Gewehr 98

Gewehr 98
Gewehr 98 made in 1898. From the collections of the Swedish Army Museum
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1898–1935
Used by	See users and civil users
Wars	Boxer Rebellion, Herero and Namaqua Genocide, Xinhai Revolution, Mexican Revolution, World War I, 1918 German Revolution, Finnish Civil War, Russian Civil War, Turkish War of Independence, Spanish Civil War, World War II, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War
Production history
Designer	Paul Mauser
Designed	1895
Manufacturer	Mauser, Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, Haenel, Sauer & Sohn, Waffenwerke Oberspree, V. Chr. Schilling Co., Simson, Imperial Arsenals of Amberg, Danzig, Erfurt, Leipzig, and Spandau
Produced	1898–1918
Number built	~5,000,000
Variants	K98a, K98b
Specifications
Weight	4.09 kg (9.0 lb) with empty magazine Gewehr 98 3.50 kg (7.7 lb) Karabiner 98a
Length	1,250 mm (49.2 in) Gewehr 98 1,090 mm (42.9 in) Karabiner 98a
Barrel length	740 mm (29.1 in) Gewehr 98 590 mm (23.2 in) Karabiner 98a
Cartridge	M/88 until 1903, 7.92×57mm Mauser later
Action	Bolt action
Muzzle velocity	878 m/s (2,881 ft/s) with 1903 pattern 9.9 g (154 gr) ball ammunition
Effective firing range	500 m (550 yd) (with iron sights) ≥800 m (870 yd) (with optics)
Maximum firing range	3,735 m (4,080 yd) with S Patrone
Feed system	5 round stripper clips in an internal box magazine
Sights	Iron sights

The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98 or M98) is a German bolt-action Mauser rifle firing cartridges from a 5-round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. The Gewehr 98 action, using stripper clip loading with the powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge, introduced advanced infantry weapon features rapidly adopted in the Anglo-American Pattern 1914 Enfield/M1917 Enfield and the Japanese Arisaka Type 38/Type 99. The Gewehr 98 replaced the earlier Gewehr 1888 rifle as the German service rifle, first saw combat in the Boxer Rebellion, and was the main German infantry rifle of World War I. The Gewehr 98 saw further military use by the Ottoman Empire and Nationalist Spain. Many have been converted to sporting use.

The Gewehr 98, named for 1898, the first year of its manufacture, superseded the earlier Gewehr 1888 in German service. The bolt-action design used for the Gewehr 98 was patented by Paul Mauser on 9 September 1895. The Gewehr 98 itself was the latest in a line of Mauser rifles that were introduced in the 1890s.

The German Gewehr-Prüfungskommission (G.P.K.) (Rifle Testing Commission) adopted the Gewehr 98 on 5 April 1898. The action was derived from the experimental Gewehr 96 Rifle. In 1901, the first troop issues of the Gewehr 98 Rifles were made to the East Asian Expeditionary Force, the Navy and three premier Prussian army corps. The first combat use of the Gewehr 98 was during the Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901). In 1904, contracts were placed with Waffenfabrik Mauser for 290,000 rifles and Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) for 210,000 rifles.