What kind of rifles did Germany use during World War 1?

Answer 1

Germany used the Model 1898 Mauser rifle as its standard infantry weapon. There was a shorter version, the Model 1898K carbine, which had the bolt handle curved down. Both were bolt-action with a five shot internal magazine, and were 7.92MM in caliber, but often referred to as 8MM. This continued to be Germany's standard rifle through WWII, though by the end of that later conflict some German troops were equipped with the world's first assault rifle, the Sturmgewehr 1943, which was the inspiration for the Russian AK-47.

The Model 1898 is considered the first modern bolt-action rifle. The innovation of Paul Mauser was the use of two locking lugs on the bolt, front and back, which was a great improvement over previous bolt assemblies, and provided a much tighter seal of the breech. The US, which had just made a large investment in equipping its forces with the Krag rifle, saw the quantum improvement represented by Mauser's innovation, and licensed the design and incorporated it into a new rifle, the 1903 Springfield. All other nations had to produce a new generation of rifles to match this improvement. Mauser produced military rifles for a number of nations in Germany, in various calibers.

After president Kennedy was assassinated with an Italian rifle of this generation purchased by mail order, the US Congress passed a gun-control act outlawing the sale of any weapon through the mail made since 1898, to cover the Model 1898 Mauser and all its imitators.