Otto,
I noticed you posted this rifle on another site and were directed to good info.I didn't call the suggested site up but suspect the rifle was intended for military training use. If it was intended for civilian use,it should have had the normal commercial proofmarks.Such rifles were usually used as single shots and magazine mods wouldn't be needed as long as a "single shot" follower was used.A GEW 98 would have been made by one of the Government arsenals or some company under contract, which should have been shown on the reciever ring together with the date. I don't know why these marks were removed. I will defer to the above info site.
Mike
