Mauser 98K rifle

Germany was the birthplace of two world wars. After a disastrous defeat in World War I, in order to seek revenge, they mobilized technology for twenty years under the watchful eye of the victorious country.

As is well known, the European battlefield is basically a story of Master Hans fighting alone against more than ten countries. It was a large amount of black technology that allowed the German army to crush them in the early stages of World War II, with Harden in the middle and death in the later stages. In terms of heavy weapons, Germany has advanced aircraft, artillery, tanks, and huge ships; At least, there are also top-notch firearms such as MG42, MP40, and STG44.

All kinds of large guns have advanced technology, but the style of the main gun is surprising, and it can even be said that it is still at the level of the late 19th century.

From 1935 to 1945, the Kar98k rifle was the standard infantry rifle of the German Army. And this gun is just a shortened version of the 1898 Gew rifle.

In order to support its massive defense forces, Nazi Germany produced a total of 14.6 million 98K units from the war preparation stage to the end of the war. This type of gun has never been replaced by any other type of gun in the configuration of German infantry weapons.

So, why did Germany use the 98K as the standard rifle? What are the performance characteristics of 98K?

Firstly, the consistent Mauser rifle

In German, "Gew" is the prefix for a rifle, and "Kar" is the prefix for a carbine. The G98 is also short for the 1898 rifle. Its predecessor was the Mauser rifle, and its history can be traced back to 1867.

During the Austrian War and the Franco Prussian War, the Prussian army, relying on the superior performance of rear mounted artillery, destroyed the French Empire in ten months and withdrew Austria from the German Confederation in seven weeks. At the same time, the line infantry of European countries are still stuck in the mode of firing with front mounted flint guns in formation.

After defeating France, the Kingdom of Prussia dominated the world and upgraded to the Second German Empire, entering the ranks of great powers.

The New Army has identified this rifle as a key development direction for future individual light weapons and invited nationwide bidding for an upgraded rear mounted gun using metal fixed ammunition.

The brothers William and Paul Mauser collaborated with the American company Remington to improve the French Chasebo rifle, allowing it to fire metal cartridges instead of poorly sealed paper cartridges.

The Mauser rifle with a 11.15mm black powder magazine was born and was adopted by the Prussian Army due to its excellent performance, ultimately finalized as the Gew71 rifle.

Afterwards, the two brothers established a close cooperative relationship with the German army, which influenced the development of Germany's century old weapons. (The original team of Mauser Company provided an early talent foundation for the Hong Kong company)

In 1884, French chemists developed something called smokeless gunpowder. Early rifles used black gunpowder as the power for projectile firing, so each firing emitted thick smoke, exposing the shooter's position. If you are using a series of weapons, when all the bullets are fired, a smoke wall will rise under your feet, and you can't see anything.

And this type of gunpowder will leave solid residue that is difficult to clean inside the gun barrel, which is very troublesome.

However, the birth of smokeless gunpowder solved the problems of this century, paved the way for the development of packaged bombs, and allowed human thermal weapons to progress for decades. There is almost no residue or smoke after the explosion of this gunpowder. Gunholders no longer have to worry about smoke blocking their sight.

By the 1890s, smokeless gunpowder bombs were quickly adopted by armies of various countries. The emergence of smokeless gunpowder coincided with the enormous demand of imperialist countries to launch colonial wars and seize military hegemony. Emperor William said that the German army also needed a whole unit, and the Mauser brothers immediately arranged to manufacture an upgraded version of the Gew71 smokeless powder - the gew 98 rifle. The gun is 1.25 meters long and the handle is pulled straight. The 7.92x57 bullets used in this gun were defined by the German army as standard calibers and continued until the end of World War II.

The experience of World War I tells us that the combat radius of infantry is usually within 400 meters, and guns that are too long can cause infantry to be inflexible in trench warfare. The carbine gun was originally intended for cavalry use, but history has shown that infantry also need this type of gun. So mainstream rifles have embarked on a path of "combining infantry and cavalry". All countries have shortened their rifles. By World War II, only Japan remained among the industrialized countries using long rifles.

After a long development process of K98AZ and K98b carbine guns. In 1924, Mauser Company launched a "standard rifle" with a length of one meter, replacing the straight pull handle of the G98 with a downward curved handle, and modifying the shutter, sight, and ruler. This is the origin of "Emperor Deutschland One Meter One".

Hitler came to power in 1933. In 1935, Germany announced the reorganization of its armaments. This Mauser "standard" rifle was targeted by the Nazis and officially put into service, designated as the kar98K. The G98 rifle continues the same lineage.

Secondly, why not replace the 98K with a semi-automatic rifle?

Obviously, Germany has decided to spend its money and resources elsewhere. After all, armor and aviation are the most important things to win a blitzkrieg.

Starting from the overall situation, the guns in the hands of infantry will not be the decisive factor in modern combat. Compared to reliable supply lines, sophisticated fighter jets and bombers, and even precise artillery or motorized vehicles, rifles make little contribution to war. Who cares if a soldier's gun can be fired repeatedly?

The semi-automatic structure is complex and more expensive than a bolt rifle. Rather than risking one's life to invest in new and immature technologies, it is better to use those old and proven technologies. During World War II, Germany attempted to develop semi-automatic rifles, but in the end, due to the deteriorating situation, they were not heavily equipped.

After the end of World War I, almost all major countries had a large number of available bolt action rifles and ammunition to match it.

But they all lack funds for military research and development. In order to save costs, almost all countries can initiate arms restructuring plans, replacing and repairing firearms left over from World War I, and reusing them.

No one has time to upgrade the rifle to semi-automatic and equip it with more modern ammunition. The United States is an exception. In the 1930s, they developed at least two different semi-automatic rifle designs and installed the M1 Garland on all staff in 1936, becoming the first country in the world to achieve standard semi-automatic rifles.

The United States says: costs and resources are not issues! I have money and power. The most important thing is that productivity is highly developed, and there is no need to worry about factories dropping bombs even if they are far away from Europe.

Thirdly, Germany vs the United States

These two countries have different positions on rifles.

The core of German infantry tactics is machine guns, which are used by machine gunners to assist machine gunners. Gunners must carry ammunition on the back of machine guns. When the gunners cease fire and change bullets, they still need to use 98K to help cover up. The final battle ended with a bayonet charge, so the rifle itself had little effect.

The M1 Garland rifle goes against German doctrine. Americans believe that their machine gunners are also professional marksmen, using M1 Garland as their dominant firepower to dominate the infantry battlefield. Everyone is the pillar of fire in the team.

The US military's firepower is dispersed, relying on the command system of platoons and companies. The US Army has more advanced communication equipment. The radio station spreads to the ranking unit.

However, the German army did not have such convenient communication, so platoon or company commanders retained direct control over the gunners.

It's difficult to argue which theory is better. The German army supported the team with powerful machine guns, making up for the lack of firepower in crossbow rifles. Resulting in an increase in ammunition burden for team members, strong dependence, and weak independence. Once the enemy kills the gunner, the firepower of the infantry formation will be greatly reduced.

In contrast, the firepower of US infantry units is difficult to crack by killing individual targets.

IV. 98K vs Lane Stadium

After going to the battlefield, the first opponent the 98K faced was the British Lee Enfield rifle.

Li En, like Stern, is named after a designer and manufacturer. "Li" is taken from designer Li Zhongqing, while Enfield is a British firearms factory.

Li En's early versions used black gunpowder particles, which were not officially finalized until 1895 when smokeless gunpowder was used. This gun was an iconic weapon of the British army, accompanying them through World War I and World War II.

Li En, like the 98K, were both products of the late 19th century and were the main weapons of their respective opposing camps. So, which of these two lenses is better or worse?

Compared to the 98K, the most significant advantage of Li En's field combat is its fast firing rate and large payload capacity. The magazine of the Enfield rifle can hold two rows of five bullets at a time, for a total of 10 bullets. And 98K can only load five bullets at a time.

The structure of the Lien field is significantly different from that of the 98K field. The bolt of the 98K rifle is locked on the front scale, while the bolt of the Leanfield rifle is locked on the back. The distance between the plug and the back of the plug is smaller than the former.

That is to say, the Lifefield rifle takes less time to pull the bolt from the beginning to the end than the 98K rifle. Similarly, rifles operated by the bolt have smaller action amplitude and faster speed during operation.

Li En Field is an explosive bolt action rifle. When a gunman suddenly encounters an emergency situation from an enemy at close range, he can complete all 10 rounds of ammunition in the magazine within 8 seconds and then change the ammunition. With just a few people working together and shooting in groups, the effect of a machine gun can be achieved. On the other hand, the 98K gunman on the opposite side had already opened several holes with a radius of 7.7mm before the bolts were tightened.

For the British, this is a particularly proud place because a well-trained infantry can shoot more bullets per minute than their opponents. In addition, the bolts in the Li En field can be unlocked, thrown, loaded, and locked by pulling 45 degrees. Sagittarius can keep their line of sight at 3.1. Pull down the latch.

A very classic case is the Battle of Mons in 1914. Ten thousand British infantry used their Lifenfeld rifles to repel the attack of nearly 40000 German infantry equipped with G98 in half an hour. This battle was a pure rifle duel, without artillery or machine guns.

The Enfield rifle is locked at the back, so its airtightness is worse than that of the 98K, and the utilization rate of gunpowder gas is slightly lower.

The design after locking will cause significant lateral shaking, affecting accuracy. Li En sometimes plays for 10 rounds, but never hits a single round.

Both Li En and 98K use contemporary technology, and there is not much difference between the two generations. In terms of performance, there are gains and losses, and there is no absolutely perfect gun.

The Mauser 98K is the most famous bolt action rifle in history and one of the most widely used infantry weapons. Since becoming the standard rifle for the German Armed Forces in June 1935, its presence can still be found in the arsenal of rebels, militias, and second line government forces from Ukraine to Syria today.