action evolved from the German Commission-designed Model 88 action, and that several other rifles, including the Model 98/40, have a similar receiver and bolt. In the M88 Commission rifle, we see how the German Testing Commission copied some features from the 71/84 Mauser rifle, used some of their own, and incorporated a Mannlicher-designed single-column magazine to come up with a distinctive and smooth working action. This was followed by the Hungarian Model 1935, also with a Mannlicher single-column magazine. From this rifle, the Hungarian Model 98/40 and the German G 98/40 action evolved—changing the Mann-licher magazine for the Mauser staggered-column flush magazine.
The German 98/40 (the G is usually dropped from the designation), as well as the Hungarian 98/40 (this rifle is more correctly designated as the Hungarian Model 43— “43” because Hungary adopted it in 1943), were created because of Germany’s dire need for military shoulder arms at the beginning of WWII. The Hungarian government arsenal in Budapest was tooled up to make the Mannlicher-magazined Model 1935 rifle, which, except for the magazine drawbacks, was a good rifle. Then by adapting the staggered-column Mauser magazine to it, and chambering it for the 8mm (8x57mm or 7.9x57mm) Mauser cartridge, the 98/40 was born. It is so designated because it has the basic M98 Mauser magazine and was adopted in 1940.
The German Model 98/40 Rifle
The German 98/40 rifle has a 23.6 ” barrel, is 43.62” overall, and weighs about 8.9 pounds. It has a two-piece stock similar to the British Lee-Enfield rifle, with the forend attached to the barrel by the front guard screw and two barrel bands. The muzzle barrel band contains a bayonet stud so the regular M98 Mauser bayonet can be affixed. Unlike the 98K Mauser barrel, the G 98/40 (G stands for Gewehr, German for rifle) barrel has no steps, but has a straight taper from the breech shoulder forward. The magazine holds 5 rounds.
Markings
The model designation of G 98/40 is stamped on the left receiver wall. The date (year) of manufacture, such as 41, which means 1941, is stamped on the top rear of the receiver ring. The factory code letters jhv are stamped on the top front of the receiver ring. The letters jhv are the code letters for the Metallwaren Waffen u Maschinenfabrik arsenal in Budapest, Hungary. The caliber (bore diameter), e.g., 7.91, is stamped on the barrel shoulder next to the receiver. The serial number is stamped on the breech end of the barrel, left side of the receiver ring, trigger guard, floorplate, buttstock socket and bolt, and with the last two digits of this number stamped on most of the other major parts.
The 98/40 Action
Although the Model 98/40 action closely follows the design features of the German 88 Commission action and some of the Mannlicher actions mentioned earlier, it has enough individual features to require a separate description. The receiver ring is about 1.735” long. The loading port is about 3.2” long with the higher left receiver wall made with a deep thumb notch like that in the M98 Mauser action. The receiver bridge is very long (about 2.25”) and split; that is, there is a slot milled through the top to allow passage of the bolt handle and guide rib. The front corners of this slot are grooved to accept the M98 Mauser stripper clips so the magazine can be quickly loaded. The bottom of the receiver is flat. The recoil lug, on the front of this flat, is about 1.60” wide and 2.25” deep. The magazine well is milled out of this flat, leaving an opening 3.30” long and cartridge-guide lips to hold the cartridges in the magazine and to guide them into the chamber.
The magazine box is solidly constructed of sheet metal with reinforced ends, and the bottom of the receiver is milled to hold it securely in place. The rear wall of the magazine box also acts as a recoil lug and makes up for the small area of the main recoil lug on the front of the receiver. Recoil is mainly absorbed by the buttstock against the butt socket, while the rear of the magazine box and the recoil lug prevent the forend from moving forward.
Inside the receiver ring, there are two shoulders which the breech end of the barrel contacts. They are divided by cuts made to allow entrance of the extractor and ejector. The barrel is threaded tightly (right-hand thread) into the receiver with the barrel made with a narrow shoulder to abut against the front of the receiver. A shallow groove cut across the face of the barrel provides room for the extractor and ejector to engage the cartridge rim. This breeching system is the same as used in the Greek Mannlicher-Schoenauer action.
Left side of the German Model 98/40 action, opened.
The inside of the receiver is milled out to accept the bolt assembly. Locking lug raceways are milled nearly the length of the action and inside the receiver ring to form locking shoulders for the two locking lugs on the bolt. Slight inclines on the approaches of these shoulders cam the bolt forward as the bolt handle is lowered.
The bolt is of two-piece design with a separate bolt head which fits into the front of the bolt body. The heavy hook extractor is mortised into the right side of the head, held in place and tensioned by a flat spring mortised in place behind it.
The extractor has a very wide hook and is made so it cannot be pulled out from the front. It has ample movement so the hook can easily slip over the rim of a cartridge placed in the chamber ahead of the bolt. I believe this is even a better extractor than in the commercial Mannlicher-Schoenauer action. The ejector, almost an exact copy of the Mannlicher-Schoenauer ejector, is held in place by a small screw. The bottom corner of the extractor and ejector are rounded off so that, when the bolt pushes a cartridge from the magazine to the chamber, the rim of the cartridge slips under the extractor. This prevents double loading if the bolt is not fully locked before it is drawn back again. This is a good feature. The extractor is also made so that it holds the bolt head in place in the bolt, and on removing the bolt from the rifle, the bolt head cannot accidentally fall out and be lost.
The bolt body has an integral guide rib along most of its length. The bent bolt handle is an integral part of this rib. This rib functions to guide and prevent the bolt from binding as it is operated. It also serves as the safety locking lug since it engages forward of the right receiver bridge wall when the bolt is closed. Its front end moves over an inclined surface on the rear of the receiver ring and provides the initial extractor camming power when the bolt is opened. The grasping ball on the bolt handle is flattened underneath, and this flat surface is checkered.
The bolt body is drilled from the front to accept the coil mainspring and the one-piece firing pin. One side of the rear end of the firing pin is flattened to match a similar hole in the cocking piece through which the rear end of the firing pin extends. This prevents the pin from turning. The firing pin nut threads onto the rear of the firing pin and holds the assembly together. The heavy cocking piece has a heavy rib which moves in a slot in the receiver bridge preventing it from turning when the bolt handle is raised and lowered. There is a small cam on the cocking piece which fits a matching shallow cam and notch in the rear of the bolt body. All this cam and notch do is hold the cocking piece and firing pin back unless the bolt handle is fully down and the action locked, thus preventing accidental firing unless the action is fully locked. When the bolt is open, the cocking cam resting in the shallow notch prevents the cocking piece from turning.
The stem of the wing safety fits in a hole drilled lengthwise in the cocking piece rib. A coil spring over the stem holds the safety back against a notch in the firing pin nut and prevents the nut from turning. When the action is closed and cocked, swinging the safety to the right rotates the flattened end of the safety stem into a notch in the bolt. This locks both the bolt and cocking piece. The safety can also be swung to the right when the cocking piece is forward; this draws the firing pin tip within the face of the bolt and locks it back, as well as locking the bolt.
There is a thumb-piece on the firing pin nut by which the action can be manually cocked with the thumb, or the action can be uncocked (the firing pin lowered) by reversing the procedure.
