Karabiner 98k Rifle
The Mauser Karabiner 98k was the standard rifle for all branches of the German military during World War II.
Although officially designated as a carbine (karabiner), the 98k was only slightly shorter than the Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b, the World War I era rifles that it replaced. The "k" in 98k stood for kurz, the German word for "short."
The bolt-action 98k was based on a Mauser Standard Model and went into production in 1935. German military doctrine during the war saw the rifleman as support for a squad's machine guns, therefore the slower rate of fire of the bolt-action 98k was considered acceptable compared to the faster rate of fire of Allied semi-automatic rifles such as the American M1 Garand.
The 98k was considered an accurate and reliable weapon, and approximately 14 million of them were produced before the end of the war. The 98k probably would have been replaced by the Sturmgewehr 44 had World War II lasted longer.
Notes
96 Karabiner 98ks were used during the shooting of the film.
