The German Kar 98K

Produced between 1935 and 1945, the Kar 98K was the standard infantry rifle of the Wehrmacht during WW2.  Firing a 7.92x57 round this bolt action rifle proved a very successful design and over 14.5 million were produced.  The example illustrated here was made in 1938 (the sling is a modern repro) and is a de-activated example that managed to find it's way home with me from the War and Peace show at Beltring this year.  To help anyone wanting to get the detail right for painting and finishing one of these in any scale, I though we'd add a set of reference photos that might help.

Production was led by Mauser and this 5-shot rifle was loaded using a 5-round stripper clip.  It weighs around the 4Kg mark and had an effective range out to 500 metres, extending to 800 with telescopic sights.  Still found in use in some places around the world, it has proved a very successful design.  Many of the captured examples in Russia were refurbished by state arsenals and passed to countries and groups supported by the Soviet Bloc during the Cold war.  Others are what are now sold in de-activated form to collectors and re-enactors.