Kar 98 K gets a scope

About a year and a half ago I bought a Kar 98 K Mauser. I restored it and got it into working order. One problem I was having with it was that it shot about 10 inches high at 200 yards with the factory sites. I removed the factory sites and kept them of course. I installed an adjustable site system and it pretty much corrected the problem.

I was thinking about doing a little hunting this fall in South Dakota. Everything I have read leads me to believe that a scoped rifle would work a little better out there. The problem was how to get a scope on the gun without irreversibly modifying it.

For those who don't know what I am talking about, the Karabiner 98 Kurz is a German bolt action rifle from WWII.

The Karabiner 98k was a bolt-action rifle with Mauser-type action holding five rounds of 7.92x57mm Mauser on a stripper clip, loaded into an internal magazine. It was derived from earlier rifles, namely the Karabiner 98b, which in turn had been developed from the Mauser Model 1898. The Gewehr 98 or Model 1898 took its principles from the Lebel Model 1886 rifle with the improvement of a metallic magazine of five cartridges. Since the rifle was shorter than the earlier Karabiner 98b from which it was derived (the 98b was a carbine in name only, being identical in length to the Gewehr 98 long rifle), it was given the designation Karabiner 98 Kurz, meaning "Carbine 98 Short". Just like its predecessor, the rifle was noted for its reliability, good accuracy and an effective range of up to 500 meters (547 yards) with iron sights.

It is famous for the quality of its action and accuracy. Most modern bolt action rifles are based on the 98 Mauser design. The action is used pretty much unchanged in the Remington model 798 Safari rifles.

Several special models of the Karabiner 98k existed.

For snipers, Karabiner 98k rifles selected for being exceptionally accurate during factory tests, were fitted with a telescopic sight as sniper rifles. Karabiner 98k sniper rifles had an effective range up to 800 meters (875 yards) when used by a skilled sniper. The German Zeiss Zielvier 4x (ZF39) telescopic sight had bullet drop compensation in 50 m increments for ranges from 100 m up to 800 m or in some variations from 100 m up to 1000 m. There were also ZF42, Zeiss Zielsechs 6x and other telescopic sights by various manufacturers like the Ajack 4x, Hensoldt Dialytan 4x and Kahles Heliavier 4x with similar features employed on Karabiner 98k sniper rifles. Several different mountings produced by various manufacturers were used. Approximately 132,000 of these sniper rifles were produced by Germany.
So here comes the problem. In order to mount a scope in the normal position (shown above), you have to drill holes in the receiver to accept the scope mounts. Also, because of the way the bolt works, the bolt has to be modified to avoid hitting the scope. Mounting a scope in the traditional position on a Kar98K also makes it more difficult to load.

Another option is to remove the rear site and mount the scope there. I decided to do it that way because all of the changes are reversible and the weapon can be restored to its original configuration in a couple minutes.

Mounting the scope that far forward requires a special scope with what is called an intermediate eye relief. That just means that your eye is farther away from the scope. I found a company called B Squared that manufactures a mount for the Kar 98 K. I also found a really good scope made by Leupold called a scout scope.

I put everything together and headed out to Knob Creek for some testing. Who should I meet there but my medical student who taught me how to make his family's recipe for moonshine!
After a little trial and error I got it sited in at 100 yards. I was able to shoot a 1 inch group exactly where I was aiming at that distance. My shoulder really started to hurt so I had to stop. My next project is to get it sited in at 200 yards and then do measurements at various distances to figure out how much the bullets rise or drop at various yardages.