Gewehr 98 DWM 1901 8253 Kaiserliche Marine

Got this one from Chris who handed it off to me before SoS. It’s been documented here before, but a Gew doesn’t really feel like mine until I I make my own post, haha.
Aside from some light cleaning and sanding it’s a nice original example. Has the early features like unproofed receiver, 200m sight base, and straight sided bayonet lug, while the stock lacks an external serial number. The rear sight leaf has been updated, as has the bolt stop. These parts are all marked with a simple crown, no letter below.
This is the first early DWM that I’ve dissected. In some ways it’s similar to later DWMs but in other ways not. Instead of the barrel and receiver having assembly numbers there are punch marks aligned on the bottom. I can’t remove the triggerguard, and don’t want to force it and damage the stock, but there is a number on the floorplate that I bet matches an assembly number on the guard.
Also I found a bayonet with matching unit marks; they make a nice set. Hopefully a similarly marked muzzle cover comes along.

DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-UND MUNITIONSFABRIKEN BERLIN 1901​

Receiver 8253 c/RC c/S c/S c/S
Barrel 8253 c/S c/S c/S B7 2 P
Front Sight 53 c/G
Rear Sight Leaf 53 crown R
Sight Slider 53 crown R
Sight Slider Tabs crown
Sight Slider Screws crown
Ejector Box 53 c/S
Ejector Box Side Plate c/S
Ejector Box Stop crown
Trigger Sear 53 c/S
Trigger c/G
Front Barrel band 53 c/S
Rear Barrel band 35 c/G
Rear Barrel Band Loop c/
Trigger Guard 8253 c/S c/S
Trigger Guard Screw, Front 53 c/S
Trigger Guard Screw, Rear 53 c/S
Locking Screw, Front c/S
Locking Screw, Rear missing
Floor Plate 53 c/S
Follower 53 c/S
Stock 8253 c/M c/S c/S
Stock Disc I.M.D.2336./W.K.50.16 c/S
Stock Wrist c/S
Recoil Lug
Handguard c/?
Buttplate 8253
Bayonet Lug 53 c/S

Barrel and Sights. Note the crown with no letter on the rear sight leaf and slider.

Triggerguard and magazine components.

Bands and stock metal.

Stock. Handguard is not numbered but looks original. The acceptance s almost gone though so I can’t be certain, it could be an armorers replacement.

And the unit marked disc. The first side, with the acceptance stamp, is I.M.D. for the Erste Matrosen Division, and the other W.K. for Werft zu Kiel. The bayonet I found for it has the same unit marks, with the I.M.D. cancelled on the scabbard and ground off of the cross guard, replaced by W.K. markings.

Nice Gew…. Congrats

Sounds like you had a great time at SOS, looking forward to seeing what else came out of it. Really appreciate the detailed dissection and pictures of the small components on this one, didn't know that punch marks and assembly numbers were used on these early ones. Congrats on picking up an awesome early Gewehr 98 and making a nice set.

Mantis, The Imperial Meetup that Chris organized on Thursday night was fantastic. It was good to see everyone and hear about the cool things everyone was able to find. Great group of guys and as always I learned so much from them all. Congratulations on such an impressive gewher as well! To the new guys that came this year, it was a genuine pleasure.

SG98 only 8 weapons away! Great!!!

Glad you got this one Cyrus. It was my first KM gun and when I originally bought it, it popped up on my birthday as a BIN. You or Sam would have been the only two guys I sold it to and Sam got a pretty fantastic one already. The bayonet you found made the decision to hand it over even easier.

Civilwarnut1863 said:

Mantis, The Imperial Meetup that Chris organized on Thursday night was fantastic. It was good to see everyone and hear about the cool things everyone was able to find. Great group of guys and as always I learned so much from them all. Congratulations on such an impressive gewher as well! To the new guys that came this year, it was a genuine pleasure.

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Glad you could make it. We started 4 shows ago and it's grown each year. It all started with a small crowd grabbing drinks with a couple of the RIA guys, and it's now become one of my favorite annual traditions. I'm glad they opened up the speakeasy at our venue this year too. It was a nice addition.

Awesome Navy Gew 98 Cyrus. I will have to update that Gew 98 information on my Kaiserliche Marine list.

Thanks for the comments, everyone! As you can imagine, I was thrilled to get this one and unit it with the bayonet.
The meet up Thursday at SoS was awesome. It was great to see everyone and talk collections over drinks. I’m incredibly glad so many of the top contributors to the Imperial section could get together in person. We just have to make sure @mauser1908 can make it next year!

Awesome example, excellent display!

Wonderful rifle sir!