Here's a real scary one on eBay .... :yikes:
I get the feeling that any K98k's and most other German firearms collectibles with a well established provenance, are certainly going to go way up in price in the next few years. :madsmile:
Regards,
Badger
WORLD WAR 2 GERMAN MAUSER BOLT PARTS NUMBERING SERVICE
Go to the site directly
Provenance can be manufactured too. I wouldn't be surprised to see this type of fakery drive all prices down.
This sort of thing has been going on for a while, but this is a pretty blatant example. I agree with Stevo; once this renumbering becomes well known, matching numbers will be suspect, unless the provenance of the firearm is unquestionable.
Look at the stamps that Numrich is selling.
Remember when a large importer was offering all sorts of non-German arms with WaA marks - even guns made so late in the war that capture and reissue would have been most unlikely. It was almost as if the guns could be produced to order.
I remember many years ago seeing a Colt Dragoon in a gun/gunsmithing shop that was m/m, and about antique good condition. A couple of months later there was a Colt Dragoon in the case, now it was matching, and in very good condition. Condition had to improve, when you weld over surfaces and renumber them, a bit of sprucing up has to occur.
Same chap sold a Whitworth rifle. Pointed out to the buyer that the forend had been restored. Didn't mention that the barrel had been stretched as well. He'd cut the barrel, welded in a middle section, so that the muzzle and visible portion of the bore was obviously hexagon, and welded the breechplug as well, so that no one would ever pull the plug to view the bore. This chap's metalwork was really good. It was hard to tell what had been done.
I once also saw a certain well known retailer lathe out a poor bore Baker rifle and sleeve in a replacement bore. Gun was then sold as an original with excellent bore.
Funny thing is I suspect the work to restore it meant the higher asking price souldn't have increased profit much, though I imagine it made it easier to sell.
I've seen lots of unscrupulous things done at the dealer level, but that's the nature of the beast. All you can do is inform yourself and try to buy savvy.
Renumbered K98k's though, are certainly nothing new. One of the oldest common fakes going, I'd say.
K98's have been faked and renumbered for years. The last Laugh is when they use Backbone of the Wehrmacht by Law as reference to renumber it - the book is riddled with errors and so is their forgery of a K98!!!