All these carbines, from Kavalleriekaribiner 98 to the start of the Kar 98b of the 1920's only had Kar 98 on the siderail (Kar 98b can be found stamped on some Weimar short rifles), and in literature of the times are not differentiated. For my self, I still refer to the Karibiner 98 of 1908 as the AZ due to the Imperial Order of February 6th 1908 approving "Verlangerter Karabiner 98 mit Aufpflanz und Zusammensetzeinrichtung", reading Kar98AZ. most of what is said including Kuck's paper always tend to skip over the Kar98a of 1900/1902, and some do confuse this carbine with the later Kar98, especially as the Artilleriekarabiner 98 had a stacking hook! The rest is the same reasoning MauserBill was bashing us with 20 years ago, very well thought out but still skipping over other matters. As for Walters, yes, he has errors but everyone does, even (though I bite my tongue to say it) Dana Jones.
Good reading and well thought out assertions. The AZ desigantion was used during the prototype period and never officially adopted.įun weekend of research passing time beforen I actually get to bring it home! Bigjobss My additional research has revealed that this particular rifle is know as a m98a or kar98a and was a carbine built off a mauser gewehr 98 for support troops, cavalry etc.Ĭonfused me as during WW2 the updated carbine is the well known K98K. The majority of early model karabiner mausers were small ring models and the Danzig productions are one of them. However as you probably don't plan on ever rechambering it for something else than 8x57 you're all good. The difference between the two being that the small ring is just a little less heavy, but at the same time doesn't have the exact same tolerances as a large ringer. First, always look out for small ring and large ring mausers. Heckler303 wrote:Just a note, they are not necessarily K98 Mausers, the one you speak of is a K98AZ. WW2 Mausers will run you a lot cheaper however and are a more updated pattern, however the originals are still a very nice piece. You should expect to pay in today's money somewhere between 700-1000$ for a unmolested and matching parts gun, but try to heckle your way down if you can because frankly, you're not necessarily paying for something of amazing build, but a historically interesting item.
One thing you will want to do is quickly check over the serial numbers, as some variants will have mixed and matched parts over the course of their lifetime however this goes for pretty much any milsurp there is.
Just a note, they are not necessarily K98 Mausers, the one you speak of is a K98AZ.