Questions about rifle action and general strength of k98

[Aragorn243]

Not a matter of issuing troops unsafe rifles. It is a matter of cutting corners, speeding things up and utilizing less resources or other resources because the correct ones are no longer available. Quality in these instances do indeed suffer. Germany did have what is considered a last ditch rifle that most consider a collector piece not suitable for firing. These are extremely rare and the rifle in question here probably is not one.

Information

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[amadeus76]

They cut corners on the stock, cleaning rod, and finish, not on the strength of the action... Doing so would be the most counter productive thing they could have done.

You always hear about this crap, but I’ve yet to see any documented proof that any of the last ditch rifles from either Germany or Japan were unsafe fire or that the actions were significantly less strong than pre-war examples.

[Fruler]

They cut corners on the stock, cleaning rod, and finish, not on the strength of the action... Doing so would be the most counter productive thing they could have done.

You always hear about this crap, but I’ve yet to see any documented proof that any of the last ditch rifles from either Germany or Japan were unsafe fire or that the actions were significantly less strong than pre-war examples.

I agree with you. I doubt Germany, Japan, or even Russia for that matter sent any troops out with dangerous rifles, straight from the factory... Doesn't make sense to, in fact it's counter productive. Omitting things such as cleaning rods, bayonet lugs etc was a good idea IMO... They wouldn't have won the war anyways but I think from the beginning the "war model" should have been the standard from day one of adoption of the k98k. If the average German soldier had time to clean his rifle on the eastern front, or lived long enough on to have had that opportunity, a cheap pull through bore snake wouldve been ideal, like what was used on the Enfield. SO... Yeah, from my understanding there was never a short supply of quality steel... Most of it came from Sweden. I think the problem was getting it to where it needed to be... Basically most all armament plants were bombed. If any gun that i would expect a KABOOM from would be a war time mosin, in any variation... But i dont ever remember hearing of any KABOOMS with those. I'm just impressed with my K98k action. 3 locking lugs... 8mm mauser... it would take a seriously over pressured load to blow my 1944 dot Russ capture. The one i ended up buying has been shot a lot. Totally rebuilt by the russians. Only matching number is the stock. Im also impressed with the accuracy of the rifle... But ive only shot it out to 100 yards with irons. Thanks for replying!!!

[Calif-Steve]

Just re-read this string. I am not referring to strength of the 1945 Kar98k. They are usually very strong. But the 1945 production has its own collector fans. Shooting the rifle MAY devalue it. A good shooter would be a 1938-42 Kar98k. But only from a collector view. It is true German armor steel declined in late 1944 and caused problems for tank steel, but as far as I know this was not the case for rifle production. I have owned only one 1945 Kar98k, as they tend to be few and far between. Just take good care of it and good luck.

[Sunray]

"...from a collector view..." There are collectors who want one K98 from every year of manufacture.
I doubt there was any difference in QC between 1939 Oberndorf rifles and 1945 Oberndorf rifles. Slave labour or not.
The Germans made more stuff in 1945 than they did in 1940. Just in underground factories. Despite the 24 hours of bombing.

[CINDERS]

Yes the Allies pounded them 24/7 but had the twit not interfered with the 262 then the B-17's and the like would have been shot out of the skies as the allied fighters of the period until the meteor came about very late in the war well they could not hope to get the jets unless they were landing or taking off or just plain napping.
Nazi production in the latter part in some instances went up in '44-45 and truth be known if they had made the firing block with its slider out of 2 different metals then the aerial mines they dropped would never have suffered binding thus rendering them useless with the time delay clock, they alone nearly brought England undone the Magnetic, Acoustic and Magnetic/Acoustic mines.
There was the aerial mine George also which was the pinnacle of their development with photo electric cells and a printed circuit to boot well before anyone else developed one, you should take the time to study what they developed in the war the FW-190 was a fly by wire with a power divider with double wiring in case one lot got damaged.

I know nought about the production of K-98 '45 vintage but given the Germans propensity to quality in producing weapons then the proof firings would have delivered bad results and quite traceable back to certain areas of production not good for the person doing that part of the process.
Yes there were sabotage efforts one story related to a B-17 coming back with 3 x 20mm explosive rounds in its fuel tank care of a German fighter when the armourers came to delouse them they found them to be duds with no explosives in them but one had a note inside with "This is all I can do for now."

[Paul S.]

Reference the Gloster Meteor:
My godfather, Denis Powell, was a RAF fighter pilot, first on Spitfires and then Mosquitos and finally on the Meteors before war's end. The Meteors were not allowed to cross the channel until very near the war's end for security reasons. The concern being the risk of their technology being divulged if one had been lost and fell into German hands. For that reason, they were initially used to intercept and shoot down or 'tip over' V-1s by coming alongside, getting a wingtip under the stub wing of the V-1 and tip it over. The V-1s would explode once they went inverted.

That was something he did to earn the King's shilling back then.

[Fruler]

Excellent information guys. I ended up getting a much cheaper k98k from a local guy for $450. Russian capture... Interestingly the only serial number that matches is the stock to the receiver. Other than that, not a single matching number. Shoots great... 1944 dot made. I dont care about the lack of matching numbers, just wanted an example of a k98k to shoot. Only complaint is from the seller. Told me when i bought it he took it out shooting the day before.... The idiot used corrosive ammo, so after about a week of sitting i noticed rust appearing on the bolt... Ran a patch and brus h down the bore and sure enough, rusty... Got the rust out, all is well now. Sanded rust of bolt with very fine grade sandpaper i had laying around. I do like the 100 yard sights... Compared to my enfield that has a 300 and 600 yards sight. Rifle is dead on at 50 and 100 yards... Luckily over the past 75 years someone took the time to zero the rifle. Thanks guys for the information, very appreciated.