Third Party Press

Purchased my first Karabiner 98K

TexHill

Junior Member
Hello all,

I'm a new Karabiner 98K owner looking for information on my new rifle. Not long ago I decided to start collecting the rifles of WWII. I recently purchased a Karabiner 98K and a Type 99 Arisaka to go with my Winchester and Springfield Armory M1 Garands.

The K98K that I purchased is a numbers matching rifle with no import marks. From my research, the rifle was manufactured in 1940 by Mauser. That is the extent of what I've been able to discover on my own. The person that I bought the rifle from said that it is a Kriegsmarine rifle, but I don't know enough about the markings to determine whether it was issued to the Kriegsmarine or the Heer. What markings identify this rifle as being issued to the Kriegsmarine? I'm attaching a link to an imgur photo album with pics.

Thank you for your time and knowledge.

https://imgur.com/a/rkvsGwo

Here's a photo album of my Type 99 in case any of you are interested in it. It is also numbers matching, no import mark, and the mum is intact.

https://imgur.com/a/XSS8OmG
 
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Looks like a right/good gun from Mauser Borsigwalde in Berlin... So many times, a "new" poster arrives with a rifle that has issues. Congrats/
 
The rifle looks pretty good to me. Nice honest wear to it. There is a M stamp in the wood below the circular disk (bolt takedown disk). That M was to show that the rifle was intended for kriegsmarine use. H would have been for the heer (army) or L for luftwaffe (airforce). As Bob states above, when people show case there first k98k rifle on here they are basket cases. This one looks good!


John.
 
Not sure if you were the purchaser on Feb 25th. If you weren't the description might have some more useful info for you:

Very good condition WWII German 98k Mauser rifle in 8mm Mauser (7.92 x 57) caliber that is marked with code “243” on the receiver for manufacture by Mauser-Werke Borsigwalde and dated 1940. Rifle is NOT import marked and has all matching serial numbers. Rifle shows rare and desirable Kriegsmarine (Navy) use with an “eagle M” property cartouche in the right side buttstock. Metal finish is original blue showing some wear to bright and gray. Bore is fine and bright with strong rifling. Stock has original finish and shows some normal handling marks. Gun is a vet bringback with a repaired duffle cut in the forend under the rear band. Rifle is complete with original front sight and cleaning rod that may be a replacement. A rare Navy marked 98k with all matching numbers that will make an excellent addition to a collection.
 
So the "M" on the stock is the only marking that identifies the rifle as being a Kriegsmarine rifle?
 
Thank you very much for your input and congratulations. I've been wanting a K98K for a while, but I knew better than to go the Mitchell's Mausers route.

Any advice or recommendations in regards to shooting my new to me rifle? Is there a preferred ammo, or are there any manufacturers I should stay away from?
 
PPU is generally good ammo, and cheap.

It's good to hear that PPU makes good Mauser ammo because I'm already a fan of their's. I shoot PPU in my Garands because they're one of the few manufacturer that make 30-06 to M2 ball specs.
 
Welcome! Looks like a nice honest rifle. I shoot both flavors of PPU and like them both. The guys have pretty much covered everything. MB rifle, looks maybe combat carried? The blue ink stamp under the butt is the laminate cure date I believe? 4th day of the 33rd week of 1939?
 
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It's good to hear that PPU makes good Mauser ammo because I'm already a fan of their's. I shoot PPU in my Garands because they're one of the few manufacturer that make 30-06 to M2 ball specs.

I only shoot PPU 8mm Mauser and highly recommend PPU to everyone.

With my 18" LARUE (get on my level) AR15s I pretty much only run the PPU XM193 5.56 NATO spec'ed surplus white box. It runs super clean and I get 1/2 MOA @ 100 yards. Never have had a single problem. I love PPU.
 
Welcome! Looks like a nice honest rifle. I shoot both flavors of PPU and like them both. The guys have pretty much covered everything. MB rifle, looks maybe combat carried? The blue ink stamp under the butt is the laminate cure date I believe? 4th day of the 33rd week of 1939?

The stock completion date code means 4th day of the 33rd week of 1940 and it's August 15, 1940. By the way, here is the older brother: Link

Both K98ks are "s" block Kriegsmarine rifles and they share the same stock completion date.

Regards,
Stephan
 
Where would be the best place to get the proper sling and bayonet for my rifle?



Guys in the community are awesome and are always willing to help. If your looking for a bayonet that is correct for your rifle I would make a post in the bayonet section of the forum, they are very knowledgeable and can point you in the right direction.

In regards to the slings: mowzerluvr (he is awesome to deal with) has a bunch of slings for sale on the trader forum. You might want to check with him to see if there are any left that might be correct for your rifle.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?35377-WTS-Original-K98k-slings
 
nice rifles! looking at the arisaka i have to mention that yesterday i was in the grocery store and saw a tall lanky old man wearing a WW2 vet cap. I went up to talk to this spry very old man to thank him for his service. I asked him what he did during the war. He told me he served in the Navy on a ship escorting assault boats onto islands at guadalcanal and tarawa all the way up to iwo jima. he wasn't at saipan. it was great talking to him for a couple of minutes and i wish now i had asked him the name of his ship.
 
Thank you very much for your input and congratulations. I've been wanting a K98K for a while, but I knew better than to go the Mitchell's Mausers route.

Awesome rifles! Arisaka complete with intact mum, dust cover, bipod, aircraft sights. KM K98 all matching. Can't kid anyone - your no newb lol. A few grand in investment there.

Is that a rejection asterisk on a 1940 barrel?
Didn't know that happened so early in the war.
 
Awesome rifles! Arisaka complete with intact mum, dust cover, bipod, aircraft sights. KM K98 all matching. Can't kid anyone - your no newb lol. A few grand in investment there.

Is that a rejection asterisk on a 1940 barrel?
Didn't know that happened so early in the war.

Thank you for your compliment. I also have two nice M1 Garands. One is a Springfield made in October of '42, and the other is a Winchester made in October of '43. My most unique rifle is an exceptional Winchester manufactured M1917 that has Elmer Keith's inspection stamp on the left wrist of the stock from when he was an inspector at the arsenal in Ogden, Utah.

I'm trying to learn as much as possible about my K98K. Rejection asterisk? Why would they have rejected the barrel, and would they still have put it into service?
 
Rejection asterisk? Why would they have rejected the barrel, and would they still have put it into service?

Doesn't mean it was major defect. Possibly just something was out of spec in the area of the asterisk and needed a minor rework.
 

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