History

The Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle was widely used by all branches of the armed forces of Germany during World War II. It saw action in every theatre of war involving German forces, including occupied Europe, North Africa, the Soviet Union, Finland, and Norway. Although comparable to the weapons fielded by Germany's enemies at the beginning of the War, its disadvantages in rate of fire became more apparent as American and (to a lesser extent) Soviet armies began to field more semi-automatic weapons among their troops. Still, it continued to be the main infantry rifle of the Wehrmacht until the end of the War. Resistance forces in German-occupied Europe made frequent use of captured German 98k rifles. The Soviet Union also made extensive use of captured Karabiner 98k rifles and other German infantry weapons due to the Red Army experiencing a critical shortage of small arms during the early years of World War II. Many German soldiers used the verbal expression "Kars" as the slang name for the rifle.

During World War II, the Soviet Union captured millions of Mauser Karabiner 98k rifles and re-arsenaled them in various arms factories in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These rifles were originally stored in the event of future hostilities with the Western democracies. These rifles, referred to by collectors as RC ("Russian Capture") Mausers, can be identified by a crude "X" stamp on the left side of the receiver. The Soviet arsenals made no effort to match the rifles' parts by serial number when reassembling them, and some parts (the cleaning rod, sight hood, and locking screws) were deemed unnecessary and melted down for scrap metal.

Most of these rifles were eventually shipped to communist or Marxist revolutionary movements and nations around the world during the early Cold War period. A steady supply of free surplus military firearms was one way that Moscow could support these movements and states without giving them the latest Soviet infantry weapons.

One example of the Soviet Union providing the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle (as well as other infantry weapons captured from the Germans during and after World War II) to its communist allies during the Cold War period occurred during the Vietnam War with the Soviet Union providing military aid to the armed forces of North Vietnam and to the NLF in South Vietnam.

A considerable number of Soviet-captured Mauser 98k rifles (as well as a number of 98k rifles that were left behind by the French after the First Indochina War) were found in the hands of NLF guerrillas and VPA soldiers by U.S. and Allied forces alongside Soviet-bloc rifles like the Mosin-Nagant, the SKS, and the AK-47.

In the years after World War II, a number of European nations that were invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany used the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle as their standard-issue infantry rifle, due to the large number of German weapons that were left behind by the Germans in the later years of World War II. Nations like France and Norway used the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle and a number of other German weapons in the years after World War II. Norway's captured Karabiner 98k rifles were usually rebarreled for the American .30-06 Springfield round, with a small cutout on the receiver so that the slightly longer round could still be loaded with stripper clips. Many of these conversions were rechambered again to 7.62 mm NATO. Some actions from Mauser Karabiner 98k left by German armed forces in 1945 were used by Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (currently Kongsberg Small Arms) for building both military and civilian sniper/target rifles under the Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk Skarpskyttergevær M59 - Mauser M59 and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk Skarpskyttergevær M67 - Mauser M67 designations. These rifles were used by the Norwegian armed forces up to the 2000s.

Many of the liberated European countries continued production of rifles similar to the K98k, for example Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium and Česká Zbrojovka (CZ) in Czechoslovakia produced both their proprietary older models and brand new K98k rifles, many of which were assembled from leftover German parts or using captured machinery. In Czechoslovakia it was known as P-18 or puška vz.98N, the first being the manufacturer's cover designation of the type, the second official army designation - rifle model 98, N for německá - German. In Romania, the Czechoslovak version was known under the informal name of ZB, after Zbrojovka Brno - the Czechoslovak state producer of small weapons and munitions - and it was used to arm Romania's Patriotic Guards, before sufficient numbers of AKM rifles were made available for them. From 1950 to 1965, Yugoslavian Zastava also produced a near-copy of the K98k called the Model 1948, which differed only from the German rifle in that it had the shorter bolt-action of the Czechoslovakian M1924 series of rifles. In addition, until 1953, the Spanish continued manufacturing a slightly modified version, but with a straight bolt handle.

Singleplayer/Co-Op

This weapon is found in most German Missions.

Multiplayer

Damage 80-100 (SP), 40-50 (Regular MP), 70 (Scoped MP)
Damage Multipliers Head: 3.5, Chest: 1.7, Limbs: 1 (SP), Head: 2, Chest: 1.4, Limbs: 1 (MP)
Magazine Size 5 rounds
Maximum Ammunition 50 rounds (SP), 60 rounds (Regular MP), 40 rounds (Scoped MP)
Reload Time 2 s for non-clip based, 1.15 s starting, .2 for every round for scoped version
Rate of Fire Bolt-action
Range 1200-2200 m (SP), 4000-5000 m (MP)
Penetration Large
Fire Mode Bolt-action
Ammunition 7.92x57mm
Unlocked at lvl 41

This gun has resonable accuracy from mid-to long range. It has a faster reload than the Mosin-Nagant and has pretty good power.

It is hard to use in close quarters being a blot action if you miss the first shot it is hard to get another.

Challenges