I am looking at purchasing a Mauser that has been made up into a pretty neat rifle. But the action is a "Geco" I havent been able to learn much about them except that they made some very nice German 22 trainers. Any info would be a big help.

They also made some Mauser based two shot shotguns as well. - Dan

Ditto what Dan said, saw one at a gunshow a couple of weeks ago, very nice condition. Didn't check the price.

How was the quality of workmanship on it? I am witing for some pics of this one I am looking at. But from the description I have read it sounds like a very good one.

Tanker,

It looked quite nice. The stock wasn't banged up, and it would have looked very good alongside anything else nowadays. It wans't cobbled together or had lots of leftover machining marks if this is what you mean?

Nitroman,
Thanks for your help. Here is the sellers description of the rifle.

Model 98 Mauser made by GECO in 8x57mm. I believe this one is a J bore, has a 23.5" octagon to round barrel with full length rib. Rib and ramp front sight as engraved with a wavey pattern. Top of receiver ring is also engraved with a similar pattern and some light engraving on the bridge. No drilled or tapped for scope, has one standing and one flip up blade rear and ramp front sight that takes removable blades. Stock is a military stock very nicely sporterized with a small right hand cheek piece and black Pachmayr recoil pad. Bore is excellent. Pictures available upon request.

If the pics are as good as I am hoping I am going to pick it up. It will obviously be a handloading only in the J bore buy it should be fun.

As you noted, it may be a handloads-only proposition if it is a "J" bore, which of course you'll need to determine by slugging the bore. The original Gew. '88 military rifle "J" bores were actually .322" to .323" groove diameter, rather than the commonly supposed .318"! The M1888 ball ammo did have .318" bullets, but these were shot out of larger bores! However, when making custom or sporting rifles, a lot of German gunsmiths cut their "J" bore barrels .318", so the commercial or custom barrels in the "J" size were often made smaller than theire military counterpart.

There is another caution to be observed with nice, engraved, custom Mausers also. Some were annealed, and had the surface case-hardening removed by the engraver before the engraving was added, and many of these were never rehardened after engraving! So it is advisable to have engraved Mauser actions tested for correct hardness before shooting them with heavy loads!

Thanks for the info. I had never considered checking the hardness. I am glad that you brought that up. I do have access to a heardness tester and will definately have it done if I get this rifle.

Sounds like a nice one!

You might want to check the rifle over very carefully before buying, if you have not done so already.



They were supposedly made from battlefield "pick-up" surplus military rifles, often without a great deal of thought for safety, according the the U.S. NRA technical staff.



For instance, according to information in the American Rifleman in the late 50's, early 60's, many Geco's were produced in 12 gauge with both locking lugs removed from the bolt. That left only the root of the bolt handle to take the blow of the cartridge firing.



At any rate, the American Rifleman staff apparently held them in very low respect. You might want to contact their Technical Division to find out precisely why.



I have personally owned a Mauser post-war re-work which was ornately engraved, but never re-hardened and it was almost as soft as butter, so to speak.



Making rifles such as Gecos was one of the very few ways some of the very small gun craftsmen in Germany had of earning a living soon after each of the two world wars. They, of course, often did not have the equipment to do complex metallurgical testing or treatment. and, as you can well imagine, they weren't particularly worried about the safety of Brits, Americans, or the French who might be their major consumers. Said consumers were also much more nieve than they are these days, and there was little or no easy international legal remedy readily at hand for those who received less than safe merchandise.



They were known to many in the 'States in the 60's as "Hitler's Revenge".



All-in-all, based on when, where, why and how they were made, I'd be very cautious about buying one for myself.



AC