Karabiner 98

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The main infantry rifle of the German Wehrmacht forces during the second World War.

The Karabiner 98 Kurz (Carbine 98 Short in English), commonly abbreviated Kar98k and referred to as "Kars" by German soldiers, was developed as a replacement for the Gewehr 98. Like the Gewehr 98 the Karabiner 98 sought to replace, it was manufactured by the German Mauser arms company. Mauser had previously produced carbine rifles such as the Karabiner 98b, but opted to use the 'k' (or 'Kurz') designation, which is German for 'short', to designate their newer rifles. The Karabiner 98k is a bolt-action rifle, proving effective at ranges up to 500 yards. The weapon was considered to be highly accurate and reliable for its time, but the primary downside came from the 'stripper clip' used to load the rifle more quickly. The Karabiner 98k rifle could only hold five rounds in its frame. While this may have been sufficient at longer ranges, it proved unsatisfactory at closer ranges, where modern arms such as the semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle and sub-machine guns proved to be superior. When compared to the M1 Garand rifle of the United States Army, the Karabiner 98k may appear inadequate, but remained the standard rifle of the German armed forces until the end of the war. Originally, plans were to phase out the Karabiner 98k rifle, and replace it with the more modern Sturmgewehr 1944 rifle when it entered production. However, production of the new automatic rifles was slow and expensive, meaning that it did not entire widespread service before the fall of the Third Reich. By the end of World War II, the Nazis were skimping on the quality of the Karabiner rifles being produced. These newer rifles had some features removed from the more polished earlier models in order to decrease manufacturing time, and were designated the 'Kriegsmodell' rifles (War Model). The Karabiner 98 was one of the rifles employed in the army with a scope. This scope made the rifle prove more accurate up to a range of 875 yards. The manner in which the scopes were mounted to the rifle proved problematic for snipers, however, as they blocked part of the ammunition feed system. The stripper clips could not be used with the scoped rifles for this reason, and it meant that each round needed to be loaded into the rifle individually.

==Game Appearances ==

===Battlefield 1943

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The Karabiner 98 appears in Battlefield 1943 (Game) as the weapon of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 'Rifleman' class. This is unusual due to the fact that the Kar 98k was never in service with the Japanese. DICE explained this fact by letting players know that the rifle was used as the development team did not have time to model and prepare a more accurate rifle for the Japanese army, such as the Arisaka. The Kar 98 is a good rifle, and is equal to that of the US Marines.

===Call of Duty: World at War

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The Karabiner 98 is a commonly encountered rifle during the campaign mode of Call of Duty: World at War, being carried by soldiers in the Russian campaign. The rifle holds five rounds, and is used with a stripper clip to increase the ease of use. Scoped variants can also be found, or selected in online play. The Karabiner 98 is powerful, often killing hostiles during the campaign with a single bullet. In online play, it retains the same statistics as all of the other bolt action rifles, including the damage increase when used with a Sniper Scope. Attachments unlocked for the rifle are the scope, Bayonet, and finally, Rifle Grenades. Unlocked at Rank 44, the Karabiner 98 tends to be one of the more popular sniper rifles, though many players choose to abandon it upon unlocking the PTRS-41.

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