  Electron capture and beta-decay rates on nuclei in the mass range A=45-65
play an important role in many astrophysical environments. The determination of
these rates by large-scale shell model calculations is desirable, but it
requires to reproduce the Gamow-Teller strength distributions and spectra of
the pf shell nuclei. We show in this paper that large-scale shell model
calculations, employing a slightly monopole-corrected version of the wellknown
KB3 interaction, fulfill these necessary requirements. In particular, our
calculations reproduce the experimentally available GT+ and GT- strength
distributions and the nuclear halflives, and describe the nuclear spectra
appropriately.
