Ethiopian Mystery Mauser - Kar98az as a Gewehr98?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- This Ethiopian quasi Gewehr 98 is a bit of a mystery as a rifle that started out as Gewehr 98 and a Kar98az before becoming a refurbished parts gun.
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Previous videos on this gun:
Part I: • Royal Tiger Imports Ge...
Part II: • Royal Tiger Imports Ge...
Part III: • Royal Tiger Imports Ge...
Very well presented video and cool piece of history to have in your collection. RTI's business practices notwithstanding, they do have some very interesting pieces and modifications of rifles that are typically not found elsewhere. I did see in one of their vids that they got some Kar98a's but never saw them advertised for sale.
Yeah, I just really really wish this one had the Ethiopian markings on it. Atleast it would be a little more collectible but I certainly can’t complain when I made poor purchasing choices.
@@GarandGuy2553 I got one that has been in Turkish inventory and somehow missed any turk marks so it's been re blued and looks nice too.
I got one from RTI too, complete POS. Kar98az receiver with a G98 barrel jammed into it.
I’ve seen a couple of these. Have you contacted them for a refund or an exchange?
Very cool piece! Likely only good as a mantle piece, but it certainly tells a story. Another great video!
Yeah, I do plan on switching the barrel out but yeah I wish it was in the original configuration
I received one from rti as well, mine was completely scrubbed and the stock has no unit disk or markings. My barrel was a sewer pipe, and not even tight in the receiver. Between the 6 guns I’ve bought from RTI this is the only one that was completely unserviceable. Oh well, buying old guns essentially straight out of Africa is a fun gamble. Great video, doesn’t make me feel so bad that mine is a mix master.
Sorry to hear about your rifle. Unfortunately, I gambled once and will never do that again. Was yours also a Frankenstein gun or was it all in the original Gewehr 98 configuration?
Cool find, you can get some rarities from them despite all the issues with RTI. I could see Ian talking about this.
Yeah, if he ever wanted to talk about this one I’d be more than happy to give him that opportunity.
I think this can all be summed up in one word: Africa. This was almost assuredly assembled from random parts by some Ethiopian armorer. I don't think any self-respecting European gunsmith would assemble such a mess. Small ring to large ring conversions can be dangerous, as they're eliminating the safety margin built into the original design. Only ever shoot this with new factory-loaded ammunition. Surplus Mauser ammunition tends to be unsafe. Even Ian of Forgotten Weapons had one of his Mausers damaged by shooting surplus.
It was a stock crack. And most of the stocks from Ethiopia probably are cracked in some way. Mine started getting one behind the receiver after I shot that Ethiopian and Egpytian ammo out of it that worked rarely. Old stuff was loaded hotter than US commerical loads anyways I hear.
Yeah, I’m wondering if I should find a large ring receiver for this now that I have a replacement barrel. It still won’t have much collectors value but will atleast be a good shoot able representative of a Gew98
@@GarandGuy2553 I would leave it as-is because it is one-of-a-kind. Btw, I don't necessarily think the stock was specifically made for this gun. A lot of foreign contract mausers (Argentine 1909, Bolivian 1907, etc.) do not have disassembly/unit disks in the stock. It could just be an off-the-rack large ring stock that swelled up with moisture in the past 80+ years to fit the receiver perfectly. Cool video btw
same thing with the sling swivel. A lot of foreign contract mausers have those instead of QD slings.
@@HircineDaWolf yup this is exactly why I only fire commercial ammo out of mine and it's holding up well
Great video I can tell you put in a lot Of effort to put this together. Really cool is that gun range in Nebraska just wondering looks like mine I go to. Cheers brotha
Thanks! And no this is actually a place out in Virginia
Very good, the 98az is a large ring barrel shank thin receiver wall so a large ring barrel will thread in and work. I have taken a 91 Argentine small ring barrel and fitted it to a M38 Turkish Mauser which looks like a large ring but has a small ring barrel shank. It works and i think is cool. I think you have a very cool Frankenstine, one of a kind and I would love to have one. Happy shooting.
Thanks! It’s definitely an odd one. Check out the one video I have of shooting it. Barrel is no good since it keyholes but interesting none the less.
You are right that is not a true Gewehr 98 because I do have a German Gewehr 98 stamped Danzig Germany with the date although yours does look like a very nice representation of an 8mm Mauser.
Well I ordered two Enfields SMLE's and both have bad bores. I did not care when I ordered because I thought I was going to pay a smith the swap the barrel and restore one of thew two only to find out there is a high % that the parts won't be in specs and will need way more work and money then I thought. Now I am looking to sell to a re eanctor.
That’s basically what I did. And with that experience you shouldn’t never get anything from them again.
I would say confidently that it is a Belgian rework and not Ethiopian for 1 major reason: the Ethiopian hand-made stocks we've seen all lack the stock bolt/recoil lug.
Additionally as to why its configured the way it is, i suspect people who didnt know better, or didnt care (a gun is a gun, if it goes bang, then good enough to sell). Its important to note the surrounding context where even FN had full length long rifle options into the early 20s. People still kinda thought the long rifle was a good idea for little while after WWI. Existing stocks of Gew 98 parts were also probably far more plentiful than Kar98AZ parts.
Folks in the comments here saying that "real european gunsmiths wouldnt do that" as if liege isnt well known for producing a vast assortment of guns, and clones of guns, with a great variance in quality.
You’re probably right. I just wonder why no Belgium firm wouldn’t stamp it with any kind of marking.
hi
Whatever you need, Dragonborn. Just say the word.