
You may need to use a Mauser rifle identification guide, as the number of Mauser rifle variants is too great to list here. Tips If the rifle is not of German manufacture, but clearly uses the Mauser action, use a combination of rifle caliber and receiver markings to determine the country of origin. These numbers are the ordinance codes of German manufacturers. These rifles were the famed standard-issue rifles of the German army through the first and second World Wars should the rifle have a two- or three-alphanumeric code on the top of the receiver, the rifle is most likely a Gewehr 98k or Karabiner 98k. Mausers fire 7.65x53mm ArgentineBelgian, the 7x57mm SpanishChilean, the 6.5x55mm Swedish and the 7.92x57mm German.ĭetermine whether your rifle is a Gewehr 98k or Karabiner 98k if your rifle fires 7.92x57mm, as these rifles fired 8 mm Mauser. Mauser-pattern bolt-actions were manufactured in countries including Germany, Turkey, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Belgium, Argentina and Chile, so the round the rifle fires can help you identify the rifles origins and model, like the 1891 Argentine, 1909 Argentine, Spanish 1893, Chilean 1895 and the Swedish 1896. Many imported rifles are stamped according to federal regulations and that stamp will settle your identification process quickly.Įxamine the rifle for any other identifying markings on the receiver and on the stock the original armorer may have stamped the rifle with markings identifying the factory of manufacture. Items you will need Mauser rifle Weapon Identification Examine the rifle for an import stamp located along the barrel this stamp should state the weapons caliber, model and country of origin. German Mauser Rifle S Series Of Pistols.A nice example will be priced at around $350. The Russians loved to electropencil non-matching parts as if they were matched and would mark each capture with an “X” mark on the receiver. The Russians “refurbished” these captured rifles after the war re-bluing the metal and refinishing the wood with a kind of deeply stained shellac. A Russian capture is the most commonly commercially available K-98k in the United States. The example shown here is a Russian capture K-98k. After the war, these rifles ended up in the arsenals of many nations giving rise to many interesting varieties and variations which are too numerous for treatment here. This rifle became the main German battle rifle of World War II, and was exported by the Germans to several other countries. The K-98k is a bolt action rifle that was built on the Model 98 system in the 8mm Mauser caliber.
