This article is about the battle rifle in Wolfenstein. For the version seen in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, see Mauser Rifle.

The Kar98 is a bolt-action battle rifle found in Wolfenstein.

Background

The Kar98 was a shortened and modernized version of Germany's venerable Gewehr 98, and served as the standard issue rifle of the Wehrmacht throughout the Second World War. Despite being gradually replaced by semi-automatic rifles like the Gewehr 43 rifle during the course of WW2, the Kar98 Mauser still remained in service in Germany until the end of the war, and was favored for its reliability and simplicity. The weapon had a five-round integral magazine fed with stripper clips using the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.

Locations

The first Kar98 is dropped in a narrow hallway after planting dynamite in Train Station. Like the MP 40, soldiers equipped with the Mauser rifle are very common and ammo is plentiful. A scoped version is used by Snipers which share the same ammo, however these soldiers inflict far more damage than scopeless soldiers, almost killing the player in a single shot.

Kar98 ammo can be found in the form of dropped weapons, large gray ammo boxes, or ammo pouches.

Characteristics

By default, the Kar98 is unsuited to use as a primary weapon due to its low ammunition capacity, somewhat high recoil, slow rate of fire and sluggish reload, but is an excellent weapon to use when faced with enemies at long range or with weakpoints. The Kar98 can kill a Heavy Trooper in just three well-aimed shots. The bayonet upgrade transforms it into a very capable melee weapon able to kill even Scribes and Elite Guards instantly, and it allows the player to easily defeat Sniffers without wasting ammunition. The bayonet is also useful for stealth kills on unalert enemies, such as in the Officer's House mission. It is also a useful back-up option if you don't have time to reload and are cornered by enemies. Early in the game, the Kar98 will have to load each round one by one, making the stripper clip upgrade the most essential of all upgrades for this weapon. This problem can be partially countered by reloading after each shot. If you have a hard time using scope, use Mire to give you more time to aim. It deals 20 points of damage, more than twice the damage of either the MP 40 or MP 43, even with upgrades. Big Bore allows it to deal 40 points of damage. The bayonet deals 25 damage.

Upgrades

There are a total of 6 upgrades for the Kar98, with a total cost of $6,500. Tey are:

• Improved Rifling. Unlock: complete Train Station. Cost: $500. Upgrades the weapon with tighter rifling which produces more spin on the bullet, significantly improving basic accuracy.
• Silencer. Unlock: complete Train Station. Cost: $500. Adds a combination flash and noise suppressor which makes enemies much less likely to spot the firer, especially when firing from hiding.
• Stripper Clip. Unlock: get 2 Intel. Cost: $1,500. Refits the weapon's breach to accept a five-round stripper clip, eliminating the need to load rounds individually and speeding reloading overall.
• Big Bore: Unlock: complete Farm. Cost: $1,000. Refits the barrel and firing mechanisms of the weapon to support heavier slugs and larger powder charges, greatly increasing damage.
• Sniper Scope. Unlock: complete Dig Site. Cost: $2,500. Fits the weapon with a high-quality telescopic scope, providing a far better view of distant targets when aiming.
• Bayonet. Unlock: complete Church. Cost: $500. Mounts an eight-inch blade to the lug on at the end of the weapon’s barrel, making it a far more effective melee weapon.

Trivia

• Although the Kar98 is the second weapon B.J. receives in the game, its default selection key (5) is arranged in front of the MP 40's (6).
• Confusingly, the ammo pouch pickup appears to contain MP 40 magazines.
• The rifle in the Black Market photo is a late war model judging by the thick stamped buttplate.
• After the scope is equipped, enemies will shout that there is a sniper if B.J. fires while using it. Confusingly, this also occurs with the MP 43.
• The real Kar98 was loaded with a stripper clip as a standard; it would not require custom fitting.
• Increasing the bore (as the Big Bore upgrade does) would rather obviously change the caliber of ammunition used. However, in game, it does not.
• In real life, the Kar98k could fit the HUB-23 suppressor. With subsonic Nahpatrone (near cartridges), this reduced the audible report by 75%. Maximum range was about 300m. However, the device shown, as with other silencers in the game, is actually a Gewehrgranatengerät rifle grenade launching cup, not a suppressor.
• The visual added by the Improved Rifling upgrade is a section of barrel shroud from an MG 34 machine gun. Furthermore, in reality, a barrel with precision machined rifling would not look very different from a standard barrel.
• A fixed bullet is shown in the weapon's open action unless it was reloaded empty. Strangely, the new rounds being loaded will be placed through this bullet model. This happens both with and without the stripper clip upgrade, and a stripper clip always contains five bullets even when the gun still has unspent ammunition.
• Enemies are seen to lose limbs or heads when hit, depending on where Blazkowicz is aiming. However, some helmet-wearing enemies may get their helmets knocked off instead of getting decapitated if Blazkowicz's aiming is not precise enough. Snipers and Luftwaffe troopers cannot be dismembered, likely due to the lack of appropriate death animations. However, they can be still counted as "dismembered" in B.J.'s journal.
• A single shot from the Kar98 can overpenetrate and kill two enemy soldiers if they're lined up close to each other. It can also shoot through wooden crates and injure or kill an enemy on the other side.
• In loading screen and trailers, many Kar98 users are equipped with a scope, but in game, only Snipers have the scoped Kar98.

Gallery

Reloading a Kar98 without a stripper clip

Reloading an empty Kar98 with a stripper clip

Iron Sight without Improved Rifling upgrade

Iron Sight after upgrading Improved Rifling

Aiming through scope

Kar98 equipped with a scope.