Gew 98 Id

[talvisota]

A friend of mine was given a Mauser that we are trying to find out more about. It is identical to the top rifle pictured on page 93 of "Mauser Military Rifes of the World".
Markings above the chamber read:

WAFFENFABRIK
MAUSER A.-G.
OBERNDORF A/N
1917

It says GEW 98 on the left side of the receiver. It is also heavily stamped with various small marks, too numerous to repeat here. So Is there any particular mark we should look for to help with ID?

It also has the interesting "roller coaster" rear sight.

Oddly, it has "8mm TURKEY" done in what appears to be electric stamping on the right side of the receiver. That marking is the same type as the import marking on my recent C&Rs. However, the rifle was acquired many years ago, for (gulp) $5.

The only stamp on the wood that I saw was a "T" forward of the magazine on the underside.

Are full length, original GEW 98s hard to come by? I'd sure like to find one after seeing his.

Thanks,
Dave

[GunGuy98]

Gewehr 98's in original condition are hard to come by, but not impossible. Your friends rifle sounds like your typical Turkish import. Almost all the Gew 98's on the market today came out of Turkey. Some are in really nice shape and others, well , look like they came out of Turkey.
The rifle was manufactured by Mauser in Germany in 1917 and sold to Turkey, which BTW were one of the largest users of Mauser rifles.
All the small stampings you mentioned are the German Imperial acceptance marks. The stock should have them too, on the right side of the buttstock.If they're not there it might be a replacement Turkish stock.:)
I hope this helps some.
:jump: