A century-old Mauser gun, a multi-purpose rifle for the German infantry in World War II, a light weapon with a total output of more than 10 million

The 98k rifle is the most important army equipment of the German army in World War II. From the beginning to the end of the war, all units of the German army and all fronts will see this weapon. During the entire war, the total output of 98k rifles was nearly 14.6 million rifles, making it one of the largest light weapons produced in World War II. The guns are simple in shape, and the refined and rigorous style of the German industry has achieved the ultimate.

German 98K rifle

The German Army mainly used the Gewehr M1898 rifle in World War I. This traditional long barrel length is about 1.25 meters. The rifle equipped with a bayonet is more suitable for trench battles. The length of the barrel of the Gew.98 rifle is about 740mm, the total weight of the gun is 4.2 kg, and the bullet capacity is 5 rounds. The length of the Gew.98 rifle is too long, and the maneuverability is poor.

German standard rifle

Before the outbreak of World War II, various countries started the development trend of short-size rifles. Germany followed the trend and introduced a short rifle type of Gew.98 rifle. The length of the gun was shortened to 1.1 meters, the length of the barrel was shortened from 740mm to 600mm, and the weight of the gun body was reduced to 3.9 kg. The German Army Equipment Department named this rifle as a new standard rifle.

Bolt bolt

In 1935, the Mauser factory in Germany improved on the basis of the original 98 rifle by combining the technical standards of the standard rifle. These improved rifles are the famous 98k. The Kar98k rifle is the German standard version of the carbine. The body and bolt have been optimized and modified more humanely. The shooting accuracy inherits the excellent performance of the Gew.98 rifle. The German Wehrmacht officially put this standard rifle into production in 1936. A large number of early improved Kar.98b and Gew.98 old-fashioned rifles of the German army were converted into standard short-barreled Kar.98k rifles by the Mauser factory.

Bullet magazine

The Kar 98k Mauser rifle (Karabiner abbreviation, translated as carbine, k is abbreviation of kurz, translated as short) is mainly provided to the German cavalry, armored soldiers, grenadiers, and airborne troops. 98K continues the Mauser rifle’s rotating rear pull bolt and bolt linkage safety device. The double-row staggered built-in magazine is loaded with 5 rounds of bullets, and the bullet magazine is pressed into the magazine from the top of the receiver, and it can also be loaded with single rounds. The gun body adopts a downward-bent pull handle, an arc-shaped ruler and an inverted V-shaped notch-shaped front sight, and a circular front sight protective cover, which is convenient for maneuvering and installing the scope.

98K sniper rifle

The 98k rifle is a multi-purpose equipment. The 98k with better accuracy can be used as a sniper rifle with a 4x or 6x optical sight. German experienced snipers can use the Kar 98K sniper rifle equipped with a 4x scope to accurately kill enemy targets within 400 meters; if they use a 6x scope, they can shoot targets within 1000 meters. In total, the German front-line troops are equipped with more than 130,000 98k sniper rifles. The 98k can also be equipped with a grenade launcher to launch grenades. The 98K rifle is equipped with a 7.92mm caliber high-power rifle ammunition. Its effective range, shooting accuracy, and bullet velocity are outstanding. Rifle recoil is not suitable for short Asians, although the effective range of the rifle is more than 800 meters, which is far beyond the 460 meters of the Japanese 38-type rifle.

Matching scope

The Mauser 98k equipped by the German army was not the strongest, cheapest, and most accurate standard rifle during World War II. However, the German army has very high technical requirements for all aspects of guns. Many groundbreaking design ideas of the Mauser 98k have been widely used by various countries. The German army had a glorious time in the European battlefield of World War II. Every German soldier must be able to use a standard weapon, which is a 98K rifle.

German first-line infantry

In the latter part of the war, German military materials were scarce, and the production process of standard rifles became increasingly simplified, and the quality of 98k weapons also went from bad to worse. Allied forces in the European battlefield are equipped with a large number of semi-automatic rifles, with a rate of fire and intensity far exceeding the 98k rifles equipped by the Germans. Although Germany has also simultaneously introduced new semi-automatic rifles such as Gew43 and StG44, for objective reasons such as production volume and development time, it is known that the 98k rifles equipped by the German army cannot be replaced in large quantities after the war.

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