Image credit
- Title
- File:Kar 98K - AM.021488.jpg
- Author
- Armémuseum (The Swedish Army Museum)
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kar_98K_-_AM.021488.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m9.9 g152.8 grverifiedsourceStated with the muzzle velocity in the cited article: 9.9 g (154 gr) ball.
- v878 m/s2,881 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 740 mm barrel, not this arm's 600 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length — no extrapolation (SPEC.md §8.2)
Inputs
- v at 740 mm878 m/s2,881 fpsverifiedsourceMuzzle velocity with 1903-pattern ball ammunition from the Gewehr 98.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 740 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3.9 kg8.598 lbestimatedsourceThe article publishes 3.7–4.1 kg without naming a configuration. Recorded as the midpoint of that range.
- v_recoil2.229 m/s7.312 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity5verifiedsourceIntegral box magazine, loaded from stripper clips.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m9.9 g152.8 grverifiedsourceStated with the muzzle velocity in the cited article: 9.9 g (154 gr) ball.
- v878 m/s2,881 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 740 mm barrel, not this arm's 600 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass9.9 g152.8 grverifiedsourceStated with the muzzle velocity in the cited article: 9.9 g (154 gr) ball.
- diameter8.22 mm0.3236 inverifiedsourceCartridge maximum, dimension G1.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass9.9 g152.8 grverifiedsourceStated with the muzzle velocity in the cited article: 9.9 g (154 gr) ball.
- velocity878 m/s2,881 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 740 mm barrel, not this arm's 600 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Carbine
- Action
- Bolt action
- Fire modes
- Single shot
- Operating system
- Manually operated
- Designed in
- Germany
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1935
- Production
- 1934–1945
Dimensions and mass
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- 800 m874.9 ydsource
Published as 500 m with iron sights and 800 m with a telescopic sight; the higher figure is the sight’s graduation.
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- 14,600,000source
The cited article gives "14,600,000+", so this is a floor rather than a count.
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- 7.92x57mm Mauserprimary5 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Karabiner 98k1,110 mm43.70 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Karabiner 98k records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Lineage
This design
- Derived from Mauser Gewehr 98
Detail
Not a new rifle: the Gewehr 98 with 140 mm taken off the barrel, a turned-down bolt handle and a recess in the stock for it, and a sling that runs through the stock rather than under it. Germany had been shortening its 1898 Mausers since the 1920s and standardised the result in 1935 as the last bolt-action service rifle any major power would adopt.
Its significance is almost entirely in what it was fighting. By 1939 every other combatant either had a self-loading rifle or was working on one, and Germany fought the whole war with a manually operated rifle that fired five rounds — a decision that pushed firepower down to the squad machine gun and produced the doctrine the MG 34 and MG 42 exist to serve.
The action itself is the reason the word Mauser means what it does. Two forward locking lugs, a third safety lug, a claw extractor that grips the case rim as it leaves the magazine and never lets go, and a gas shield on the bolt sleeve. Almost every bolt-action hunting rifle since is a variation on it.
The article publishes its weight as a range with no configuration attached, so that figure is an estimate.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Karabiner 98k · Wikipedia · 1370819150 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated