Performance data (Mauser Model 1898)
Caliber: 7.92 mm
Gun length: 1250 mm
Gun weight: 4.1 kg
Muzzle velocity: 870 m/s
Ammunition feed: 5-round magazine
Launch mode: single shot
"Mauser" rifle is a general term for the rifles produced by the German Mauser Arsenal in the late 19th century ~ early 20th century. The Mauser rifle was the most widely used military firearm in all countries in the world at that time, and its invention was a major change in the history of rifles.
Wilhelm Mauser, the inventor of the Mauser rifle, was born in Germany in 1838 to a family of gunsmiths, and after graduating from primary school, he worked as an apprentice in the arsenal, later served in the artillery unit, and then returned to the arsenal. In 1866, Wilhelm Mauser invented a single-shot loading rifle, the first to use a metal cartridge rectangular bullet, which became the official equipment of the German army in 1871, called the "Mauser" Type 1871 rifle. The following year, William Mauser, together with his older brother Paul Mauser, founded the famous Mauser Brothers Arsenal.
The "Mauser" rifle was continuously improved in use, and in 1884 it was equipped with a magazine that could hold 8 rounds, which became a repeating rifle, called the "Mauser" M84 type. Later, with the invention and use of smokeless gunpowder, the "Mauser" rifle was changed to the M88 type, and the caliber was reduced from the original 11 mm to 7.92 mm. Smokeless gunpowder has a higher combustion energy than the original black powder, giving the new gun an effective range of 600 meters and is considered the world's first truly modern rifle.
In 1898, the passionate William Mauser successfully developed the Type 1898 rifle based on the M88 rifle, which is the world's most successful non-automatic rifle. The gun later became the standard German rifle in World War I. The gun was reloaded using a loader and did not have a visible magazine. Precision and durability gave the Type 1898 an excellent reputation among German soldiers.
The standard rifle of the German infantry during World War II was the Mauser Kar98K
"Carbine", carbine, that is, short-barreled rifle. Despite the somewhat deterioration in the quality of the materials used to make guns in the later stages of the war, the 11.5 million Mauser 98K rifles still accompanied the German soldiers through the final years of the war. In June 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy. To the surprise of the Allied commanders, it was not the German Tigers and Bf-109 bombers that inflicted heavy casualties, but the German snipers armed with 98K sniper rifles. This ultimate weapon, converted from the Mauser 98K carbine, cost half of the 3 full U.S. infantry battalions in the first two weeks, and almost every Allied soldier prayed that he would not fall into the crosshairs of the Mauser 98K.
Despite the Mauser's reliable bolt and good shooting accuracy, the Kar98K carbine was not a high-performance weapon in World War II, when the M1 Garand in the United States and the SVT in the Soviet Union greatly increased the rate of fire of the weapon with automatic reloading. And even compared with similar weapons, the front-end locked-out Mauser bolt is not as fast as the rear-locking Lee-Enfield-type bolt, the shooter using the Kar98k must move the whole arm to throw the case and load, while the shooter using the SMLE rifle only needs to move the wrist joint to achieve it, so the actual rate of fire of the Kar98k is only about 10 rounds / min, and it is remarkable that a skilled shooter can reach about 15 rounds / min, while the rate of fire of the SMLE can generally reach 15 rounds / Minutes or more, a skilled shooter can even shoot a rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute.
But the Mauser Kar98K rifle was not a burning stick after all, and with the resounding name "Mauser", this outdated weapon was taken home by many Allied soldiers after the war or sold to other collectors. In addition, a large number of 98k were renovated and continued to be used by France, East Germany, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Yugoslavia and other countries after the war, and 98k was still fighting on the battlefield during the Korean War, the Second Middle East War in 1956 and later the Vietnam War. The Type 98k carbine, as a classic World War II weapon, is still popular with firearms enthusiasts and is used for collectibles, shooting sports, or hunting.