Füsilier Regiment Nr. 73
"Füsilier
Regiment Generalfeldmarschall
Prinz
Albrecht von Preußen (hannoversches) Nr. 73"
3.
Kompagnie
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Converting
a Czech m22 to a WWI German Gew98
January
2004
First you need to
order a couple items. The most obvious and really the only difference
between the Czech M22 and the GEW 98 is the sight assembly and the hand guard.
I ordered the Langevizier ( Lange "roller coaster" sight ) from
Numrich Gunparts http://www.e-gunparts.com/.
It was very
affordable at $22.25 . After talking with them they pointed me to the WWII
98K hand guard as being the closest thing I'd find to the GEW. Unfortunately
they didn't have any in stock, but I was able to purchase one from SARCO http://www.sarcoinc.com/index.html.
Then the fun began.
After completely disassembling the weapon and trying to remove the old Turkish
sight (these Czech rifles were made by BRNO for a Turk contract) by simply
tapping it
Though I was a
little worried about the decision, we decided to very, to very carefully cut the
Turk sight off with an air tool grinder with a thin cut off wheel (a dremel
tool would have probably worked to) and a hacksaw. We had to exercise caution
and make sure we didn't actually cut into the barrel.
With the Turk sight
off, we then turned our attention to the Lange sight. Much as I hated to
do it, since we couldn't get the Lange over the front sight base either, we
had to cut the clasp rings on the bottom of the sight and pry them slightly
apart to fit it over the front sight base. It then slid up the barrel just fine,
we seated it in the appropriate location and then tapped the clasp rings back
together with a hammer so it fit tight. After that it was just a matter of
reassembling the weapon, tapping the front bead back in place, and putting
the 98K hand guard on. Spitting image of a GEW 98, plus my German
butcher block bayonet fits perfect! To finish up I also picked up a repro
sling from I.M.A's website. http://www.ima-usa.com
Brit King