8mm Mauser possibly a WWII Nazi rifle-help with identifying

[Braden]

Hey guys.  My father purchased an 8mm Mauser when he was younger, and its caught my interest.  My so interesting is that is has "Mod. 98" engraved on the left side of the action.  Also, several miniscule eagles with swastikas under them adorn the action as well (two on the action, one on the barrel, by my count).  The barrel is also of a design ive not seen before.   It seems to be layered; from the front of the action to the fore-end of the barrel, as the barrel becomes narrower it's "segmented", if thats the correct word to use.  Heres an example: you know those old toy sword that you can buy at carnivals and fairs that are segmented and can be extended or collapsed due to multiple pieces of plastic fitting inside each other? Thats what the barrel reminds me of (dont think im crazy if you dont know what im talking about).  THe barrel and action are a dark brown color.  The bolt has the number 8304 angraved in various places and the action has a 5 digit serial number with a lowercase italicized d under it.  The safety is a large lever that is perpendicular to the bolt and flips up and down at a 90 degree angle.  The action is quite smooth. It seems to me that whoever owned this rifle before my father put a new stock on it; a beautiful monte carlo sporter stock and a pachmayr decelerator pad.  I don't know much about old German mausers, but the swastikas and "Mod. 98" engravings seem to imply Nazi affiliation at one time.  Can anyone help me out with the history of this rifle, or at least point me to someone or a website (preferably) that could help me out? Should I take this to a gunsmith and see what he can find out? What features should i look for to help me identify the type of rifle this is?

I appreciate any feedback anyone has.  Thanks a lot!

Braden

[savageT]

Braden,
Yes, that does sound like a k98 German 8mm war souvenir.  I don't recall that you mentioned a date on the gun?  The segmented barrel, commonly referred to as "stepped" is typical barrel finishing technique for government issued arms.  If you do a search for "large ring" Mausers M98 or k98 actions you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what you have.  There are allot of fans of the 8mm cartridge and I'm sure you will get the idea shortly that it is an excellent weapon for big game hunting and should be quite accurate if the barrel hasn't been shot-out.  As far as ammunition is concerned there are allot of milsurp issues still available and inexpensive.  Commercially, S&B makes excellent hunting soft-point loads also.

Jim

[Braden]

Thanks for the advice.  I went online and searched as you said and the rifle seems to be a mauser from wwII.  Something else has caught my attention, though.  If the rifle was made in 1898, why does it say "Germany on the underside of the action? wwould it not say "Deutschland" or something in German?  Are their any specific design details to look for that can verify it as being an authentic model 98 or Kar98 rifle?  Thanks a lot!

[Catfish]

Your gun was not made in 1898, that is the Model number. If you run the serial number all of them made befor 1940 were good actions. In the later years of the war some were not to good, bad steel. It should have more on it than what you have given us. If it is an early K-98 you have a very strong action, they were proffed at 100,000 psi. The later ones won`t that 50,000 psi. safely. Some of the old mil. barrels were pretty accurate and what you have could be a very good deer rifle as is. If it`s not accurate it can be very easily rebarreled to any .473 case head round. That would be .22-250, .243, 6mm. .257, .30-06 ect.

[huntsman]

You might find more input if you post this topic under Military Surplus Firearms. Lots of folks there have experience with this kind of issue.