The Karabiner 98 k was the main rifle of the German army during the Second World War. While the name is often abbreviated as Kar 98 k, period German documents consistently use the abbreviation K 98 k.

Production

Production Statistics

Production numbers only include production from September 1939. Some of the numbers in the original reports are rounded to the nearest hundred or thousand. Production of the Gewehr 29/40 and Gewehr 33/40 are included in the numbers, but were relatively small. Until October 1942, production numbers for scoped and unscoped rifles were amalgamated.

Month Without scope With scope
Inventory Wa A Fz In Losses Exports and other Inventory Wa A Fz In Losses Exports and other
1939
September 2 770 000 62 100 48 000 7 900 - - - - -
October 2 810 000 80 600 73 400 - - - - - -
November 2 894 000 68 000 60 000 4 - - - - -
December 2 943 000 69 100 69 400 4 - - - - -
1940
January 3 013 000 68 400 58 000 - - - - - -
February 3 071 000 61 400 63 000 - - - - - -
March 3 134 000 86 100 86 100 82 400 - - - - -
April 3 137 700 94 800 97 800 7 000 - - - - -
May 3 228 500 101 600 79 100 10 800 - - - - -
June 3 296 800 106 400 96 400 18 700 - - - - -
July 3 374 500 112 200 104 500 12 600 - - - - -
August 3 466 400 93 000 93 100 3 500 - - - - -
September 3 524 500 100 800 99 600 - - - - - -
October 3 624 000 89 000 83 100 5 900 - - - - -
November 3 701 000 107 000 93 300 - - - - - -
December 3 794 000 85 500 93 200 - - - - - -
1941
January 3 887 000 103 700 101 700 - - - - - -
February 3 989 470 105 700 108 450 10 - - - - -
March 4 091 900 101 800 100 900 - - - - - -
April 4 198 800 80 390 89 800 497 - - - - -
May 4 286 300 87 985 84 860 320 - - - - -
June 4 372 800 102 280 101 420 6 156 - - - - -
July 4 468 100 74 360 77 900 21 440 - - - - -
August 4 524 600 70 150 66 700 21 800 - - - - -
September 4 569 500 68 294 70 000 3 982 - - - - -
October 4 630 600 53 124 55 550 5 921 - - - - -
November 4 680 200 51 864 52 464 15 083 - - - - -
December 4 717 500 52 865 38 200 7 500 - - - - -
1942
January 4 748 260 114 363 92 800 5 700 - - - - -
February 4 835 400 103 669 122 950 13 780 - - - - -
March 4 844 500 87 406 98 490 5 628 - - - - -
April 5 037 380 97 666 94 717 5 786 - - - - -
May 5 126 317 105 786 118 593 17 508 - - - - -
June 5 227 402 81 197 101 450 17 456 - - - - -
July 5 311 390 91 602 108 668 17 757 - - - - -
August 5 402 295 84 873 87 992 20 221 - - - - -
September 5 470 076 91 362 108 305 18 055 - - - - -
October 5 560 326 96 691 96 470 9 357 19 480 - 3 732 - - -
November 5 627 959 88 718 89 851 13 205 32 072 - 3 423 - - -
December 5 672 533 88 906 121 845 15 768 26 501 - 5 771 - - -
1943
January 5 752 109 82 017 102 987 13 919 17 494 - 5 380 - 649 -
February 5 823 683 113 426 124 953 238 126 13 991 - 5 690 5 733 1 068 -
March 5 696 519 137 191 151 472 17 652 8 000 - 6 050 4 990 703 -
April 4 190 1401Inventory verified. 150 880 151 701 14 425 12 000 36 129 5 030 4 860 642 320
May 4 315 416 154 924 153 069 73 596 28 452 40 027 3 474 4 605 1 510 -
June 4 366 437 152 168 260 398 6 491 39 233 43 122 4 828 5 295 431 160
July 4 581 111 164 471 174 713 31 727 18 576 47 826 5 288 6 529 1 310 167
August 4 705 521 154 200 165 227 63 141 14 250 52 878 4 797 6 688 2 837 1 913
September 4 793 357 172 106 213 818 27 604 18 351 54 916 3 605 4 400 974 400
October 4 961 220 176 175 153 300 44 091 13 497 57 882 4 170 2 791 1 612 1 131
November 4 494 3731Inventory verified. 165 872 163 868 28 855 10 000 40 1951Inventory verified. 4 037 4 844 1 232 -
December 4 619 386 170 709 200 727 30 291 15 000 43 807 4 906 2 484 1 823 88
1944
January 4 774 822 161 505 209 961 44 364 20 140 44 380 2 563 5 836 1 646 1 525
February 4 920 279 154 501 170 383 90 246 11 000 47 045 2 563 2 273 3 681 350
March 4 989 416 156 021 170 562 63 908 13 500 45 287 5 236 2 706 1 172 350
April 5 082 570 126 689 183 831 34 347 29 000 46 471 3 276 5 470 838 402
May 5 203 054 150 052 165 168 124 750 24 547 50 701 3 076 3 919 2 289 748
June 5 218 925 162 288 166 084 21 885 16 500 51 583 3 494 3 217 402 136
July 5 346 624 213 616 225 031 208 276 14 071 54 262 2 454 3 614 1 779 -
August 5 349 308 170 969 198 441 114 889 2 241 56 097 3 125 2 141 2 009 30
September 5 430 619 140 575 168 254 328 614 330 56 199 1 428 2 982 4 248 -
October 3 200 0001Inventory verified. 141 666 167 817 186 089 12 507 22 0001Inventory verified. 1 984 1 370 1 991 -
November 3 169 221 176 942 202 532 79 467 26 440 21 379 3 900 2 606 1 283 -
December 3 265 846 167 658 178 202 67 568 9 316 22 702 2 533 2 374 1 211 10
1945
January 3 367 164 148 654 138 513 53 576 5 166 23 855 1 775 1 680 641 N/A
February 3 446 935 79 363 N/A 24 894 N/A
March N/A 106 275 N/A

Production Costs

Karabiner 98 k
Price 65-70 Reichmark
Man-hours 20
Production time 3 months
Iron 13.27 kg
Tin 0.0025 kg
Tin 0.0025 kg

Technical Information

Karabiner 98 k
Caliber 7.92 mm
Weight
  • Walnut wood stock: 3.9 kg
  • Plywood stock: 4.1-4.2 kg
Length overall 1110 mm
Lenght of barrel 600 mm
Range
  • Highest sight mark: 2000 m
  • Maximum range: 4500 m
Magazine capacity 5 rounds
Rate of fire 9-10 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity 755 m/s
Barrel life No practical limitation

Penetration Data

While the Karabiner 98 k was capable of firing the S m K and S m K H armor-piercing ammunition, this ammunition was only issued to be fired by machine guns. The penetration data below is therefore limited to other objects using regular S and sS ammunition.

Steel

Thickness S sS
Regular Steel
7 mm 450 m 550 m
10 mm 200 m 300 m
Armor Steel
3 mm 400 m 600 m
5 mm 100 m 100 m

Dry Pinewood

Range S sS
100 m 600 mm 650 mm
400 m 800 mm 850 mm
800 m 350 mm 450 mm
1800 m 100 mm 200 mm

Other Targets

Both S and sS could penetrate up to 900 mm of sand. A brick thickness of 250 mm would stop single shots unless the bullet would hit a joint. Continued fire would be able to destroy the wall.

Notes

  1. Inventory verified. Back

Sources

  1. Zahlen, Formeln und Kurven für den Waffentechniker. Rheinmetall-Borsig. 51 p.
  2. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres (Waffen und Geräte) : Stand: 1.2.41. Berlin, 1941. 86 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab IIc (Rüst) Nr. 300/41 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R164.
  3. Berlin, 1942. 11 p. NARA T78 R146.
  4. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres - Waffen- u. Gerätegebiet : Stand: 1.12.1942. Berlin, 1942. 124 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIIc Nr. 3100/42 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R166.
  5. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres (Waffen und Gerät) : Stand: 1.2.1942. Berlin, 1942. 91 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIc Nr. 300/42 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R165.
  6. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres - Waffen und Geräte : Stand: 1.12.1943. Berlin, 1943. 224 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIIc Nr. 3600/43 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R167.
  7. IIIc - Entwicklung. Wünsdorf : GenStdH/Org Abt III c, 1944. 211 p. NARA T78 R413 H 1/158.
  8. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres - Waffen und Geräte : Stand: 1.12.1944. Berlin, 1944. 198 p. Der Chef der Heeresrüstung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres - Stab Rüst IIIc Nr. 6600/44 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R169.
  9. Überblick über den Rüstungsstand des Heeres - Waffen und Geräte : Stand 1. März 1944. Berlin : WaA, 1945. 190 p. Heereswaffenamt - Wa Stab St Nr. 600/45 g.Kdos.. NARA T78 R413 H 1/156.
  10. PAWLAS, Karl R. Waffen-Revue W 127 - Datenblätter für Heeres-Waffen, -Fahrzeuge und Gerät. Nurnberg : Publizistisches Archiv für Militär- und Waffenwessen, 1976. 248 p. ISBN 3-88088-213-4.