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treaty. In 1933, Mauser introduced a new rifle, the“Gewehr fur Deutsche Reichpost.” This was osten-sibly for the German post office, but it was under-stood that this rifle would be the prototype for anew standard German rifle for the Wehrmacht. In1934, the Heereswaffenamt, or Army WeaponsOffice, announced its intention to equip all of itsforces with a more modern rifle. Mauser and J.P.Sauer und Sohn submitted prototypes based on thePost Office rifle, but incorporating a bolt stop in themagazine follower to prevent a soldier from oper-ating an empty magazine rifle. Mauser’s design wasadopted and officially announced in June 1935 asthe Karabiner 98 kurz, or model 98 short carbine.In fact, both Mauser and J.P. Sauer had alreadybegun production in 1934. This was the rifle thatbecame standard for the German armed forcesthroughout World War II.

The caliber for the new rifle was 7.92mm, or8mm Mauser, as it is commonly known. Its overalllength was 43.7 inches, with a barrel length of23.62 inches. Weight was 8.38 pounds, with somevariation based on the wood used in the stock. Thestaggered-round box magazine held five roundsand could be charged with a five-round stripperclip or with individual rounds. The bolt had aturned-down handle. The “barleycorn” front sightwas in the form of an inverted “V” and could beadjusted right or left by the factory a slightamount. The tangent rear sight was a “V” notchopen leaf sight, adjustable from 100 to 2,000meters, installed on a curved base. The safety,mounted on the rear of the bolt, was a lever, withleft for “fire” and right for “safe.”

The K98ks were stamped with a manufacturer’scode and a date on top of the receiver ring. Earlycleaning rods, mounted below the muzzle end ofthe barrel, measured 9.75 inches. In 1939, thelength was increased to 12.5 inches. Either typewas designed to screw into other rods to providean overall length suitable for cleaning the barrel.Each rifle was provided with a leather sling mount-

ed on the left side of the stock. Most rifles incorpo-rated a circular metal plate with a central hole onthe right side of the stock. This was an aid in disas-sembling the bolt’s striker mechanism. A numberof K98ks were equipped with telescopic sights foruse by snipers and these special weapons provedvery effective. Many of the old WWI Gew98 rifleswere called in and factory converted to the newerstandard configuration.

Numerous manufacturers produced the K98k,both in Germany and elsewhere. The rifle pic-tured in this article was manufactured in occu-pied Czechoslovakia in 1944. It shows late-warfurniture, including a stamped trigger guard andforward barrel band. It has the code “DOT” (forthe Czech Brno factory) and “1944” stamped onthe receiver ring. The trigger guard is stamped“byf,” the code for Mauser, which is correct forthis variation. Mauser supplied many parts toother manufacturers. This rifle is an original con-figuration battlefield pickup, and was brought tothe U.S. by a WWII veteran as a war trophy. Ipurchased it from his estate.

In all, over 14 million K98k rifles were madeduring the period 1934 – 1945. Germany pro-duced other more modern semiautomatic designsduring the war, but none were nearly as prolific asthe old Mauser design. The American M1 Garandsemiautomatic rifle proved to be a huge advantagefor the G.I. facing the German Soldat on the bat-tlefields, but the old Mauser ’98 design gave agood account of itself. It was simple, reliable in allkinds of weather, powerful, accurate and easy tomaintain. The basic design principles of the Model1898 are even today being utilized in sporting andmilitary/police sniper rifles. The collector demandfor original K98k weapons has increased in recentyears. This has driven up values, particularly forexcellent-condition specimens. The design hasproved to be an enduring classic. Holding oneenables an enlightened glimpse into the history ofthe 20th Century World Wars.

July 09 Blue Press Section 2 5/13/09 11:36 AM Page 41