Original Item: Only One Available. In 1935 the German military introduced the K98k bolt action rifle or Karabiner 98 Kurz, as a replacement for the older GEW98 or Gewehr 98. The first examples had more in common with their predecessor than later examples, such as the rear sling attachment, which started out the same as the GEW98 fitting, but then was switched to a slot in the butt stock. The very first examples also had a cup butt plate, which had a storage compartment inside, which was replaced with a flat type.

The stocks originally had been made from single pieces of wood, but from 1937 onwards they switched to laminated wood, as a result of trials that had stretched through the 1930s. Plywood laminates are stronger and resisted warping better than the conventional one-piece patterns, did not require lengthy maturing, and were cheaper. These were usually made from walnut and beech laminate, but sometimes elm was used. The stocks originally had flat butt plates, but after 1940 they switched to cup butt plates without a storage compartment, which helped keep the stocks from delaminating.

This is a very nice 1941 dated Karabiner 98k butt stock, made with laminated wood and cup butt plates as is correct for production after 1940. It has the nose cap / bayonet fitting, receiver strengthening bolt, and the correct 30mm metal fitting through the butt stock that aided in bolt disassembly in the field during cleaning. It also has had the top of the left lower stock along the woodline inlet to the rear of the hand guard, indicating that it was set up to use the ZF41 Sniper Scope. This does look to have been modified in the field, and not a factory alteration, probably to replace a broken stock on a k98k Sniper Rifle.

The lower stock of this set was "duffle cut" when it was brought back home from Germany, which was then later repaired. The original markings on the wood are definitely worn, however we can still see a faint Waffenamt Eagle / WaA135 on the right side of the stock, seen on other k98K stocks from the period. This was an inspector code associated with Mauserwerke in Oberndorf am Neckar, the creator of the design.

The "cup" butt plate is also marked and dated, and even has a serial number close the bottom:-

brg
41
(Eagle)
WaA497

8397
V

This indicates that the butt plate was produced during 1941 by H. W. Schmidt, located in Döbeln, Saxony. "497" is the correct inspector number for this maker, and everything about the cup is completely correct.

Measures 39 1/2 in overall length, and would be a great way to fix up a Sporterized 98K Sniper Rifle.

The ZF41 was an optical sight produced in Germany during the Second World War. Starting from 1941, the short 1.5× Zielfernrohr 41 (Target Telescope 41 or ZF41) telescopic sight was fitted to some Karabiner 98k rifles for designated marksman use. The ZF41 was the first attempt to provide the ordinary infantryman with a rifle capable of being used, if not for pure sniping, then at least for sharpshooting. It was initially planned to equip most combat units with the ZF41 scopes, but only 6% of German weapons production could fit the sight.

Though useful for sharpshooting with normal infantry units, the design was generally rejected by sniper schools and disliked by snipers, because the 1.5x magnifying scope was deemed insufficient for shooting effectively at point targets over long distances. Problems were the scope's extreme eye relief, poor functioning in bad light and low magnifying power. Nonetheless, lack of better telescopic sights meant the ZF39 was used by snipers at the early stages of the war in the Eastern Front, but many snipers preferred captured Soviet rifles and custom-equipped German rifles with civilian scopes such as the vintage Gewehr 98.

By the end of the war in 1945, more than 100,000 ZF41 scopes had been produced, the largest production of German optical sights during the war. Approximately 3,000 were marked ZF40, 29,000 were marked ZF41 (ZF40 and ZF41 later had this etched out and ZF41/1 added when they came back for service or repair) and the rest designated ZF41/1.