The new Mauser rifle came out so successful that it fought almost unchanged in the Weimar army throughout the First World War, the army of the Weimar Republic was armed with it, and then the Wehrmacht fought with it in World War II. It has been exported and licensed in a wide variety of ways in Austria and Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, China and various other countries, including Sweden and Spain.
This is how she charged …
Simultaneously with the Gewehr 98 rifle, the Mauser company developed the Kar.98 carbine, but it was produced only until 1905, when the new P7, 92 × 57 mm cartridge with a sharpened bullet entered service. In 1908, the Kar.98a (K98a) carbine appeared on the Gewehr 98 base. In it, the length of the box and, of course, the barrel was reduced, but the main thing is that it had a bolt handle bent down, a special hook under the barrel to put it in the trestle. Then came the most massive modification of the Karabiner 98 Kurz, a model produced in 1935 and adopted by the Wehrmacht as its main individual weapon. Improvements in it were small: the scheme of fastening the rifle belt, sights (the front sight was fixed in the front sight) changed. It is interesting that the name “carbine” does not fit this sample from the point of view of Russian-language terminology, or rather, “not quite” fits. It is more correct to call the Mauser 98k a "shortened" or "lightweight" rifle. The fact is that, according to German terminology, it turned out that some German "carbines" were longer than rifles of the same model. But later they also began to denote a shortened rifle, so if you delve into all these linguistic complexities, then it is not difficult to go crazy. But from a technical point of view, “size matters”, so let it be a “short rifle” anyway.
Karabiner 98 Kurz, model 1937
The production of this model began in 1935, and the most interesting thing is the marking of the produced weapons. For some reason, even on copies of 1937, you can see an old German eagle and … a stylized Nazi "bird". Here they are - for some reason, three!
But on the opposite side - he - "Weimar Eagle".
During World War II, mass production of the 98k required a lot to change in production technology. So, the boxes began to be made of beech plywood, which was replaced by walnut wood, because of which the weight of the carbine increased by 0.3 kg; some parts began to be made of sheet metal by stamping; began to use spot welding; simplified the sight with a shutter; instead of bluing, the details of the rifle began to be phosphated; the lining on the handles of the blade bayonet began to be stamped out of bakelite.
The 98k features a bolt handle, a recess for it on the stock, a slot for a strap on the butt.
In addition to Germany, the 98k was produced at factories in Czechoslovakia from 1924 to 1942. The Czech rifle had a slightly different design, it was somewhat shorter and more convenient than the Gewehr 98. The factory where these rifles were produced was located in the town of Povazska Bystrica.
The year of manufacture is indicated on the breech of the barrel. All parts burnished, including the cartridge feeder.
By design, any Mauser, as we have already seen of this, is a magazine rifle with a sliding bolt with a 90-degree rotation when locking and three lugs. Two in the front of the bolt and one in the back. The reloading handle is also at the rear of the bolt and bent down. The shutter has gas outlet holes through which, in the event of a gas breakthrough from the barrel, they go down into the store cavity. The shutter can be removed without the help of tools, as it is held in the receiver by a special lock, which is located on the left of it. The fuse is put in the middle position, the front of the latch is pulled back and the bolt can be pulled out. The ejector does not rotate, it captures the rim of the cartridge and rigidly holds it pressed against the bolt. Thanks to this, even "tight" sleeves can be removed without much hassle. To disassemble the bolt, a metal disc with a hole in the butt (grommet) is used, which is needed as a stop.
Shop cover. There is a hole in it, and in it is a button. You can press with the tip of a bullet and … "til open." Comfortable!
The two-row store is well laid out. It contains five rounds in a checkerboard pattern and is completely hidden in the stock. You can load from the clip or insert the cartridges one at a time. But cartridges cannot be inserted into the chamber by hand, this can cause a tooth breakage in the ejector.
The trigger travel is made with a warning, which is convenient. Whether the striker is cocked can be easily identified by the position of the shank protruding from the bolt, both by touch and visually. The fuse is three-position, flag, throw-over, has been on the bolt in the rear part since 1871. It can be set in three positions: if horizontally to the left, this means that "the safety catch is on, the bolt is locked", if it looks vertically up, then "the safety is on, the bolt is free" and, finally, horizontally to the right - you can shoot! The "up" position is used when loading and unloading the rifle, and for removing the bolt. Operate the fuse with your right thumb.
The bolt fuse is on, the bolt itself is locked.
The sight is a sector one, consists of an aiming block, an aiming bar and a clip with a latch. Divisions from 1 to 20 and each division is equal to 100 m. The front sight is located on the base of the muzzle of the barrel and on some samples, it is closed with a semicircular removable front sight. On this sample, however, it was not.
Aim.
The stock has a characteristic semi-pistol grip. The butt plate is made of steel and has a door that closes the accessory cavity. The ramrod is under the barrel. Moreover, as in the previous samples, this is a half-ramrod. To clean the rifle, a standard length ramrod is screwed in two halves. As you can see, the “fight” with the weight went literally for grams.
Front swivel.
Instead of the traditional two swivels for the belt, the front swivel was combined with a false ring, and instead of the rear swivel, a through slot was made in the butt. 98k has the advantage over early samples that the clip is thrown out when the bolt is rammed, and the feeder is designed in such a way that when the magazine is empty, it will not allow the bolt to close, which is convenient for shooters with poor memory.
Front sight, ramrod and again the front swivel.
Both rifles and carbines in the German army had blade bayonets of various types attached to the tip of the box. But since bayonet battles for World War II turned out to be atypical, in order to save money at the end of 1944, they stopped equipping weapons with bayonets.
Anti-glare corrugation on the base of the front sight! "A trifle, but nice!"
Advantages:
- the effectiveness of the produced 98k bullet;
- durable, simple in design, and safe in operation, the shutter, which provides high reliability and smooth operation, and has a long service life;
- stopping the bolt in the rear position warns the shooter about the need to load the weapon and excludes attempts to fire from an unloaded weapon;
- the placement of the handle in the rear of the bolt makes it possible to reload the rifle without taking it away from the shoulder and without losing sight of the target, that is, without disturbing the uniformity of aiming, which increases the accuracy of fire;
- the magazine in the box is well protected from possible mechanical damage and it is convenient to carry it with such a magazine.
Disadvantages:
- only five rounds in the store;
- despite the solid mass, the recoil is strong, the sound of the shot is sharp and loud;
- British "Lee-Enfield" has a higher rate of fire;
- is quite difficult to manufacture.
Well, the public recognition of Paul Mauser in strengthening the military power of Germany in 1898 eventually received its political expression: he became a deputy of the German Reichstag, and on June 14, 1902, he was also an honorary citizen of the city of Oberndorf. When he died on May 29, 1914, mourning black flags were hung on the buildings of all well-known arms firms in various countries.
Personal impressions.
I don’t know how from shooting, but in my hands this carbine seemed to me somehow less convenient than … the Spanish ones. Firstly, this one is clearly heavier, although not a little, and secondly, the pistol grip, which everyone praises so much, did not seem to fit very well “on the hand”. That is - yes, it is convenient, who argues, but not only the "Spaniards" seemed more comfortable (after I held them all several times in my hands), but even "Karl Gustov". Here is such a purely subjective impression of this "Mauser", which is even surprising. That is, if it came to shooting, then I would definitely choose a Mauser, yes, but not German, but Spanish No. 2 (1st place), Spanish No. 1 (2nd place), then Swedish "Karl Gustov" (3rd place), and I would put the above model only in 4th place! Although this, of course, is a purely subjective opinion.
