A trench magazine was also produced that could be attached to the bottom of the internal magazine by removing the floor plate, increasing capacity to 20 rounds, though it still required loading with 5 round stripper clips. The K98k has a 5 round internal magazine and is loaded from either 5 round stripper clips that are inserted into a slot in front of the opened bolt and pushed into the magazine with the thumb, or, rounds may be loaded one at a time, allowing for topping off a partially empty magazine. It has an effective range of about 800 metres, but when fitted with a high-quality rifle scope, its range increases to 1,000 metres.

The rifle has a bolt-action and uses 7.92 x 57 mm rounds (referred to as 8 mm Mauser). It was intended to be a 'universal rifle' for all parts of the Heer rather than having both Carbine and full length versions. Less obvious are that it has different, simpler sights. The easiest to spot are its shorter length, and bent, rather than straight bolt handle. The K98k is often confused as being the earlier Model 98 design however, there are notable differences between them. The '98' is derived from the earlier rifle's year of adoption (1898), though the carbine itself was adopted in 1935. In the name K98k, the first 'K' stands for karabiner (carbine) and the second 'k' for kurz (short). The K98k was first adopted by the Wehrmacht in 1935 to be their standard issue rifle, with many older versions being converted and shortened as well as the design itself entering production. The design was based on developed from the Karabiner 98b, one of the carbines developed from the Model 1898 mentioned before. The Karabiner 98k 'Mauser' (often abbreviated 'K98k' or 'Kar98k') was adopted in the mid 1930s and would be the most common infantry rifle in service within the German Army during World War II.

Karabiner 98 kurz