Buying a Mitchell Mauser from a buddy

Hello,

I came across your forums when I was doing research for Mitchell's Mausers, and found that people have some pretty extreme views about this company.

It's good to know what I am getting into before I make a purchase, and the people on this forum certainly seem to know what they are talking about.

First off it's not my intention to start a heated debate as I am looking for more of a discussion. A bit of some back ground.

My buddy at work needs some money and tells me he wants to sell his old guns that his father gave to him before he died. I'm in the market for something and express interest in a Mauser that he says he has. At this point I have no clue what I am getting into. With out me seeing the rifle, he throws out 600 dollars and claims it's a unfired new K98 from Germany and it's a collector's addition. From here I start my research.

I go to various websites and get a firm grasp on the variations and what increases the value. I've seen some authentic K98's go for $1100 dollars and also seen some go for as low as $210 dollars. I didn't understand what made my buddy's rifle so special.

So I stopped over at his house and I see a Mitchell's Mauser box, Bayonet, Case, Strap, Oil can, Cleaning kit, ammo pouches, etc. This thing looks top notch and it appeared to have all the serial numbers matching. Everything looked legit except for the fact that the rifle was an M48 and not a K98. Plus all the old dinosaurs I have come across in the local gun shops are pretty bad. So I do some digging. I find all sorts of excellent conditioned rifles that go from $210 (6 months ago) to $300 on current auctions. Unsure if it's the Obama effect but anyway. We finally settled on $375 and he threw in 60 rounds of ammo.

I looked up the Bayonet online and they are going for around $45 bucks. I figured it's a fair price considering he originally spent $550 dollars on the rifle alone.

So what say you? Now take into account I am not a collector of old historic rifles. I am probably going to use this thing for hunting or just take it down to the range although I won't be outfitting it with a plastic stock any time soon.

Am I making the biggest mistake of my life or is that a fair price in his post Obama world?

Thanks for reading.

It is a good deal if you can sell it immediatly tomorrow for what you paid today. I wonder at their resale value. I don't collect Mausers but I wouldn't buy one of theirs as a personal opinion.

IMO you did just ok nothing special. If it makes you happy that is what really matters.

With the 60 rounds of ammo, not terrible. The Obama effect hasn't really impacted the old bolt action rifles much. Mitchell's rifles are real rip offs for the prices they want for them but they are nice rifles for the right price. I picked up one at Cabela's not too long ago, earlier this year I think. Didn't cost me much of anything as I used points but if I recall, the asking price was $275 which I felt was fair for what looks to be an unfired, brand new rifle which a lot of M48's are. It came with all the goodies and they called it a K98/M48 on the box.

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Originally Posted by FailsafeOperator

unfired new K98 from Germany

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I could put that in the collection, next to Henry VIII's shotgun, Napoleon' revolver, and a genuinely unfired original Martian howitzer. Sorry, have to rush now, to feed the flying pigs!

P.S: As a shooter, not a collector, the deal was OK with all the acccessories.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

I could put that in the collection, next to Henry VIII's shotgun, Napoleon' revolver, and a genuinely unfired original Martian howitzer. Sorry, have to rush now, to feed the flying pigs!

P.S: As a shooter, not a collector, the deal was OK with all the acccessories.

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Hehe. I should have clarified that neither him or his father has fired it. After reading up about it on the website I realize that it rightfully so get's test fired before being shipped out.

Aragorn's comment makes me want to pursue a better deal, although I know for a fact that my buddy really takes care of his rifles. There wasn't a bit of rust on any part of the rifle.

Either way, thanks for the input and if anyone else has any suggestions or comments, feel free to throw them at me.

Well, for what it's worth, so to speak, I paid $400.00 for my Yugo M-48. It is totally pristine and appears to be unfired with no handling dings or whatever. The bolt face shows no signs of use. All #'s match of course. It shoots just fine. Sure, I probably overpaid for the rifle but the excellent condition won me over. I have no regrets. It is not a Mitchell Mauser retread. Have at it.:thup::dancingbanana:

I tooo have a M48. I missed the "unfired" version... but got a "good to excellent" condition version when they were everywhere. I find it to be well made and a good solid rifle. I haven't followed the prices on them, but they are a nifty addition to any Mauser collection.

Hey Failsafe. don`t worry what others say. If you like it shoot it & do it to it. I bought a Turk 03/38 8mm a while back. I over paid for it, but what I liked about it was all matching #`s including the bolt, pristine bore, & it had a Tiger stripe stock on it. I`m not a Mauser collecter, I have a 30-06 & a 270w & I wanted an 8mm shooter also. So I cut the barrel down to 22in & recrowned it & cut thestock to the end of barrel. Now it`s a Manlicher style rifle.. I change the sights also. I put a long ramp sight on the front & a Lyman peep on the receiver. I have to say it is one hell of a shooter. At 100yds with my reloads I can put 5 in a 3in bull. I get some flack every so often at the range why I cut it down, but it`s mine to do as I see fit.

All matching Turk? Hmmmmm.....

Matching Turks of any kind are almost unheard of, as a matter of fact downright rare.

You cut it down for a sporter? Well, as you said, it's your rifle. "Parts is parts" as an acquaintance of mine used to brag when he did this sort of thing.

:confused::madsmile:

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Originally Posted by gew8805

All matching Turk? Hmmmmm.....

Matching Turks of any kind are almost unheard of, as a matter of fact downright rare.

You cut it down for a sporter? Well, as you said, it's your rifle. "Parts is parts" as an acquaintance of mine used to brag when he did this sort of thing.

:confused::madsmile:

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I know it is his rifle but reading this it kind of brought a tear to my eye

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gew8805

All matching Turk? Hmmmmm.....

Matching Turks of any kind are almost unheard of, as a matter of fact downright rare.

You cut it down for a sporter? Well, as you said, it's your rifle. "Parts is parts" as an acquaintance of mine used to brag when he did this sort of thing.

:confused::madsmile:

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I`m not a BS`er, matching #`s. And now "For the rest of the Story". After I aquired this rifle, I did a lot of research on the 03/38 Turk & was told that they are a dime a dozen, I way over paid ($295.00) for it, which I probably did, it will only be a shooter & it will never have any collector value to it. So I did what I did. Do I have any regretts, no because it`s one hell of a shooter & that`s what I wanted? End of story. Here it is.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1001575v-1.jpg

I checked my records and I paid more than I thought. The list price was $325. That came with all the accessories but no ammo. My actual out of pocket expense was nothing as I had enough points to cover it. Rifle is all matching, looks to have never been fired and according to my wife is "pretty". It's about the only rifle I have that has gotten that distinction. So for $50 more for 60 rounds of ammo, it depends on the type ammo. New production soft points are more expensive than that, old surplus not so much. But like I said earlier, it isn't a bad deal, if it's something you like, go for it.

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Originally Posted by OLDER THEN DIRT

I`m not a BS`er, matching #`s. And now "For the rest of the Story". After I aquired this rifle, I did a lot of research on the 03/38 Turk & was told that they are a dime a dozen, I way over paid ($295.00) for it, which I probably did, it will only be a shooter & it will never have any collector value to it. So I did what I did. Do I have any regretts, no because it`s one hell of a shooter & that`s what I wanted? End of story. Here it is.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1001575v-1.jpg

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Yes, you could say that 03/38 Turks are "a dime a dozen" but 99.99% are mismatched but still sell well at about $95 - $125 apiece as mis-matching military rifles because they shoot great. A matching numbered rifle is on the collector's wish list since they are practically non-existent and being matching would probably have sold at about what you paid when you got it so you didn't do badly. Nowadays, it would be worth about twice what you paid or more since the Turks are finally coming up in value, especially if matching and still in original, un-messed with, military configuration. It looks okay so as long as you are happy, that is what counts; if you wanted to sell it you could probably get what you paid for it.

Mike Venturino really likes the Mitchell Mausers.

He has one he bought that they had rebuilt into a sniper clone and found it to be very accurate. They have new made, laminated stocks and all parts have been matched or stamped to match. The blue job on them is very good to say the least. They look like new rifles and shoot like new rifles.

For you folks in the US, they are a very good deal. Here in Canada, those rifles would sell for around $500+ or higher.

I agree, they are shooters, not collectables.

When they first started selling them many years ago, some of them were actual war time dated and maker marked K98 rifles. They admitted that they were refurbed completely and rebarreled with appropriately marked barrels. I had one of those. It was gorgeous. It shot better than I could shoot it.

They claimed the rifles were refurbished by master craftsmen in north eastern Europe.

It was obvious that they were put together from parts as some of the parts had the original numbers polished out and matching numbers restamped.

Overall though, the rifles were correct in appearance and did exactly what they were advertized to do.

Many purists screamed blue bloody murder when these rifles were released on the market. To bad because they save the real thing from being slowly shot out by neophites.

That is a fine looking rifle. Should make any person proud to be the owner.

The older one gets the more they can appreciate the beauty of variety.

Update:

I took advantage of a nice sunny day here in the big KY and took a trip to my buddy's range. I was worried at first that maybe the front site might be off as it wasn't completely centered but after drilling a 5x5 plate @ 100 yards repeatedly, I was more than satisfied. This thing shoots like a dream, the action is nice and smooth and the bore is like new. I've got myself a shooter fellas. The wife even shot it a few times.

This one is destine to be used for hunting.

Should I refinish the stock or leave as is? Also, does anyone know what kind of wood the stock is made from?

Thanks

Fail

To refinish the stock or not is up to you. Do you like how it looks.

Looking at your photo, it appears that Mitchel's bleached it heavily to clean it up. Did they apply any type of finish to it after that?

I've used wood bleach to get rid of rust stains and the color usually comes right back with BLO but maybe not with this one, some of theirs they really go overboard. Yours doesn't look that bad as is, just a little pale.

That stock screams for a good BLO'ing...it looks dry as all get out.

Many of the Yugo rifles had European elm as the wood. Looks like Teak, but isn't. They are nice shooters as well.

My issue isn't with the looks, just what will make the stock last. I've wondered why the stock was so light and now I know. It doesn't have a finish on the stock at all and seems to be sanded down. Thx for the reply's.

Mitchel's refinishes, refurbishes, etc the rifles they sell. For the most part anyway. Some M48's came from Mithchel's that they didn't need to do anything to. They've been in storage until they got them

It makes them more appealing to the average person wanting something to shoot but harms the collector value.

Try applying the BLO and see what that does for the color. It should make it a bit darker. If it is not to your liking you can stain it. You can apply the BLO with your finger, takes about 20 minutes to rub down an entire stock. I do it all the time while watching TV in the evening. It will take quite a few applications. I've put on anywhere between half a dozen and twenty coats on my rifles, depends how dry they are and how they absorb the BLO. A walnut stock usually only needs a couple of applications, birch usually a lot more. If the stock looks "wet" between applications, just wait until it drys. When you first start, you can get one coat a day, sometimes two, then it starts tapering off to every few days and then a week or so. By then, it's probably done.