Karabiner 98k

Description

Often referred to as the Kar 98k or K98k, this iconic bolt action German rifle was developed in the mid 1930’s to replace the somewhat antiquated Gewehr 98/G98 of pre-World War 1 heritage.

As per its WW1 predecessor, the K98K utilized the powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge. However its designers failed to take this re-design opportunity to increase the magazine capacity to match that of its main rival, the 10 round (detachable magazine) Lee-Enfield SMLE and instead opted to remain with a fixed internal magazine of 5 rounds capacity. An error that would no doubt come back to haunt them in the soon to follow war.

After the outbreak of World War 2, the German military introduced semi automatic rifles such as the Gewehr 41, however due to the lateness of their introduction, the K98k remained the main issue service rifle until the end of the war in 1945.

Like the Lee-Enfield, this rifle could also be fitted with a grenade launching cup and those that passed top of their quality control accuracy tests, were subsequently fitted with telescopic sights for sniper use.

Also, having been produced in their millions and having seen service in so many theaters of operations during WW2, post war, amongst the chaos of the repatriations and clean-ups, weapons such as these readily found themselves in the hands of the criminal underworld and paramilitaries. Their presence in these organizations would last for decades and even today the odd example still appears in an obscure civil war or police seizure.