As stated by Robert W.D. Ball in his epic tome Mauser: Military Rifles of the World, the Gewehr 98 was adopted on April 5, 1898, and it was truly the finest in German engineering at the time.

The result was the Gewehr 98, or colloquially known as the Mauser ’98 rifle. The standout feature of the Mauser rifle was the controlled feed bolt action design, which was very robust ...