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Posted: 12/14/2012 8:19:56 AM EDT
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This topic may have been covered already, I looked but found little discussion.
I have been slowly adding to my C&R WWII collection over the years. I have examples of most long arms of that period....except a real German K98. Now that I am in a position to make a purchase, they seem to have virtually dried up. Does anyone know the back story on imports or distribution? Or is this a case like the Korean M1's that Obama has refused to repatriate? I'd like to hear from you Crufflers out there if you know of availability on these or if there ever will be again. Thanks for the update. |
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This topic may have been covered already, I looked but found little discussion. I have been slowly adding to my C&R WWII collection over the years. I have examples of most long arms of that period....except a real German K98. Now that I am in a position to make a purchase, they seem to have virtually dried up. Does anyone know the back story on imports or distribution? Or is this a case like the Korean M1's that Obama has refused to repatriate? I'd like to hear from you Crufflers out there if you know of availability on these or if there ever will be again. Thanks for the update. You are a few years late to the party -- that is one you should have knocked out a long time ago. The good ones were all sold years ago, they'd been importing them since not long after the war and it took years but eventually they ran out. A few years back there was some imports of Russian captured German K98s, but most of them had been rebuilt and a lot of them had markings overstruck, scrubbed or new numbers overstamped or electric penciled on. Now those are all gone. From what I've heard there will never be any major wholesale imports from surplus again, as all the ones that were in long term storage have been imported now. So basically what you're going to have to do is buy one that was previously imported, which means in most cases you are going to be paying a lot more than what the prices on recently surplused were. |
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yep what SJ says.
You can certainly find one, go over to surplus rifles forums or watch the EE here. You will be paying more than the old century $200 price on the russian mixmasters. Most of them are parts guns and the lack a bit of something in my eyes. The russians did with them what the US did with the garands on overhaul, stripped them down to parts, inspected parts, tossed the junk, repaired what was repairable, reparked the parts, restocked the parts bins and rebuilt rifles using any old in spec part. The german rifles were more handfitted than ours, hence their serialing of every part. The godless ruskies did not take especially good care of them or perhaps they simply lay on the battlefield to rust for a few weeks before they picked them up. A fair number of them are pitted, under their new finish, add in mixing parts, scrubbed recievers, pinged nazi marks, deep sanded spots on buttstocks wth forced matched numbers on them and they can look bad in a hurry. If you want a GI bring back w/o import marks you'll pay pretty high prices unless you get lucky. |
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The K98k was not a hand fitted rifle! Just like the Garand or 03A3 it was a mass producced rifle that all the parts from one rifle fit perfectly on any other rifle.
However the fact that the Germans numbered a lot of parts - about 20+ on the early rifles and about half that on later ones - the ruskies quickly made total mismatches out of them, except bbl & rec on those early ones that had both numbered. RCs today are selling in the $400+/- range. An original matching except bolt will bring close to $1000 and an all matching original rifle will bring in the $2000-2500 range. Of course there are exceptions to all of this - IF you get lucky! If you are looking for a representative rifle to shoot the RCs are the way to go. They are advertised on many of the gunboards that have for sale sections, but Gunboards and the K98k forums are among the better. I've even got several to sell. Sarge |
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I just sold a very nice bnz 4 RC K98 for $435.00 shipped. It was up on the EE for quite some time. In the K98 game you pay the freight to play or look around the pawn shops and trust to luck.
These days as a seller I would be better off parting one out than to sell one any cheaper. In fact I have a couple more RCs I plan to sell and I just might part them out. I know I won't be putting anymore RC K98s up on this site for sale. Gunboards are where the serious buyers are. Sorry but $225.00 RCs are long gone |
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They still have Russian Captures here:
Wideners They post them a few at a time. |
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From what I've seen of these straight bolt K98s posted on some of the mil-surp forums they are bottom of the barrel dogs with dished out stocks where Ivan sanded then applied the serial and of course straight bolt bodys off of GEW or VZ mausers. When you see "straight bolt" listed with a RC my advice is to run away. J&G and R-Guns had a bunch of them a couple years ago. The ones they sold did not even have the bolts EPed to match the receivers which likely means the bolts were added to boltless RCs. A few years back there were a lot of straight bolts off of VZs available. They are even more of a Franken98 than most RCs. 
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What is the story with Mitchell's Mausers? I see them advertise all the time. They still list WWII German marked mK98's from $499-$699 in what sounds to be good condition.
lllllink |
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What is the story with Mitchell's Mausers? I see them advertise all the time. They still list WWII German marked mK98's from $499-$699 in what sounds to be good condition. lllllink They're completely faked, sanded, remarked, refinished, CRAP. They take RC rifles, scrub the markings, remark, sand the shit out of the stocks, refinish them and sell them to ignorant bubbas. Don't be that guy. |
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What is the story with Mitchell's Mausers? I see them advertise all the time. They still list WWII German marked mK98's from $499-$699 in what sounds to be good condition. lllllink They're completely faked, sanded, remarked, refinished, CRAP. They take RC rifles, scrub the markings, remark, sand the shit out of the stocks, refinish them and sell them to ignorant bubbas. Don't be that guy. The "shooter grade" ones they used to have were not too bad if you did not mind the bright bolt, sanded to hell stock, and the price. At least the markings on those were not "humped". Still just a spiffed-up a RC. I saw a BSW coded MM "shooter grade"once and was tempted as it a rare code. But no, I was not going to be "that guy". 
I never understood how the NRA and other gun rags would allow the BS MM full page ads. Money talks I guess. 
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Quoted:
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Quoted:
What is the story with Mitchell's Mausers? I see them advertise all the time. They still list WWII German marked mK98's from $499-$699 in what sounds to be good condition. lllllink They're completely faked, sanded, remarked, refinished, CRAP. They take RC rifles, scrub the markings, remark, sand the shit out of the stocks, refinish them and sell them to ignorant bubbas. Don't be that guy. The "shooter grade" ones they used to have were not too bad if you did not mind the bright bolt, sanded to hell stock, and the price. At least the markings on those were not "humped". Still just a spiffed-up a RC. I saw a BSW coded MM "shooter grade"once and was tempted as it a rare code. But no, I was not going to be "that guy".
I never understood how the NRA and other gun rags would allow the BS MM full page ads. Money talks I guess.
Only thing I ever figured, they must pump in a hell of a load of money to those mags, as their ads are everywhere
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| Actually, if you look at their website and google some on them, they have some that are "new" rifles built post-war on German machinery in one of the EU countries. They are imported by them and are for all purposes a new rifle. If you want that, then more power to you. |
| The one I bought from them is in bad cosmetic condition (I've asked about refinishing it on another thread) but it has the bent bolt and all correct parts. They are EP'd to match. The shellac on the stock is flaking and nasty. But the bore is great. You just have to choose and ask a lot of questions. |
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