, and I don't think you will gain anything by rebarreling assuming a maximum range of 100-300 yards for an open sighted rifle on deer/bear sized game. The 8x57 is a fine cartridge.

I don't know why you'd want to re-barrel it. The 8 X 57 will basically do anything the 30-06 will do, especially if you handload and the groove dia. is .323.

Thank you everyone for the information and suggestions.

The date bands would be from July 23rd, 1893 for the 4000 Atmosphärenpulver Test to the proof rules change in either 1910(Zella-Mehlis) or 1911(Suhl). If you have shown all the stamps, then it passed thru the Suhl Proof Facility circa 1911 when the bore diameter changed from bore gauge to mm. The calibrator @ the Suhl Proof Facility may have used the mm stamp a little earlier that 1911, so the bolt gun platform would date to that period. If later than 1911, it would wear a stamp of bullet type over weight.

The 4000 Atmosphärenpulver Test(58,800 lbs/in^2) was a new fangled test on July 23rd, 1893 and used a Special Super Strong Pulver from Spandau. The stamp of >>G.B.P<< is most easy to decipher being >>Gewehr Blättchen Pulver<< which is a Military Rifle Flake(smokeless) Powder. The Bullet used in Proof was a standard jacketed projectile with 0.2mm >>Windage<<. I think the Belgians used 0.6mm & I'll have to check that. But proof of rifled barrels proved w/ semi-smokeless / smokeless was a crap shoot and German Proof of Tubes from the get-go in 1891 w/ Black Powder was the same as the mechanics complained of all the burst & bulged barrels as Germany used a heavier proof load than all other countries w/ Proof Facilities. Now comes the 4000 Atmosphärenpulver Test as the German Proof Facilities devised their own plan seeing a double load of Gewehr Blättchen Pulver would have shocked everyone, including the tube so many times the tube was stamped w/ a load less than the true service load. I could go on if anyone is interested........

Now on to the puzzle: >>S.G.<<

>>On the other hand, the not commonly seen "S.G." might have stood for Spitzgeschoss, and hence may have indicated an 8mm barrel for the so-called "S"-Patrone (wider bullet, wider chamber neck, maybe appropriately reamed leade, while the lands and grooves however might not be different from the M/88 pattern).<<





https://www.doublegunshop.com/forum...mp;Words=4000&Search=true#Post659715


Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse

Backing up a bit for the 1st tube test, the German Proof Black Powder used must have the following characteristics:

75% Saltpeter

10% Sulphur

15% Charcoal

and must have a grain size of 1.78mm.

The 1910/1911 Rules called for Special Proof Powders from the United Koln-Rottweil Powder Works.

The 1939 Law for rifle barrels for centralfire cartridges called for 2 shots of Smokeless Powder.

Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse

And if failed to mention that >>The 1910/1911 Rules called for Special Proof Powders from the United Koln-Rottweil Powder Works<<, and the proof for rifle barrels was such that the cartridge case was filled with the aforementioned powder to within 4mm of the base of the bullet.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse

Under the 1891 Rules, rifle tubes were subject to proof w/ Neues Gewehr Pulver Modell 71 whilst scattergun tubes were paired w/ „Hirsch“ powder, Grain #4. But the ole „Hirsch“ gelatinized powder proved to be erratic with high pressures and heavy recoil; therefore, the Frankfurt on the Oder chose the German Troisdorfer smokeless Shotgun powder while the other proof facilities held w/ Schultz and this is why one sees the Troisdorfer on platforms that passed thru the Frankfurt on the Oder Proof Facility and British Schultz, which maintained lower pressures.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Raimey
rse

From the markings and description, it does sound like you have a military-origin Mauser 98 action, likely later turned into a sporting rifle. The absence of a maker’s name isn’t unusual—many were scrubbed or reworked during sporterizing. Based on the proof marks mentioned (especially Suhl proofs), it likely dates roughly pre–WWI, around 1890s–1910s. As for rebarreling to 7x57, it’s definitely doable since the Mauser 98 action is very strong and commonly used for such conversions. That said, unless your current barrel is shot out, you probably won’t gain much over the 8x57, which is already an excellent all-around cartridge with similar performance. Before doing anything, I’d recommend slugging the bore to confirm whether it’s .318 or .323. If it’s .323 and in good condition, it may be worth just keeping and shooting as-is rather than investing in a rebarrel.