One of the main lessons learned by the British Army following the 2nd Boer War (1899 – 1902) was the need for a shorter universal rifle to replace both the Long Lee-Enfield used by the infantry and the shorter Lee-Enfield Carbines used by the cavalry and other support units. The result was the adoption of the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) in 1902 with a barrel length of 25.2 inches.
The German Army did not adopt a similar approach and during WW1 used the long Gewehr (Gew) 98 for the infantry along with the short Karabiner (Kar) 98a carbine for the cavalry and support units. The Gew 98 had a barrel length of 29.1 inches (750 mm) and the Kar 98a had a barrel length of 23.6 inches (600 mm).
Following WW1, the German Army adopted the Kar 98b in 1923 as a means of getting around the limitations of the WW1 Treaty of Versailles by re-designating the WW1 Gew 98 infantry rifle as a carbine, a class of weapon that was allowed under the treaty. The main changes to the WW1 Gew 98 were the replacement of the original Lange Visier ‘Roller Coaster’ sight by a conventional tangent sight; the adoption of a turned down bolt handle with a cut out in the stock for it; and adoption of a leather sling that attached on the left-hand side via a metal loop on the mid barrel band and a slot in the butt.
After the Nazi party came to power in 1933, rearmament of the German armed forces started in earnest. In 1935, it was decided to arm the army with a shorter version of the Kar 98a designated the Kar 98k (kurz meaning short). This was basically a Kar 98a with a barrel shortened from 740 to 600 mm. However, the problem found was that firing the S Patrone 7.92 x 57 mm Mauser cartridge used previously produced excess muzzle flash. To overcome this problem, a change was made to firing the schweres Spitzgeschoss (heavy pointed bullet) s. S Patrone 7.92 x 57 mm cartridge with a heavier 197 gr bullet. This was originally used in WW1 in machine guns but was found to produce less muzzle flash in shorter weapons and was therefore adopted for all arms after 1933.
Kar 98k Design Features
The Kar 98k incorporated a number of safety features common to previous Mauser rifles. These included the use of a third lug at the rear of the bolt to guard against failure of the front two lugs; the use of gas venting in the case of a rupture of the cartridge case or primer that made use of two large vent holes in the bolt that directed any escaped gases down into the magazine; and the use of a large diameter 1.41 inch locking ring on the receiver for greater strength that compared with the 1.30 inch diameter on earlier ‘small ring’ Mausers.
The Kar 98k8 used a turned down bolt handle that required 90 degrees of rotation to unlock. The bolt could be withdrawn from the receiver for maintenance purposes by first operating the spring loaded catch on the left of the receiver. The Kar 98k was still provided with the hole in the butt with brass fittings that was used to facilitate dismantling of the firing pin. The Kar 98k was loaded via 5-round stripper clips with guide slots milled into the receiver bridge. It was fitted with a 5-round internal magazine that was flush with the bottom of the stock and incorporated a removable floor plate.
The Kar 98k used a bolt with the Mauser non-rotating claw extractor. The receiver was fitted with a inclined shoulder behind the charger bridge that provided a smooth initial extraction of a cartridge as the bolt handle was rotated. It used a cock-on-opening, 2-stage trigger mechanism. The bolt was fitted with the usual Mauser 3-position safety mounted on the bolt sleeve that operated when the action was cocked. In the right-hand position, it locked the bolt; in the middle position, it disengaged the trigger from the sear but still allowed the bolt to be cycled; in the left-hand position, it made the rifle ready to fire.
The Kar 98k used a one piece stock with an upper hand guard between the rear sight and the mid barrel band. During WW2, most stocks were made of laminated wood that was both cheaper and easier to source and was stronger than a solid wood stock. An end cap was used on the stock that incorporated a 1.75 inch long T-shaped bar to mount a bayonet which, in general, was not fitted with a muzzle ring to avoid upsetting the accuracy of the rifle. The end cap was held in place by a wide barrel band that itself was held in place via a spring load pin. The mid barrel band was positioned against a shoulder in the stock and held in place by the same spring stop in front of it.
The Kar 98k was equipped with a short cleaning rod ( 15 5/8 inches) that slid into a hole beneath the bayonet bar and effectively screwed internally into the mid barrel band. The idea was for soldiers to screw 3 of the rods together tin order to clean a rifle. However, in practice, rope pull-throughs were also issued that were much easier to use in practice.
The Kar 98k employed a semi-pistol grip. The butt plate was of plain design with no trap fitted as on the equivalent US and UK military rifles of the time. The butt included a transverse hole halfway along with brass fittings that was used to enable the firing pin to be disassembled. The leather sling was attached to the left-hand side of the stock via a wire loop fixed to the mid barrel band and via a slot in the side of the butt. Once inserted through the butt slot, a leather buckle was clipped to the end of the slings to stop it pulling back through.
The shortened Kar 98k was more than accurate enough at normal battle ranges. The front sight consisted of a blade surrounded by a circular hood with a conventional rear tangent sight used that was graduated from 100 to 2000 m in 100 m steps. and was more than accurate enough at normal battle ranges. It was fitted with the same type of side mounted slings as on the Kar 98a and mounted the same S84/98 bayonet third pattern. This had a blade length of 10 inches and was fitted with Bakelite grips and, as with most previous German bayonets, did not use a muzzle ring so as to not affect the accuracy of the rifle.
Kar 98k Sniper Rifle
Kar 98k rifles coming off the production line that showed much better accuracy were converted into Scharfschützen-Gewehr 98k sniper rifles and fitted with 4 x or 6 x telescopic sights. Since clearance had to be provided for the 3-way safety catch on the cocking piece, the sight line of the telescope had to be relatively high. The telescopic sights were fitted with a range knob that allowed for bullet drop.
My Kar 98k
My Kar 98k is dated 1940 and is equipped with a laminated stock with no indication given as to who manufactured it. My Kar 98k has been deactivated to the Old Spec and can therefore be dry fired. Comparing it with my Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle highlights how much easier the latter was in achieving a high rate of fire. The Mauser’s cock-on-opening takes quite a bit of effort especially with the turned down bolt. In contrast, the straight bolt on the Gew 98 provides much more leverage in terms of cocking the trigger mechanism. The other drawback with most Mausers is that the bolt handle is some distance in front of the trigger and therefore the hand has to be moved forward to cycle the bolt. In contrast, the bolt handle on the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle is behind the trigger and is perfectly placed to cycle the bolt with the minimum of effort.
Comparing the Kar 98k and Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle highlights the difference in weapon development approach between the two nations. The Kar 98k, like previous Mauser rifles, is superbly engineered and is extremely accurate at longer ranges. In comparison, the Lee bolt action design is far from ideal from an engineering point of view. This because of the way the firing forces are transferred through the length of the bolt and the length of the receiver both of which can flex to degrade the accuracy of the rifle. However, despite this, the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle was undoubtedly the better combat rifle in WW2 providing adequate accuracy on the battlefield while providing a much higher rate of fire and double the magazine capacity than the Kar 98k.
Kar 98k Specifications
- Weight: 3.90 kg
- Weight of Bayonet: 0.44 kg
- Length of Rifle: 1.11 m
- Length with Bayonet: 1.36 m
- Length of Barrel: 600 mm
- Calibre: 7.92 mm
- Bullet: 197 gr s.S Patrone Spitzer bullet
- Muzzle Velocity: 760 m/s
- Front Sight: Blade
- Rear Sight: Tangent leaf graduated from 100 to 2000 m
- Rifling: Conventional
- No. of Grooves: 4
- Rifling Twist: right-handed with 1 twist in 240 mm
