I just got a Mauser M1908 and know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

[Shift]

Alright! So as the title states, I came across one of those guns for the amazing price of Free.99... and thought it might make a fun little bolt action project

I know there is a wealth of information available but either because I'm blind or just plain stupid I can't find the information I'm looking for, SO! I turn to you unlucky SOBs :P

My Stupid questions are as follows.

1) will a K98 stock fit the 1908? I found this amazballs stock thats only $150 and looks the part of a proper long gun... but it's for the K98... BOOOO!
( The stock in question ProMag Archangel Mauser K98 Precision Stock w/5-Round Follower 10-Round Magazine | Up to 32% Off 4.8 Star Rating w/ Free SH )

2) Can I convert this gun to be magazine fed? stripper clips are neat and all... but the previous owner mounted a scope on it sooooo.... stripper clips aren't going to work anymore, I also mainly ask because the floor plate and mag spring are missing and just from some quick googling they don't seem to be super easy to find for this gun -.-"

Here are some photos of all the markings on the gun if anyone happens to know what they mean, Thanks guys

[Patrick Chadwick]

"I just got a Mauser M1908 and know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING."

How about starting by simply SEARCHING the forums, using the vBulletin Search function in the black bar, top right?

Enter Brazil Mauser 1908 and start reading.

As to your queries:
1) BTW, although the K98 has the same action length as the 1908, according to Kuhnhausen "The mauser Bolt Actions" p.214, the barrel ring is smaller (1.3" vs 1.41"). In other words, the cutout for the action is too small at this point. You are referring to the K98k, not the K98a, aren't you?

2) This sort of alteration - even if feasible - leads to a mongrel that is of zero value if you should ever wish to sell it. You are just going to FUBAR a rifles that, basically, just needs the PROPER stock to be refitted.

IMHO, just be patient and look out for the proper stock. Don't start on complex alterations that would spoil the rifle even more. I most certainly do not wish to offend, but if you have to ask how to do it, please consider whether you are competent to do it? After all, you said at the start that you know nothing about this type of rifle - so start by reading the knowhow available, as recommended above.

[Shift]

"I just got a Mauser M1908 and know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING."

How about starting by simply SEARCHING the forums, using the vBulletin Search function in the black bar, top right?

Enter Brazil Mauser 1908 and start reading.

As to your queries:
1) BTW, although the K98 has the same action length as the 1908, according to Kuhnhausen "The mauser Bolt Actions" p.214, the barrel ring is smaller (1.3" vs 1.41"). In other words, the cutout for the action is too small at this point. You are referring to the K98k, not the K98a, aren't you?

2) This sort of alteration - even if feasible - leads to a mongrel that is of zero value if you should ever wish to sell it. You are just going to FUBAR a rifles that, basically, just needs the PROPER stock to be refitted.

IMHO, just be patient and look out for the proper stock. Don't start on complex alterations that would spoil the rifle even more. I most certainly do not wish to offend, but if you have to ask how to do it, are you competent to do it? After all, you said at the start that you know nothing about this type of rifle - so start by reading the knowhow available, as recommended above.

I did search... for a quite a while, no one either brought up or answered the questions I had, and not everyone has the time to spend multiple days/nights reading through spec sheets and forum posts to figure out the answer on a mathematical level, a simple yes/no/maybe-if goes a long way

As far as ruining the gun... well... I mean, IMO it's too late for that, it's already got some cheap stock on it and whoever had it did a pretty sketchy job of mounting the scope, drilling straight into the receiver etc, (I already thought about restoring it, but I couldn't live with having 4 obnoxious holes in the top everytime I look at it -.-") IMO the value is already gone, at this point it's a "fun project"

And mechanical proficiency and specific knowledge of a given platform are two different things, Just because I don't have intimate, detailed knowledge of a platform doesn't mean I can't work on it with a little instruction, Or to sum it up, If I don't ask how am I supposed to learn?

But thanks for the answers, if you haven't heard of some way to convert it to mag fed and google is failing me on that front as well (tbh almost all the info I can find is about the 98 and not the 1908, little frustrating haha), I'm sure it's not a "thing" :P

and well I'm sure a dremel could solve the fitment issues with the 98 stocks, being unable to convert it to mag fed presents a whole nother set of issues with using that stock i wanted to run haha

[Aragorn243]

I believe you would have better luck finding a Brazilian 1908 stock than a German K98 stock and for a lot less. K98 stocks are becoming harder to find and very expensive these days.
You might be able to make this work but you'd need to do your own research on it.

Mauser Gewehr 98 Trench Magazine - 20rd Capacity | Keep Shooting

[Daan Kemp]

Lots of photos will allow the experts to provide better advice.

Magazine fed? Do you mean a detachable magazine? Mauser bolt actions were never intended to have detachable magazines. So changing it would mean some work and expense. Probably much cheaper to wait until you find correct replacements. I accept you already checked where you got the rifle from, for the spring and floor plate? Follower gone too?

Filling in the holes drilled for the scope is possible with care, attention, expertise, etc.

[oldfoneguy]

I remember reading there were some experimental 20 round magazines fitted to m98's during WWI with no great result. Made a large heavy cumbersome weapon even more so and it wasn't adopted.

My question would be what do you possibly plan to do with it that 5 rounds of high power big bore ammo can't accomplish? Where I live you can't have more than 5 round capacity with a detachable magazine for hunting.
It's not an auto loader and kicks like a mule so an extended mag would be truly pointless.

It's a shame that bubba got to that rifle in it's past as it still has a strong crest on the receiver ring.

[Aragorn243]

I don't see a need for a magazine either. Or stripper clips for that matter. You have to load the stripper clips by hand anyway, skip the step and simply load them in the rifle.

[daveboy]

Well, you've got a nice project there. And, there's not much you can do to hurt the value. Adding a removable magazine I think would be very difficult to fabricate/modify for it to work properly. I would suspect that a floorplate, spring and follower would be fairly easy to find. I'm not positive, but I would bet that those parts from almost any South American Mauser would work, Brazilian, Argentine, Chilean, etc., since they were all 7mm. Maybe a Spanish Mauser would also work. I saw a 1909 Argentine Mauser wearing a 1908 stock, so I would imagine an 09 stock would fit an 08. So, if you can't find an 08 stock, look for an 09. Although they are slightly different, they might work. Those scope mount holes can be filled with a screw and file the screw flush. The receiver on the original wasn't blued, so carefully filing and then polishing the screws along with the receiver could be made to look pretty decent. 1908 Brazilian Mausers are beautiful rifles. This is a photo of mine, and I love it.