Description

Extremely rare with matching numbers!

If you have never heard of a Persian contract Kar98k you’re no orphan!

If you Google search “Persian contract Kar98k” you’ll find it refers to the Karabiner 98k (K98k) rifle that was manufactured by Mauser Oberndorf toward the end of WW2 for the Persian military (modern-day Iran) under a specific contract.

Rare ‘Kar98k contract rifles’ such as these rifles are highly sought-after by collectors due to their rarity & historical significance. We believe this is one of a few examples of a short contract production run which never eventuated & those rifles which were made were mostly just absorbed into the Wehrmacht.

The Mauser Kar98k was the pinnacle of modern bolt action service rifles available at the time & Nazi Germany only provided these under contract to the Portuguese, Japanese & Persian Empire, modern day Iran.

Reza Khan was a military officer serving in the Persian Cossack Brigade & an ardent Persian nationalist who led a military conspiracy aimed at the reestablishment of Iran’s sovereignty. Backed by the British, Reza Khan led a coup d’etat in February 1921, seizing control over Tehran & forcing the weak & corrupt Qajar Shah to appoint journalist Sayyid Zia al-Din Tabatabai as Prime Minister & himself as Minister of War.

Reza Shah was the father of the future Shah of Iran who was deposed by the Mullahs in the Iranian Islamic revolution.

Despite Nazi German attitudes on the racial inferiority of the inhabitants of the Middle East, Reza Shah leaned in sympathy towards Germany, since, unlike Great Britain or the Soviet Union, Germany did not have a past record of interfering in internal Iranian affairs or occupying Iranian territory. Reza Shah intended to learn about political management & industrial technology from Germany as he also wanted to decrease trade with the Soviet Union. By 1940–1941, nearly half of all Iranian imports came from Germany & 42% of all Iranian exports went there. Persians were in love with the Mauser rifles & had been equipping it’s military with them for decades.

It is suspected that Reza Khan was behind the order for German Kar98k’s & perhaps some did get sent but a more likely explanation was that this was part of an intended Persian contract which never left Germany, instead held back for Wehrmacht use due to the desperate military situation.

The barrel is correctly numbered to the rifle evidencing this was made during WW2 by a German manufacturer so it is not to be confused with the BRNO Persian Contract VZ98/29, VZ24 or VZ30 carbines which are far more common.

It is known there were other Kar98’s were made post war by BRNO from spare parts such as the so called ‘Ethiopian contract’ but by all available information, this example is a wartime production rifle as can be evidenced by the German Waffenamts & other manufacturing stamps on the barrel, in this case being the Mauser shield followed by ‘44‘ (year) ‘D‘ (which identifies the company which produced the steel) along with a batch number (1009).

This is the only WW2 German manufactured Persian contract we have ever seen in the flesh & we obtained this from a collection in the US so have every reason to think this is the sole Persian contract Kar98k in captivity here in Australia!

We are offering this rifle as a collectable piece of military history & acknowledge the grievous atrocities committed by the Nazi regime & some of its military, particularly toward the peoples of occupied territory & the Jewish population in Europe. In no way do we condone or glorify the Nazi regime which must be remembered for the vile stain on human history that it was.

We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional & are happy for feedback from people who know more than we do.

Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.

We have a pretty unique refund policy on our collectable guns whereby we will refund your money if it is not as described when you receive it. Just let us know before you decide to send it back.

Standard shipping is $77 for all for metro shipping bar WA, otherwise call for a cost to your dealer.