threeseven
Member
An opportunity to acquire what I believe to be a Karabiner 98k has recently arisen for me. The guy isn't 100% sure whether he has a Gewehr 98 or a Karabiner 98k but from his description of 'about the same length as an SMLE, maybe a tad shorter' I'm going to assume for the moment that it is a Kar. I plan to take a look at it sometime in the next couple of weeks and verify, but I figured I may aswell look around and try to determine the availability and cost of ammo for this weapon - see if I have a shooter or not.
At this point I ran into a complication. Some sources (such as Jane's Gun Recognition Guide) state the G98 and K98 both take the 7.92mm Mauser, however some other sources (including threads on this very board) would suggest that they actually take the 8mm Mauser. Furthermore, I've also read information that seems to imply that 7.92mm and 8mm Mauser are actually the same cartridge... though that seems absolutely ridiculous. Though I have found a website that will sell me 100 round tins of 8mm for $39.95 and 1400 round cases for $460, I've located no readily available sources of 7.92mm.
What am I dealing with here? Do they take 7.92mm or 8mm? Are they (were they) produced in both calibres? Are they, somehow, the same cartridge? Have certain weapons been rechambered to take 8mm, explaining the obscure '7.92mm = 8mm' information I've found? How viable is reloading of this particular cartridge? Any help would be very much appreciated!
At this point I ran into a complication. Some sources (such as Jane's Gun Recognition Guide) state the G98 and K98 both take the 7.92mm Mauser, however some other sources (including threads on this very board) would suggest that they actually take the 8mm Mauser. Furthermore, I've also read information that seems to imply that 7.92mm and 8mm Mauser are actually the same cartridge... though that seems absolutely ridiculous. Though I have found a website that will sell me 100 round tins of 8mm for $39.95 and 1400 round cases for $460, I've located no readily available sources of 7.92mm.
What am I dealing with here? Do they take 7.92mm or 8mm? Are they (were they) produced in both calibres? Are they, somehow, the same cartridge? Have certain weapons been rechambered to take 8mm, explaining the obscure '7.92mm = 8mm' information I've found? How viable is reloading of this particular cartridge? Any help would be very much appreciated!