thisistheway
Well-known member
So a friend connected me with someone they ran into in the local gun shop looking to sell a pair of Imperial Mausers he had inherited from his late grandfather, who had acquired them long ago in Chile before bringing them to the US (no import marks, this was a good long time ago).
The rifles are an Erfurt 1917 Kar.98 and a Danzig 1916 Gew.98. Both have all visible matching numbers, all stock cartouches in good shape. The G98 had a dark bore (no big deal, I have a depot rebuilt G98 to shoot) and the Kar’s stock is slathered in lacquer but doesn’t appear to have been sanded given the sharpness of cartouches and visible matching serial. The owner told me, however, that the Kar was in 7mm, and he was certain about this. The receiver is marked 7.92, so I surmised it was either rebarreled or just as likely actually 8mm. Given the opportunity to pick up a pair of nice matching Imperial rifles, I didn’t haggle too hard and paid probably a bit on the high end.
The Gewehr’s bore cleaned up to fair-good, with worn but even visible rifling and a muzzle that passes the bullet test. Haven’t headspaced it yet but I’m probably not going to shoot this one anyway. Happy with an unmitigated all matching Gewehr.
The Kar is definitely a head scratcher. Measuring the muzzle with a gauge it indeed shows as 7, and without closing the bolt a 7x57 drops all the way in and an 8 does not. I pulled the gun apart and the barrel is indeed unserialized and without German arsenal proofs. That said, the barrel’s patina matches the rest of the gun, to the point I’d never have picked it out as non-original without having been told it was a 7 and taking out the action.
Any interesting history of Kar.98s going to Chile and being rebarreled in 7x57 at scale, or is this more likely something the seller’s grandfather had done on his own? Given the receiver still being marked as 7.92 and no visible markings identifying it as having been converted I assume it’s an oddball, but curious if anyone has seen something like this before.
Took a bunch of pictures, but size limit is keeping me from uploading directly. Will downsize them and upload ASAP. EDIT: success!
The rifles are an Erfurt 1917 Kar.98 and a Danzig 1916 Gew.98. Both have all visible matching numbers, all stock cartouches in good shape. The G98 had a dark bore (no big deal, I have a depot rebuilt G98 to shoot) and the Kar’s stock is slathered in lacquer but doesn’t appear to have been sanded given the sharpness of cartouches and visible matching serial. The owner told me, however, that the Kar was in 7mm, and he was certain about this. The receiver is marked 7.92, so I surmised it was either rebarreled or just as likely actually 8mm. Given the opportunity to pick up a pair of nice matching Imperial rifles, I didn’t haggle too hard and paid probably a bit on the high end.
The Gewehr’s bore cleaned up to fair-good, with worn but even visible rifling and a muzzle that passes the bullet test. Haven’t headspaced it yet but I’m probably not going to shoot this one anyway. Happy with an unmitigated all matching Gewehr.
The Kar is definitely a head scratcher. Measuring the muzzle with a gauge it indeed shows as 7, and without closing the bolt a 7x57 drops all the way in and an 8 does not. I pulled the gun apart and the barrel is indeed unserialized and without German arsenal proofs. That said, the barrel’s patina matches the rest of the gun, to the point I’d never have picked it out as non-original without having been told it was a 7 and taking out the action.
Any interesting history of Kar.98s going to Chile and being rebarreled in 7x57 at scale, or is this more likely something the seller’s grandfather had done on his own? Given the receiver still being marked as 7.92 and no visible markings identifying it as having been converted I assume it’s an oddball, but curious if anyone has seen something like this before.
Took a bunch of pictures, but size limit is keeping me from uploading directly. Will downsize them and upload ASAP. EDIT: success!
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