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Editors Note: Mauser 1898 Standard Modell short rifles were among those guns found in Ethiopia and imported by Royal Tiger Imports.

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The company started using the logo in 1909, and it appeared on such famous guns as C96 Broomhandle pistols, interwar Oberndorf sporting rifles and on an export rifle called the Standard Modell, which would become known in collecting circles as the Mauser Banner.

In the 1920s, with Mausers production of firearms restricted by the Versailles Treaty, two other manufacturers, Belgians Fabrique Nationale (FN) and Czechoslovakias Ceskoslovensk Zbrojovka (CZ) became the worlds top producers of Model 98-style bolt-action rifles.

In 1924, both FN and CZ introduced short 98 rifles with 23.25 barrels, which they sold around the world.

Under the pretense of export sales and arming civil authorities, Mauser began developing its own version of the short rifle, calling the resulting product the Standard Modell.

The rifle featured a 23.62 (600 mm) barrel, but retained the horizontal bolt handle of the World War I Gewehr 98.

On others, the purchasing countrys crest occupied that spot, and the banner was moved to the rear receiver ring.

The left-side receiver rail was first marked Standard Modell and later held the Mauser name and address.

China was the largest purchaser of Standard Modell 98s, with other notable contracts going to Bolivia, Ethiopia and Paraguay.

China made its own copy of the Standard Modell, with some Chinese-made rifles even featuring a crude facsimile of the Mauser banner on their receivers.

Later-production Standard Modells were modified with a turned-down bolt handle and side-mounted sling mounts.

The modified Standard Modell was acquired for the German postal and rail services and was also supplied to the countrys rising political paramilitary organizations.

Standard Modells were still being made in Mauser factories after 98k production started, and they continued to be assembled from remaining parts through the end of World War II.

It is estimated that a quarter million Standard Modells were produced before 1945.

Distributed throughout the world, Standard Modells turn up with interesting histories.

They were captured and re-captured, loaned and sold, and often end up bearing the markings of several owners.

Most Mauser Banners in this country were imported from China in the 1980s.

Many non-import-marked Standard Modell rifles were supplied to Spain during that countrys civil war to arm Francos Nationalist soldiers and the German volunteer Condor Legion.

Mauser M98 Lookup Plus Market And

In the 1950s and 60s these rifles, many of which had been arsenal-refurbished after the war, were sold on the surplus market and imported into the U.S.

Its only markings are the Mauser banner, the Standard Modell label, the original German commercial proofs and Mauser military acceptance Waffenamts.

It has been arsenal-refinished, has a polished, mismatched bolt (originals were blued) and is missing its cleaning rod.

Pristine pre-war Standard Modell Mausers can bring 2,000-3,000, and Chinese imports in good condition are worth 700-900.

Mauser M98 Serial Number Lookup