Mauser M71/84

I've had a rather odd weekend milsurp wise. On Friday I finished work early and was trying to think of some way to kill some time before going home. Opted to go to the local gun shop as I hadn't made my weekly stop yet. On the way, I was jokingly thinking to myself how cool it would be to walk in and find a 71/84 as I had just been looking at one the previous weekend at a gun show. Given this gun shop rarely gets any milsurps and the odds of one being a 71/84 I was shocked when that happened to be the "new" milsurp for the entire month. Price was way more than I wanted to pay however so I just looked it over and waited for the owner to show up as he's the only one that can really deal with the set price. He knows me and as soon as he came in and saw I was looking at it he just said "buy it". Conversation went on from there and he admitted he knew nothing about them and I started explaining the operation. I had already found by this point that the lifter was not working and was jambed in the upright position. Explained how it should be working and told him about the tube magazine which he had to check out by unscrewing the nose cap. Told him to watch for the spring and four of us were just standing there waiting for something to fly. He got it open and no spring. He looks up and says, I'm killing myself here. Asked what I would offer and I told him in the condition it was in with unknown broken or stuck parts and a missing spring I offered 3/5's of what he was asking. He thought it over and reluctantly accepted. I more or less forgot that a mixed box of ammo and brass went along with it.

So here it is. It has some issues but I don't believe any are serious. The magazine spring was probably broken off when someone tried to remove the spring and it's follower. The tube has a kink in it which prevented the follower from passing through without some force behind it. This I managed to fix through another neglected collection of mine, marbles. I found a few marbles that fit tightly and wrapped them in cleaning patches and shoved them through. Doing this managed to push the kink out so the follower now goes through cleanly. I was not able to get the entire kink out this way but it is functional. The problem with the lifter is the cut off lever is snapped off at the bottom. All pieces are there but non-functional. I was able to locate a replacement lever for it and a replacement spring. The stacking rod was bent badly on it but I was able to get most of the bend out. The final issue does not seem to affect function. The extractor rod is missing part of the one arm that wraps around the bolt. As this seems to only be needed to hold the extractor to the bolt when out of the receiver, I don't plan to do anything with this.

Replacement parts are on their way and cost me $36.

The bore is excellent. When purchased it looks pretty crappy and I had fears after initial cleaning that what I thought was fossilized goo was in fact rust but with some oil and patches, it all came out. Not pitted, not dark, not worn. Exterior has patena staining but very little rust and no pitting. Under the wood is near original finish and no rust at all. It is not all matching. The barrel bands do not match, the bolt matches itself and was renumbered by the Germans at some point, original serial is lined out and a matching serial stamped beneath. The rest of the bolt parts retain the original lined out last two numbers. Stock is a match to the receiver. Butt plate is unit marked. Stock isn't bad but has some deep gouges near the top of the butt near the plate. No cracks however and cartouches are clear.

Ammo is Dominion, 12 complete cartridges and 8 fired brass in the original box.

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On Saturday at a flea market, I came across a K98 bolt that had some surface rust on it. Guy only wanted $5 for it so I took a chance and here it is after cleaning. It is complete and all matching.

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i will double your money on the bolt if you like

Found a curious item on this rifle last night. The rear sight has a small flip up portion. If you look at the 9th photo you can see it clearly in the down position. There already is a v-notch sight in place on the rear sight. This additional one flips up for what I assume is an intermediate range between the fixed V and the ladder sights.

The auxiliary short sight leaf is also found on 1888 Commission rifles.

Good find Aragorn! Just the sort of rifle I would buy - with such a super bore, who cares about the dings etc.

seams like he always finds the lucky ones

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mmppres

seams like he always finds the lucky ones

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Read back thru some of his posts. Always has his nose to the ground.
"The harder you work the more lucky you get." Nice find.

I'm really pleased with it. Just waiting on parts now and looking for a bayonet. Not having much luck on that front, just have to be patient. Options are a 71 sword type with the brass pommel which seems to be the one most likely used or the 71-84 which was made for it but apparently wasn't used much outside of Bavaria and most were converted later on. I have a Venezuala bayonet that would fit, is made for it but it's not "German" so wouldn't quite be right.

For the price I paid for it, after cleaning it up and figuring out what was wrong with it I feel half guilty about it. I made a low offer based on the unknown issues so I don't feel that bad. With the box of ammo/brass - $300 out the door.

that was a very fair price for both parties in my opinion

[QUOTE= With the box of ammo/brass - $300 out the door.[/QUOTE]
Must have been some luck involved.

He was asking $500 which I thought high considering the bore was fouled with a lot of unknown stuff. I was figuring on offering $400 until I found out things were not operable and in the heat of the moment when I offered $300, I had completely forgotten about the box of ammo. Had I remembered, I probably would have offered $350. So dumb luck yes.

Often it is better to be lucky than smart.

Ever tell anyone I hate waiting on parts. Found a nice repro sling for it, this one only has the one swivel in front of the trigger so had to find a short sling. Rather a unique one. Has a small strap at the top that holds the guide when kept tight, have to release the strap to open it up. Should have everything by the middle of next week. Still looking for a bayonet. The Venezuala bayonet looks nice and fits perfectly and will do as a temp.

That Dominium ammo is VERY hard to find these days. This was a very fair price, for sure.

New spring and magazine cut off lever installed and working fine. I suspect someone tried to force the cut off lever when the bolt was closed. It only works when the bolt is open. Also possible it could get broken if it is in the halfway position and you force the bolt. This seems unlikely as everything for the most part moves when you close the bolt. Could see it happen if something got stuck.

If your desperate for a bayonet one for the Steyr m1886 Kropatschek should most likely fit.

The 2 rifles are pretty much the same design but in different calibers. - Bill

I'm not desperate, I just want the right one. I have one made for Venezuala that fits perfectly. But it isn't correct for a German Rifle not sold to Venezuala.