[Oblivion437]

The Mauser Gewehr 98 (Mauser rifle, model of 1898) was quite possibly the most influential firearm ever built in the last 250 years. It revolutionized warfare, it changed all concepts of firearms, and today, a large number of weapons are based on it (anything using a bolt). While back in those days, bolts were cycled manually (the original bolt-action was also a Mauser design), but they had a few problems. They lacked locking strength, so they couldn't use powerful ammo, they were accurate, more accurate than any previous rifle, and, when using comparable calibers, faster. However, with this Mauser rifle, Peter Paul and Wilhelm added a nice little feature, lugs. Lugs give a bolt lock strength, plus, they tighten the seal of the breech. This led to the next big innovation, when in 1904, the world's first spitzer cartridge was adopted. The Germans put it out, and it was far superior to blunt cartridges ballistically, plus, they bore far greater penetration. The rifle used 7.92MM Mauser rounds, which were all metal casing, using very precise standards of machining for the barrel headspace (Point where the bullet locks into the barrel for firing) and this weapon was incredibly accurate. Overall, it changed everything. It was superior to every rifle in the field but 1, the Springfield. The springfield really was the mauser, but with superior .30_06 rounds (thirty-o-six) that were notably more accurate, but, they both outstripped the Mosin and Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles, as well as the Italian Mannlicher rifles by a huge margin. Every weapon an army uses today, has, in some form, a derivative of this weapon. All modern weapons use a bolt to cycle the action and lock the breech, whether automatically or manually, and the designs originated with this rifle. The concept of a lug locked bolt was a new concept, changing designs forever, even the M16, SA80 and FA-MAS rifles use rotated bolt. Overall, a discussion on such a weapon would be nice, as it's a personal favorite of mine, and I think of it as a revolutionary design.