Askaris of the 4th Field Company in German East Africa, Kilimanjaro detachment, presenting their M/71 Jägerbüchsen.
On April 1909 the Imperial German East African Schutztruppe decided to not convert to the Gewehr 98 like the rest of the Imperial Army but to retain their trusty M/71 Jägerbüchsen due to them being seen as less frequently needing repairs and being more tough. The guns being black powder wad not seen as a problem as it was expected the Askari’s would only be fighting other colonials.
Despite this a decent number of 98 Carbines made their way to East Africa by 1913 due to the M/71 not being manufactured anymore so the replacements were of the 98 pattern.
Source: German Military Rifles
