1940 Berlin-Lübecker Maschinenfabrik (237) Karabiner 98k

[cyanghost]

I recently purchased a Wehrmacht issue Kar 98k and I absolutely love it. Dare I say, I love it more than my M1 Garand. Mine is not all matching and appears to be Russian captured. But the stock, receiver and barrel have matching parts from 1940. The rest was random stuff from the time period, and some parts are electro penciled. Based on my _limited_ understanding and research, that generally means it was Russian captured, however I'm not certain of that.

When I was shopping around for a good K98K, my only requirement was that the receiver be German made. As luck would have it, the receiver, barrel and stock are matching and were manufactured by "237" aka Berlin-Lübecker Maschinenfabrik. (yes, I cut and pasted that company name from Wikipedia. )

I understand that the firearm was initially used by those on the wrong side of history, however that was long ago in the past. I think it's still good to appreciate the old firearms and perhaps give us a good reminder of our history and why we shouldn't repeat certain facets of it.

I tried to find some good American 8mm Mauser ammo at an acceptable price but was unable to. This proved be incredibly difficult and may not be a reasonable expectation considering the cartridge and the firearm aren't even American made or engineered. The only stuff I've tried so far was Prvi Partizan ammo I found at a local Cabela's store. I've recently been told that there is "hotter" ammo that is more like the stuff the German Army used and that the Prvi Partizan ammo was downgraded due to concerns of other 98k rifles not liking hot ammo. I haven't purchased any of that ammo yet, but I plan to.

Regarding the Prvi Partizan ammo, I was concerned since I hadn't tried their ammo before but it actually functioned very well! It seems like it's well made and wasn't too dirty or anything.

The rifle itself was incredibly dirty when I first received it. I decided to completely field strip the bolt and the rifle itself and I ran Hoppe's 9 gun cleaner over every part I could until it was perfectly clean and lubricated it. The barrel was the most time consuming to clean. My goodness, it took about 50+ patches before it was clean. I eventually picked up some Ballistol and because it has a sprayer, I sprayed it down the barrel because I was getting tired of constantly running patches of Hoppe's 9 through. That seemed to do the job best.

My next plan is to purchase a sling for it. Period correct slings are expensive and I'd hate to wear them out more than they already are. At The Front sells a USA made sling and stopper for an acceptable price:

• https://www.atthefront.com/product-p/gwk98t.htm
• https://www.atthefront.com/product-p/gwk98hs.htm

Pictures are attached, I know they are not great. Perhaps when circumstances permit, I will take better pictures.

This wonderful firearm will be a keeper in my collection for the rest of my life! It's so fun to shoot and a real pleasure to own alongside the Luger pistol!

[Eugen]

Cyanghost, what a great story on finding the right k98 that works for you. I enjoyed the read. Thanks for sharing.

[cyanghost]

I recently came to the realization that my karabiner was coated in a waxy substance and you may notice it looks a bit red in the pictures I initially posted. I read that it was shellac, a substance the Russians put on these captured rifles. I used duct tape and was able to remove around 90% of it. Now, I think the rifle is looking more like it was originally configured. Additionally, the metal is fully cleaned with Ballistol and I purchased the Texled sling from At The Front and installed it.