Looking into a mauser...

[CaRbZ13]

Stopped by a local shop today that carries a bunch of C&R stuff. I've been wanting a 98k Mauser for some time now and since I was the only person in the store I got to talk with the owner for a while about his stock. He has a pretty nice selection of russian captures. A few of them have the waffen marks intact (which is a must for my rifle). We got to talking about the different manufacture codes and I think I've decided on a bnz. He has a nice bnz with the waffen marks intact and was asking 599. Does this price seem reasonable or should I keep looking?

Thanks ,
CaRbZ

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[Sarge]

What does he have - a bnz 43 single rune? IF not his price is about double what you should buy an RC for! Shop around, you will find RCs for anything from $250 to $400 depending on what they are.
I don't have any bnzs', but have several others in the $350-395 range.
Sarge

[Badger]

Sarge13 is right ..

That's sounds expensive to me for an RC ....

Regards,
Badger

[Calfed]

The reason he has a "nice selection of russian captures" may be because of his prices. I doubt that he is selling many, if $599 is typical of his prices.

There may have been a reason you were the only one in the store.

[CaRbZ13]

I ran back to his shop the other day to sheck it agian and it really wasn't anything special. So, yeah, $600 is a little rediculous. I'm reading more and more into these rifles and it seems that most of the ones that are marked with the "S" rune, SSzzA4, or have the totenkopf are fakes. Is there any good way to tell when these marks are legit?

[rifleman1377]

Ya for 600 buck you could buy an all matching rifle. But like sarge said if it has a single rune then it may be worth 600 bucks

[Patrick Chadwick]

The basic way to tell if marks are aftermarket "add-ons" is to look very closely at the edges of the indentations to see whether the mark is underneath the finish (mark before bluing) or on top (after bluing). The other factor is: has the mark been applied before hardening or polishing, or afterwards? The same logic applies to other marked antiques, such as silver and porcelain (read firing and glazing for hardening and bluing).

Both of these evaluations require a good watchmaker's eyeglass + experience + know-how as to how the original was made. But there is some very good literature on the K98. As a rough guide: mark before hardening = original, mark after hardening, but under bluing = could be original, depending on the component and whether the bluing itself is original, mark over bluing = fake.

O.K. someone will say that is not differentiated enough, but you have to start somewhere to eliminate the more obvious forgeries!

Failing experience and know-how, the best tactic is to get someone who has that experience and know-how to look at the object.

Patrick

[Sarge]

In the case of the bnz rifles, the SS contrakt rifles ALL had one thing in common - they were in the No Letter block of ser nrs. They also have a couple of other features, but I will not list them here! 2 much info in one place!
Next - Not all no letter block are SS contrakt rifles, But None of the letter suffix rifles are SS!
A lot of the fakers don't know, or figure no one else will know, so there have been SS marks showing up on the wrong rifles.
There are no legit single rune rifles made by anyone except bnz. There are a few legit SSZZA2 & 4 non bnz's out there, but I would instantly be suspicous of any I found!!!
ALL SS proofed rifles should be instantly suspect till you can verify they are legit!!!
Sarge