Våpensmia NM-149S: Norway’s Sniper Conversion of the Kar 98k

After World War Two, there were a lot of K98k rifles left in Norway. Like, a whole lot of them. So many that even in the 1980s they were still a popular basis for hunting and competition rifles. The Norwegian military contracted with the firm Våpensmia to make a batch of their VS 84S hunting rifles in 7.62x51mm for use as snipers’ rifles. These used old German model 98 actions, modified to fit 5-round detachable box magazines, bent bolt handles, and short-throw safeties to accommodate the Schmidt & Bender 6x42mm scopes they were fitted with.

After some time in service, an improvement package was adopted, making this example actually an NM-149 F1. As such, it has fixed iron sights instead of detachable ones, a heavier bedded barrel, and a G3 flash hider.

Several hundred NM-149 rifles were part of a larger arms sale from Norway to Estonia in 2010, which is how this one ended up in Tallinn. They were used as marksman’s rifles by the Estonians until being replaced recently by the new 7.62mm LMT “Rahe” semiauto rifles.

Thanks to the Supply Battalion of the Estonian Defense Forces Support Command for giving me access to film this hard-to-find rifle!