Gewehr

Karabiner 98K Mauser with Gewehr Sprenggranaten (rifle Grenade) and Seitengewehr (bayonet)

The Standard German Karabiner 98k became the final improved version of the 1898 Mauser. Adopted in 1935 for the Wehrmacht, nearly 14 million copies were made by the end of the war. The Mauser 98K is a bolt operated, magazine fed shoulder weapon. The internal magazine holds 5 rounds of 7.92 x 57 mm rifle ammunition. Maximum range is approximately 3000 yards with an effective range of 800 yards. The weapon weighs approximately 9lbs, loaded, with an overall length of 43.6 inches.

Gewehr 43 with ZF-4 scope aka Karabiner 43 (K43)

The development of a semiautomatic rifle by the Wehrmacht came with the help of the Russian Tokarev gas cylinder system.. The early model (G41) had a cumbersome gas operating system, which proved unreliable in the field. The adoption of the Russian system made the G43 reliable and well balanced. Finish of the G43 was rough, having only machined areas where necessary. The rifle was mostly used on the Ost Front (Eastern Front) but also saw use in the West. The rifle has a detachable magazine holding 10 rounds of 7.92 x 57 mm ammunition. The weapon weighs 9lbs /9 oz, and is 44 inches.

Gewehr 41

The Gewehr 41 rifle, commonly known as the G41, was a gas operated, semi-automatic rifle, with an integral 10 round magazine that fired the standard 7.92 x 57mm round. By 1940, it became apparent that some form of a semi-automatic rifle, with a higher rate of fire than existing bolt-action rifle models, was necessary to improve the infantry's combat efficiency. The Wehrmacht issued a specification to various manufacturers, and both Mauser and Walther submitted prototypes that were very similar. The Mauser design, the G41(M), failed. Only 6,673 were produced before production was halted, and of these, 1,673 were returned as unusable. The Walther design, the G41(W), is in outward appearance not unlike the Gewehr 43. Most metal parts on this rifle were machined steel, and some rifles, especially later examples utilized the Bakelite type plastic handguards. G41(W) rifles were produced at two factories, namely Walther at Zella Mehlis, and Berlin Luebecker. Walther guns bear the AC code, and WaA359 inspection proofs, while BLM guns bear the DUV code with WaA214 inspection proofs. These rifles are also relatively scarce, and quite valuable in collector grade as production was around 40,000 units. The overall length is 45 inches and weighed approx 11 lbs. It has a cyclic rate of fire between 20-30 rounds per minute and a maximum effective range of 400 meters.

SVT 40

The SVT-40 (Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva-40) is a gas-operated weapon with a short-stroke, spring-loaded piston above the barrel and a tilting bolt. Chambered in 7.62 x 54R it was equipped with a bayonet and a 10-round detachable magazine. The receiver is open-top, which enables reloading of the magazine using five round Mosin-Nagant stripper clips. Fairly advanced features for the time were the adjustable gas system, muzzle brake, and telescopic sight rails milled into the receiver. The sniper variant had an additional locking notch for a see-through scope mount and was equipped with a 3.5X PU telescopic sight. With the invasion of Russia during Operation Barbarossa, hundreds of thousands of SVT’s were captured. Since the Germans were short of self-loading rifles themselves, the SVT (designated as SIG.259(r) by the Wehrmacht) saw widespread use in German hands against their former owners. The Germans issued their own operating manual for the SVT. The weapon weighs approx 9 lbs and is 48 inches long. It has a maximum effective range of 550 meters.