Norwegian K98k
- Thread starter albertacowboy
- Start date
Coyote Ugly
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
They sold for about $600 to $700. The rifles are refurbed/reworked, calibre has been changed to .30-06 from 8mm, stock restained, trigger guard forged/stretched, receiver portion milled off, renumbered, etc.
I wouldn't go crazy emptying your wallet if you want to buy one of these.
I wouldn't go crazy emptying your wallet if you want to buy one of these.
The few that I've seen in person were nice rifles. True, they have been reworked, but well done. I have a nice one I bought years ago. I had it at the informal milsurp shoot at Hipwell's in 2013.
For someone looking for a pure 98, unaltered, all matching, they aren't the answer. That doesn't take away from their attractiveness though.
For someone looking for a pure 98, unaltered, all matching, they aren't the answer. That doesn't take away from their attractiveness though.
They still go for $600+
No, not all of them were in very good or better condition. Many were issued and show the wear and tear of field use.
Another common misconception is that they were only rebarreled to 30-06. They were also made up in 8x63, with a special muzzle brake, which was the Norwegian machine gun round. Most of those went to Israel where they were converted by the Israeli government arsenals to something else. I made up a clone of one of these on an old action and barrel I had on the shelf and there was a very good reason they attached a brake to those barrels.
The Norwegians also converted a very small number of K98 rifles to 7.62x51. Even though they made up several thousand barrels by different manufacturers the plan was dropped and the rifles along with the barrels went into storage and were later released for surplus in Norway as well as on the world market. The rifles, very few mostly stayed in Norway from what I can find out. A few of them were picked up by International along with the barrels around 2005 and sold out very quickly. Many had worn bores because they were mostly used with blanks because of a shortage of 7.62 Nato ammo. The barrels were sold off as surplus for around $130US. Luckily mine has an almost pristine bore.
They also made up their M59 sniper rifles in 7.62 Nato. The M59 is based on the K98 action. Not sure if the actions were new manufacture of made up from left over receivers.
I got this information from Surplus Rifle Forum.
No, not all of them were in very good or better condition. Many were issued and show the wear and tear of field use.
Another common misconception is that they were only rebarreled to 30-06. They were also made up in 8x63, with a special muzzle brake, which was the Norwegian machine gun round. Most of those went to Israel where they were converted by the Israeli government arsenals to something else. I made up a clone of one of these on an old action and barrel I had on the shelf and there was a very good reason they attached a brake to those barrels.
The Norwegians also converted a very small number of K98 rifles to 7.62x51. Even though they made up several thousand barrels by different manufacturers the plan was dropped and the rifles along with the barrels went into storage and were later released for surplus in Norway as well as on the world market. The rifles, very few mostly stayed in Norway from what I can find out. A few of them were picked up by International along with the barrels around 2005 and sold out very quickly. Many had worn bores because they were mostly used with blanks because of a shortage of 7.62 Nato ammo. The barrels were sold off as surplus for around $130US. Luckily mine has an almost pristine bore.
They also made up their M59 sniper rifles in 7.62 Nato. The M59 is based on the K98 action. Not sure if the actions were new manufacture of made up from left over receivers.
I got this information from Surplus Rifle Forum.
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Some of this is incorrect. 8x63 was Swedish. A K98K chambered in 8x63 is g40k and exceptionally hard to find.
Norwegians had k98ks in 8mm, 3006 for the most part.
These were never 'captured'.
They are post-World War 2 conversions of rifles which the occupying German Army left behind in Norway when they were 'evicted' in 1945.
Prior to the War, Norway had been in a semi-union of military planning and procurement with Sweden and partly with Denmark. In a way it was a throwback to King Knut Svensson's northern empire, minus England. The whole thing fell apart when the Germans took Denmark in 5-1/2 hours (3-1/2 hours behind schedule) and Sweden permitted a powerful German force to travel through Swedish territory to attack Sweden's neighbour/partner/ally Norway.
By the end of War 2, Norway was a lot closer to the Western Allies and had found that of all the countries around, only England was willing to help, thus preserving the Peace sworn to King Harold Godwinsson following the battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066. British units were operating in Norway even in 1940.
WW2 American military production was truly massive and, following the end of fighting against Germany, the Cold War got into gear and was to become scarier and more dangerous until, finally, the blast-doors at the Shilo Bunker were closed for the only time: October, 1962. (Hard to believe it has been half a century since I had my butt planted in the Gunner's seat of a Firefly! Come to think of it, we are still waiting for those nice Chieftains we were promised.)
Norway came firmly into the Western Alliance following WW2 and thus was the recipient of huge amounts of American aid in addition to what Norwegian, British and German equipment it already had. In 1945, Norway had the world's ONLY squadron of jet bombers, German-built Arado 234 Bs. And suddenly they found themselves the recipients of shiploads of modern equipment, including bags and bags of shiny new .30-'06 ammunition.
So they did the logical thing..... and converted a bunch of German-abandoned Mausers to handle the stuff, complete with precision-made Norwegian barrels. The HA marking on the barrel of one of these rifles is Haerens Arsenalets: Army Arsenal.
And they can REALLY shoot!
They are post-World War 2 conversions of rifles which the occupying German Army left behind in Norway when they were 'evicted' in 1945.
Prior to the War, Norway had been in a semi-union of military planning and procurement with Sweden and partly with Denmark. In a way it was a throwback to King Knut Svensson's northern empire, minus England. The whole thing fell apart when the Germans took Denmark in 5-1/2 hours (3-1/2 hours behind schedule) and Sweden permitted a powerful German force to travel through Swedish territory to attack Sweden's neighbour/partner/ally Norway.
By the end of War 2, Norway was a lot closer to the Western Allies and had found that of all the countries around, only England was willing to help, thus preserving the Peace sworn to King Harold Godwinsson following the battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066. British units were operating in Norway even in 1940.
WW2 American military production was truly massive and, following the end of fighting against Germany, the Cold War got into gear and was to become scarier and more dangerous until, finally, the blast-doors at the Shilo Bunker were closed for the only time: October, 1962. (Hard to believe it has been half a century since I had my butt planted in the Gunner's seat of a Firefly! Come to think of it, we are still waiting for those nice Chieftains we were promised.)
Norway came firmly into the Western Alliance following WW2 and thus was the recipient of huge amounts of American aid in addition to what Norwegian, British and German equipment it already had. In 1945, Norway had the world's ONLY squadron of jet bombers, German-built Arado 234 Bs. And suddenly they found themselves the recipients of shiploads of modern equipment, including bags and bags of shiny new .30-'06 ammunition.
So they did the logical thing..... and converted a bunch of German-abandoned Mausers to handle the stuff, complete with precision-made Norwegian barrels. The HA marking on the barrel of one of these rifles is Haerens Arsenalets: Army Arsenal.
And they can REALLY shoot!
CAR, you are splitting hairs here. The rifles started life as capture 98Ks and were converted then given a different description, same goes for the 30-06 and later 7.62 Nato chambered rifles.
I was just answering the OP.
From the information I have found, the G40K rifles were sold to Israel where they were converted again and went into their general issue.
Supposedly only a few of them even remain with most of them being in Norwegian private collections and military museums.
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These rifles were completely FTRed at the same time they were converted. I do agree that they likely cherry picked their stockpiles of capture rifles.
