MilsurpDan
Ultimate Member
Snagged this on Gunbroker about 5 months ago or so.
After World War One the Allies and the Treaty of Versailles forced the German’s to destroy much of their armaments.
There were a lot of excess Gewehr 98 rifles left over, so instead of turning them into scrap, many of them were bought up by commercial companies or gunsmiths. One of the weirder conversions was into 12, 16 or 20 Gauge shotguns.
Some of you might have seen one of the common Geha Shotgun’s that are usually laying around at a gun show somewhere or pop up in shops every now and then. They aren’t very nice as far as shotguns go, and we’re meant to be a cheap working man’s gun. They were converted in the 1920’s and 30’s.
The three main “brands” of these shotguns are “Geha”, “Hard Hit Heart” and “Remo”. Remo’s are usually considered to be better quality.
Many old-timers question the safety of these conversions (especially the 12 Gauges) due to the amount of material shaved from the receiver for the new barrel and the front locking lugs don’t lock into anything. The bolt heads can also come loose and fall off, which is probably what most of the safety issues stem from.
This one is different however, it’s much more intricate and is much higher quality. It’s got a thicker 32” barrel with a ventilated rib, a very nice checkered stock, quality blued finish.
Like the other brands of Mauser shotguns, it has an internal magazine that holds one extra round.
I have found no references or photo’s to any other shotguns’s like this one other than an old forum post stating that Remo made a few custom order models called the “Model 129” with similar characteristics to this one.
It’s chambered in 12 Gauge. The chambers on these are described as being 2 1/2”, so I ordered some shells from RST. It test fired great and I’m looking forward to taking it out for clays one day soon.
After World War One the Allies and the Treaty of Versailles forced the German’s to destroy much of their armaments.
There were a lot of excess Gewehr 98 rifles left over, so instead of turning them into scrap, many of them were bought up by commercial companies or gunsmiths. One of the weirder conversions was into 12, 16 or 20 Gauge shotguns.
Some of you might have seen one of the common Geha Shotgun’s that are usually laying around at a gun show somewhere or pop up in shops every now and then. They aren’t very nice as far as shotguns go, and we’re meant to be a cheap working man’s gun. They were converted in the 1920’s and 30’s.
The three main “brands” of these shotguns are “Geha”, “Hard Hit Heart” and “Remo”. Remo’s are usually considered to be better quality.
Many old-timers question the safety of these conversions (especially the 12 Gauges) due to the amount of material shaved from the receiver for the new barrel and the front locking lugs don’t lock into anything. The bolt heads can also come loose and fall off, which is probably what most of the safety issues stem from.
This one is different however, it’s much more intricate and is much higher quality. It’s got a thicker 32” barrel with a ventilated rib, a very nice checkered stock, quality blued finish.
Like the other brands of Mauser shotguns, it has an internal magazine that holds one extra round.
I have found no references or photo’s to any other shotguns’s like this one other than an old forum post stating that Remo made a few custom order models called the “Model 129” with similar characteristics to this one.
It’s chambered in 12 Gauge. The chambers on these are described as being 2 1/2”, so I ordered some shells from RST. It test fired great and I’m looking forward to taking it out for clays one day soon.