MAUSER K98 RIFLE

The Karabiner 1898 Kurz was the last of the long line of Mauser rifles used by the Wehrmacht (Germany Army). The K98k designation translates to: short carbine 1898 model. The origins of the Mauser rifle family date back to the late 19th century. The weapon was introduced by order of the German Emperor in April 1898 as the Gewehr 98 (Rifle). This rifle became the standard infantry weapon of all German forces. A modified, shortened version of the rifle (K98K) was introduced into the Wehrmacht in 1935. K is for Kurz which means "short" in German. Therefore, the length was shorter than the WWI Gewehr 98, had a different front sight, and had a curved, rather than straight bolt action handle with a fixed internal magazine of five rounds. Every soldier who fought for Germany in the Second World War trained with this rifle. In fact for many this was their only weapon throughout the war.
The K98k could also be used as a sniper rifle when a ZF41 2.5x Scope or a ZF42 5x scope was attached. The K98k could also fire both explosive and armor piercing grenades by the attachment of a shot cup to the end of the rifle. This was done by one man in a rifle squad who was trained to set up and fire them. The Wehrmacht entered World War II with a total number of 2,769,533 K98k rifles. The cost per Mauser was 70 Reich Marks. The practical rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute. The K98k served the Wehrmacht well, and underwent several changes during the 10 year period that it was produced. Various changes were made in an attempt to reduce production costs and to increase actual production. A total of 14 million rifles were produced. This weapon, despite plans to replace it with weapons of greater firepower and lower production costs, remained the primary infantry weapon for the entire conflict.

next