A precision built moveable endplate Geiger-Mueller counter was used to measure the absolute disintegration rate of a beta-emitting radioactive gas. A Geiger-Mueller counter used for measuring gaseous radioactivity has <100% counting efficiency owing to two factors: (1) ''end effect, '' due to decreased and distorted fields at the ends where wire-insulator joints are placed, and (2) ''wall effect, '' due to non-ionization by beta particles emitted near to and heading into the wall. The end effect was evaluated by making one end of the counter movable and measuring counting rates at a number of endplate positions. Much of the wall effect was calculated theoretically, based on known data for primary ionization of electrons as a function of energy and gas composition. Corrections were then made for the ''shakeoff'' effect in beta decay and for backscattering of electrons from the counter wall. Measurements and calculations were made for a sample of krypton-85 (beta energy, 0.67 MeV). The wall effect calculation is readily extendable to other beta energies.