German Military Rifles - Infanteriegewehr M.98, Gewehr 98, Gew. 98

Infanteriegewehr M.98, Gewehr 98, Gew. 98

Despite the choice of the Rifle Commission to not consult Mauser in the late 1880s he kept developing better rifles and improved attributes for his firearms, which he sold to other countries. By the 1890s, his improved bolt design, the introduction of a stripper clip (or charger clip) loading configuration, and a fixed box magazine impressed Belgium, Turkey, and Argentina, enough for contracts to be made.

Paul Mauser went two steps further in 1892 when he again improved the bolt design by adding an extractor that prevented double feeding from the magazine and changed the single column box magazine to a staggered five cartridge box design. The magazine now fit in the rifle without any part of it protruding in front of the trigger making it less apt to be damaged while still easily and quickly loaded from the five round stripper clips. These improvements were embodied in the Model 1893 (adopted by Spain) and then slight improvements resulted in the 1895/96 model (adopted by Sweden, Mexico, Persia, the and Orange Free State).

In 1896 Mauser changed the firing pin distance facilitating faster lock time and accuracy. Installed a cutout section in the left of the receiver perfect for a thumb to fill while loading the ammo from a charger/stripper clip. More impressively he improved the bolt again by: 1) creating vector holes for gas from a ruptured primer; 2) a shrouded bolt head that protected the shooter from a ruptured cartridge; 3) the bolt head was designed to shunt regular gas away from the face of the shooter; 4) a third bolt lug was added to keep the shooter safe if the two main bolt lugs fail; finally 5) a better designed extractor was added.

German troops were issued the rifle by 1899 and used them in the Boxer Rebellion of 1901. By 1912 the Gew 98 replaced all other rifles for the regular army and fist line reserve troops.

In 1905 the Patrone S cartridge was adopted by the German army. Whereas the previous cartridge was 7.9 × 57, a 227-grain (14.7 g) bullet that had a diameter of .318" and a round blunt end, this new cartridge, 7.92 × 57, featured a 154-grain (10.0 g) bullet of the spitzer type. The diameter was .323" which required the re-barreling of previously issued rifles including Gew 98 and Gew 88 weapons.