

It has a 740 mm (29 in) long rifled barrel and carries 5 rounds ammunition in an internal magazine. The Gewehr 98 or model 98 (M98) rifle is a manually operated, magazine fed, controlled-feed bolt-action rifle, 1,250 mm (49 in) in length and 4.09 kg (9 lb) in weight. Since the new IS cartridge had a flatter trajectory the Lange Visier rear sight had to be changed with an "S" adapted Lange Visier. This was done since the 1888 pattern M/88 cartridge and 1905 S-bore pattern cartridge are two different non interchangeable chamberings. The ammunition conversion was indicated by a small "S" stamped above the chamber and on the barrel at the back of the rear sight base. In 1905, the 8 mm M/88 cartridge which was introduced in 1888 and loaded with a 8.08 mm (.318 in) 14.6 g (226 gr) round nose bullet was replaced by the 7.92×57mm Mauser which was loaded with a new 8.20 mm (.323 in) 9.9 g (154 gr) spitzer bullet. In 1904, contracts were placed with Waffenfabrik Mauser for 290,000 rifles and Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) for 210,000 rifles. The Gewehr 98 received its first combat use in the Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901). 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 action was derived from the experimental Gewehr 96 Rifle. The German Gewehr-Prüfungskommission (G.P.K.) (Rifle Testing Commission) adopted the Gewehr 98 on 5 April 1898. The Gewehr 98 itself was the latest in a line of Mauser rifles that were introduced in the 1890s. The bolt-action design used for the Gewehr 98 was patented by Paul Mauser on 9 September 1895. The Gewehr 98, named for 1898, the first year of its manufacture, superseded the earlier Gewehr 1888 in German service.
