Mauser Kar98k

Description

Rare on many levels! In genuinely excellent condition for a battle rifle which has definitely seen war service, this is a very desirable example of a hard to find pre-war 1935 production K98k Mauser German WW2 service rifle has a very interesting history. The Wehrmacht occupied Norway very early on in WW2 & remained there for the duration of the war as they expected the Allies to attempt retaking the country. Leading up to the invasion of France, the Allies strongly encouraged the Norwegian resistance to tie up German troops so around 400,000 German troops were still in Norway on D-Day, which effectively prevented them from getting involved in the conflict. When Germany surrendered, Norway had hundreds of thousands of Kar98's come into their possession. The Norwegians had been using Krag-Jorgensen rifles pre-war which were obsolete so they came to the obvious decision to equip their military with these K98 Mausers. They required around 250,000 so they obviously picked the best to keep & this is one of these. Most were converted into 30-06 in 1954 but the Navy decided to keep the original calibre of 7.92mm as identifiable by the markings, including the renumbering by the Norwegians. 13464 is the S/N given & it went into Naval service as indicated by K.N.M.Nr below the new S/N. This Karabiner 98k (K98) was made by the actual Mauser factory in 1935 as identified by S/42G being stamped on the receiver ring indicating 1935 as being the year of manufacture due to the rare 'G' code. It is covered in correct Waffenamts & eagle firing proof in all the right places. Correctly, being pre-war it also has some Weimar Republic proofs, being the eagle with downward pointing wings (see photos of the side of the receiver). It displays the standard Waffenamt proofs & single firing proof on the barrel & receiver, with “Mod. 98” marked on the receiver wall plus you can still see the remains of the Nazi proofs on the stock. Despite being pre-war, it is fitted with one of the earlier laminated stock instead of the solid walnut stock. It's impossible to tell if this was done by in German service or later, by the Norweggers. This is an excellent example of a pre-war K98k rifle made when the Germans were still building high quality guns & before the Germans began to introduce changes to production techniques to save time, materials & money. According to records & as described by Richard Law on page 48 of ‘Backbone of the Wehrmacht’ only 182,317 were manufactured that year or, 1.29% of Kar98k production! Considering the wartime attrition rate & post war tombuggery, this a highly desirable & collectable rifle. We wouldn't call it mint condition but it is definitely an excellent example of a collector grade pre-war rifle from the original manufacturer with real history. Pre-war Mauser produced K98’s have always been hard to find & all K98’s have become very desirable as they are getting harder & harder to find, let alone a Norwegger in original calibre. We are not going to try & rate the condition out of 100 as everyone seems to have a different opinion on what the percentages should be, so we'll let the pictures be the description. You will know if this is for you so view the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information. Ask for more if desired. We are offering this rifle as a collectable piece of military history & acknowledge the grievous atrocities committed by the Nazi regime & some of its military, particularly toward the peoples of occupied territory & the Jewish population in Europe. In no way do we condone or glorify the Nazi regime which must be remembered for the vile stain on human history that it was. We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional & are happy for feedback from people who know more than we do. Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an 'as is' basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting. We have a pretty unique refund policy on our collectable guns whereby we will refund your money if it is not as described when you receive it. Just let us know before you decide to send it back. Standard cost for shipping is $55 & all guns are sent via Startrack without insurance but we pack very well.  

Specifications