From 1950 to 1965, Zastava produced a near-identical copy of the Kar-98k called the Model 1948 (M48) which differed only from the German rifle in that it had the shorter bolt action of the Model 1924 series of Mauser rifles. Arms factories like Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka (CZ) in Czechoslovakia and the Zastava plant in Kragujevac, Serbia, Yugoslavia, continued to produce the Mauser Kar-98k rifle after 1945. In the years after World War 2, a number of European nations, that were invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, used the Mauser Kar-98k rifle as their standard issue infantry rifle, due to the large numbers of German weapons that were left behind. Among the weapons that the Soviets provided to the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong were Mauser Kar-98k rifles which the Soviet Union had captured from the Germans during and after World War 2.Ī considerable number of Soviet capture Mauser Kar-98k rifles (as well as a number of Mauser Kar-98k rifles that were left behind by the French after the French-Indochina War) were found in the hands of Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese soldiers by US and Allied forces alongside Soviet-bloc rifles like the Mosin-Nagant, the SKS and the AK-47. One example of the Soviet Union providing the Mauser Kar-98k rifle (as well as other infantry weapons the Soviets captured from the Germans during and after World War 2) to her communist allies during the Cold War period occured during the Vietnam War with the Soviet Union providing military aid to the armed forces of North Vietnam and to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. The provision of firearms like the Mauser Kar-98k and the Mosin-Nagant was one way that Moscow could support these organisations and governments until they trusted them enough to provide modern infantry weapons like the SKS carbine and the AK-47 rifle. Another reason was that the Soviets wanted to support various communist guerrilla forces and newly-established communist governments around the world during the early Cold War period with a supply of cheap, surplus, military firearms like the Mauser Kar-98k and the Mosin-Nagant series rifles and carbines. The Soviets suffered a serious shortage of rifles and infantry weapons during World War 2 when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union and the Soviets didn't want to go through the same situation of being short of infantry weapons again, especially with the Cold War beginning after World War 2 ended and the level of hostility that arose between the Soviet Union and the United States during this period of time. One of the reasons behind the Soviets keeping these rifles after World War 2 was that they needed the rifles to arm their soldiers in case another war occurred and the Soviet Union was invaded again. Despite this, the Mauser Kar-98k rifle was still produced in large quantities by the Germans and was still an effective and potent infantry rifle in the final days of the Second World War until Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies in May 1945ĭuring World War 2, the USSR captured millions of Mauser Kar-98k rifles and re-arsenaled them in various arms factories in the late 1940's and 1950's. Towards the end of the war the 98k was being phased out in favor of the MP44, which fired a less powerful round but could be used like a submachine gun in close-quarters and urban fighting. It was the standard rifle, though submachine guns were often preferred, especially for urban combat where the rifle's range was not very useful. Since it was shorter than the earlier carbines, it was given the designation Karabiner 98 Kurz, meaning Short Carbine Model 98. A version with a folding stock was introduced in 1941 to be used by airborne troops. It was designed to be used with a bayonet and to fire rifle grenades. The 98k had the same disadvantages as all other turn-of-the-century military rifles: being comparatively bulky and heavy, and the rate of fire was limited by how fast the bolt could be operated. For this reason it was also used with a telescopic sight as a sniper rifle which extended the effective range to about 800 m when used by a skilled marksman. The rifle was noted for its good accuracy and effective range of up to 500 meters. The Gewehr 98 or Model 1898 took its principles from the Lebel Model 1886 rifle with the improvement of a metallic magazine of five cartridges. It was derived from the earlier rifles, namely the Karabiner 98b which had itself been developed from the Mauser Model 1898. A bolt-action rifle with Mauser-type action holding five rounds of 7.92x57 mm on a stripper clip with an internal magazine.