American Rifleman by Brian C. Sheetz 4/10/2023
When it comes to explaining the success of the Mauser Model 98 bolt-action rifle, one could simply attribute it to serendipity.When it comes to explaining the success of the Mauser Model 98 bolt-action rifle, one could simply attribute it to serendipity—it appeared at exactly the right moment in history and was good enough to get the job done. But that sort of notion requires a complete disregard for the historical narrative. In fact, German gun designer Peter Paul von Mauser—born June 27, 1838—toiled for more than three decades before his brilliance was fully realized in the bolt-action masterpiece that still bears his name a century-and-a-quarter later.
Late American Rifleman Technical Editor Ludwig Olson, widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on Mauser rifles, wrote in the 1964 foreword to the Third Edition of his landmark work Mauser Bolt Rifles, “The Mauser bolt-action rifle was introduced slightly more than a century ago. Since that time, this famous rifle was improved in a succession of models and became the world’s most produced and popular shoulder arm. It enjoyed the greatest success in the role of a military rifle, being used by more than a score of nations in various parts of the world. While it has been superseded for military use by semi-automatic and automatic rifles, it still maintains great popularity as a sporting arm and is of considerable interest for collectors. Gunsmiths also hold the Mauser in high esteem, and the Mauser 98 has served as the foundation for many a fine custom sporter.”
Such testimony serves to recognize the Model 98’s place in history, yet doesn’t explain the reasons for its success. For that, we have to travel back to 1867, when Paul Mauser and his elder brother, Wilhelm, began work on what would become the Model 1871 Infantry Rifle.
History & A TheoryPaul, who had been drafted as an artilleryman and later was employed as a gunsmith at the Württemberg Royal Armory, eventually took inspiration from Nikolaus von Dreyse’s needle gun developed some 40 years earlier. Determined to improve the design, he retained the key turnbolt concept but improved it with a true firing pin that was self-cocked when the action was cycled. In 1872, Mauser’s rifle was formally adopted as the German Empire’s Infanterie-Gewehr 71. Featuring a wing safety and firing the 11.15x60 mm R blackpowder, metallic-case cartridge, the gun locked up by way of a bolt guide rib engaging the front of the receiver bridge. Originally a single-shot, the 1871 was improved with a tubular magazine in 1884, making the newly designated Model 71/84 a repeater. The Mauser brothers, Paul as inventor and Wilhelm as financial manager, had by 1874 acquired the armory—which, a decade later, would operate as Waffenfabrik Mauser. Their goal in the ensuing years became the development of a small-bore repeating bolt-action rifle that would be able to handle the higher-energy smokeless-powder cartridges. Unfortunately, Wilhelm Mauser died unexpectedly in January 1882, and the firm was unable to furnish a shooting example of a new rifle for testing by the Gewehr-Prüfungskommission (Rifle Testing Commission). Undeterred, the company found continued success selling military rifles to other countries, including the Model 89 Belgian and Model 91 Argentine, which used a box magazine fed by stripper clips and were chambered for the rimless 7.65x53 mm cartridge.
Subsequent incremental improvements to the Mauser 90-series rifles were driven by military contract requirements and, no doubt, by Paul Mauser’s seemingly relentless pursuit of the ideal action. The signature non-rotating claw extractor was introduced in the 1892 model. The Model 1893, or Spanish Mauser, included a shorter magazine containing the cartridges in a staggered column, which allowed for a trimmer, more durable rifle. The Model 1895 had a shoulder at the rear of the receiver to engage the root of the bolt handle, offering extra protection in the event the bolt lugs failed and was the first rifle chambered in the 7x57 mm Mauser cartridge. Then, the following year, as the result of a contract with the Swedish military, the Model 96 added gas-escape holes and an integral guide rib on the bolt body. All of the aforementioned improvements set the stage for the Model 98, which was chambered in 7.92x57 mm Mauser, or what Americans now refer to as 8 mm Mauser—and which provided inspiration for our own line of legacy .30-cal. cartridges.
Olson noted the various incremental changes in a checklist that validated the Model 98’s benchmark status. “Principal improvements over previous Mauser standard rifles produced in large quantity were cocking on opening of the bolt, shorter firing pin travel (only 1/2") and therefore faster lock time, extra large gas escape holes in the bolt, enlarged-diameter receiver ring for added strength at a vital point, locking screws to prevent the guard screws from vibrating loose, and a bolt sleeve lock. Also included were the full-depth thumb cut in the left wall of the receiver, guide rib on the bolt (first used in the Swedish Mauser), a safety lug, shrouded bolt head, gas shield on the bolt sleeve, and the undercut extractor (introduced with the German Model 96 experimental).”
The German commission was apparently pleased as, on April 5, 1898, it formally adopted the rifle for its military as the Gewehr 98, which, just 16 years later, would see combat in the First World War. By then, Mauser bolt-actions had already become praised as significant advances in combat rifle technology, including by such figures as Afrikaner-American farmer and military general Benjamin Johannes Viljoen who, during the Second Boer War, reportedly remarked that he put trust only in “God and the Mauser.” After the Great War erupted in 1914, an oft-repeated tale attributed variously to officers of opposing sides suggested that in issuing troops the Short, Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE), the Model 1903 Springfield and the Gewehr 98, the British, the Americans and the Germans had fielded a battle rifle, a target rifle and a hunting rifle, respectively. Such commentary suggests that the Enfield’s capacity and speed of operation, the Springfield’s excellent sights and trigger, and the Mauser’s controlled-round feed and general reliability were their salient attributes. Of course, it is well-known that the ’03 Springfield’s design borrowed so heavily from that of the Mauser 98 that the U.S. Army decided it should settle with Mauser financially to avoid a patent-infringement claim. Clever declarations and litigation trivia aside, however, the Gewehr 98 would go on to acquit itself quite well during the Great War as a combat arm and, in revised form as the shorter, lighter Karabiner 98k, would serve as the frontline arm for Germany throughout World War II.
More:
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-mauser-model-98-truly-great/
