School me on the K98 Mauser

[mr00jimbo]

So I was looking at a bunch of bolt guns lately and always thought K98s looked cool, and enjoy guns with service history.

Anyways, are there many variants of the K98? I notice a lot of guns have a bunch of numbers after their model name that only make sense if you know a lot about the gun.
Is there a "standard" model K98, are there many variations?

What could one expect to pay for one in good condition, numbers matching? Non-numbers matching go for less, I presume? A lot less?

thanks and forgive my grammar, a rottweiler just claimed my lap as his pillow.

 

[skirsons]

The Kar 98k is the basic German WWII variant. Mauser 98 variants were used by a multitude of countries. You have rifles like the M48BO, Yugo and Czech 98s, and the Kar 98AZ (World War I German Carbine).

Original numbers matching Kar 98k is about $2000.00... Russian Refurb... about $400.00

 

[Dryzen]

The Czech (8 model is know as the VZ. 24. The yugo variant is the M48 , the Bo designation indicates that was built for export, therefore no country markings.

 

[RMM]

You can find mausers that were used by the IDF (Israel defence force). There are people on here that will give you more info on these rifles then what you can retain, so just wait and you have all the info you need.

 

[Nabs]

You picked a rifle with so much history attached to it and it's variants that it would make your head exploded if we off loaded all the information in this thread.

I highly suggest to pick a time frame, country, and specific type of Kar 98 variant that interests you the most and focus on that. That way, you won't be burned out (done it before) figuring out the other variants that even I am still trying to make sense of.

 

[smellie]

K98?

Which one?

The ORIGINAL Karabiner 98 was built from about 1898 through to about 1904, had a 17-inch barrel and is very darned rare.

It was superceded to a great extent by the later Karabiner 98 which nowadays is called the Kar98aZ; this was actually a Short Rifle a la Short Lee-Enfield. This was used by a lot of German troops from 1904 until 1945 but only was made until the end of World War One. It was a small-ring action.

The Karabiner 98b was a WWI Gewehr 98 continuing in service with the Reichswehr with the addition of a second issue-date. It was marked as a Gew98 but carried on the books as a Kar98b. BUT a batch of completely-deniable Kar98b rifles was manufactured for Reichswehr service in the 1920s. They were not dated (as per regular practice) and there was no indication as to their manufacturer (they were made by Mauser) and they were actually marked as Kar98b, even though most of the books say that no rifle ever was marked as such.

The Karabiner 98k is the model that most people think of as "the" Kar98 although it only was standardised in 1935 and made (officially, anyway) until 1945 (although it continued in production as a "deniable" weapon for several years afterwards). They were made by quite a number of factories and are a lovely rifle, if outdated for World War Two. They were to be the standard Wehrmacht rifle of the Second War.

The Czech VZ-24 was built on original German WWI tooling and originally had a slightly-different top handguard and stock. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, it continued in production (all the mechanical parts interchanged with the German rifle) and gradually transformed itself into another Kar98k as parts in stock were used up and new-model parts went into production.

The BO, as pointed out above, was unmarked for any number of reasons, including deniability.

So which one? Or all of them? Better not be ALL of them: there are more than 360 variants on the Kar98k alone when you count factories, markings, mods and inspectors!

They are a snazzy-looking rifle, the later-model laminated stocks are pretty and laid the foundation for modern laminates. Early-production 98k factories include Gustloff, Sauer, Mauser and a host of others and, by the end of production, you almost could fill a telephone book with factory codes, for not a single one ever had the actual name of the factory stamped on it...... except the specially-made 'gift' rifles for Portugal, which are practically a work of art.

Happy Mousering!

 

[The Kurgan]

So which one? Or all of them? Better not be ALL of them: there are more than 360 variants on the Kar98k alone when you count factories, markings, mods and inspectors! Happy Mousering!

Can I ask a similar question? I have been drooling over the Venezuelan mauser in John's Vault. At $700, is this a good buy? It indicates that it is in MINT condition and unused. Is it a "mauser" if made by FN?

From the research that I have done, I understand the South American contract mausers were built to high standards, regardless of factory of origin.

 

[smellie]

The parts interchange 100% with a "real" Mauser, so I would call it one, anyway. They generally are recognised as one of the finest Mauser variants.

When the Kaiserliches Waffenprufskommission selected the (let's be honest) Mauser-based Mannlicher rifle in 1888, Paul Mauser was standing there with his nose a little out-of-joint because they had refused to select HIS latest design. Well, everybody was trying to develop a rifle overnight which would handle smokeless powder ammunition, and one of the countries most desperate was little Belgium. So Paul Mauser sold his latest design to the Belgians, who called it the Model 1889 so that they had a NEWER rifle than Germany. But the Belgians wanted to build their own rifles, so a bunch of Belgian gunmakers got together and started the FN, the Fabrique National d'Armes de Guerre: National Factory for Weapons of War. They built a factory and took a licence from Mauser to build the 1889.

Later, as Mauser made one improvement after another, FN started using the improvements until finally there was a huge great amount of screaming and cursing and everything went to court and finally the shrieking quietened down and an amicable agreement was worked out under which FN would be allowed to rent certain Mauser improvements. FN, at that time, was no big competitor.

Things changed, though, after World War One, when DWM was broken up and Mauser was allowed to stay in business solely because they had a small plant and were making sporting rifles. They were not allowed under the Versailles Treaty to make military rifles at all. Suddenly, the agreement with FN became a Very Good Thing. FN made Mausers for export in Belgium and, just South of Germany, there was Czechoslovakia, which had been GIVEN a huge arms industry made up of German equipment, making Mausers for export. So the one served as a counterpoise to the others and the biggest competition seems to have been in pure quality. The 1920s and 1930s were definitely the high-point of 20th Century smallarms production.

An FN 7x57 Venezuelan in MINT condition? Grab it! They ain't makin' no more of they and they are damned rare to start with. Repeat: grab it! If you don't, somebody else will, just as soon as they read this.

 

[y2k]

Get the Israeli model

 

[iroc22]

It was superceded to a great extent by the later Karabiner 98 which nowadays is called the Kar98aZ; this was actually a Short Rifle a la Short Lee-Enfield. This was used by a lot of German troops from 1904 until 1945 but only was made until the end of World War One. It was a small-ring action.

Were all the Kar98az's barreled with the .323" bores? That's something I never really got straight.

 

[Nabs]

The "lengthened" Kar 98 or commonly know as Kar 98AZ was built around the spitzer round so yes to your question. The only real variance you will notice is the land measurement stamped on the top of the receiver.

 

[The Kurgan]

The parts interchange 100% with a "real" Mauser, so I would call it one, anyway. They generally are recognised as one of the finest Mauser variants.

When the Kaiserliches Waffenprufskommission selected the (let's be honest) Mauser-based Mannlicher rifle in 1888, Paul Mauser was standing there with his nose a little out-of-joint because they had refused to select HIS latest design. Well, everybody was trying to develop a rifle overnight which would handle smokeless powder ammunition, and one of the countries most desperate was little Belgium. So Paul Mauser sold his latest design to the Belgians, who called it the Model 1889 so that they had a NEWER rifle than Germany. But the Belgians wanted to build their own rifles, so a bunch of Belgian gunmakers got together and started the FN, the Fabrique National d'Armes de Guerre: National Factory for Weapons of War. They built a factory and took a licence from Mauser to build the 1889.

Later, as Mauser made one improvement after another, FN started using the improvements until finally there was a huge great amount of screaming and cursing and everything went to court and finally the shrieking quietened down and an amicable agreement was worked out under which FN would be allowed to rent certain Mauser improvements. FN, at that time, was no big competitor.

Things changed, though, after World War One, when DWM was broken up and Mauser was allowed to stay in business solely because they had a small plant and were making sporting rifles. They were not allowed under the Versailles Treaty to make military rifles at all. Suddenly, the agreement with FN became a Very Good Thing. FN made Mausers for export in Belgium and, just South of Germany, there was Czechoslovakia, which had been GIVEN a huge arms industry made up of German equipment, making Mausers for export. So the one served as a counterpoise to the others and the biggest competition seems to have been in pure quality. The 1920s and 1930s were definitely the high-point of 20th Century smallarms production.

An FN 7x57 Venezuelan in MINT condition? Grab it! They ain't makin' no more of they and they are damned rare to start with. Repeat: grab it! If you don't, somebody else will, just as soon as they read this.

She's coming home!