mauser vs. lee enfield?

[Maxwell Smart]

Hope this doesn`t become a political forum!
Collecting is just good sport and great fun..

No, I wasn't looking to start a political debate.

I suppose that the point I was trying to make is that war is a dreadful business for all concerned, and we should not assume the "our" side was always good, while "theirs" was always bad.

[Maxwell Smart]

I'm assuming that you don't mean the one that having deliberately starved political inmates to death, went on to expand the system to murder millions of innocent men, woman an children.

I'm no fan of concentration camps either.

Having been educated in a school system which still extolled the virtues of hard work and fair play, and still held British ideals in very strong favour, I was horrified to learn later in life of the tactics used to control the Boers. It was the beginning of my understanding that "our" side were not necessarily always the good guys.

[enfieldman]

My great-great uncle fought in the Boer War, for the British of course!!!
It was indeed a very dirty business, but there is a silver lining here at least for me...
In my collection i have his Long Lee Enfield Rifle, which he used down there.
The bore is shot, but still works fine. Now there`s a piece of history for you.

[Mag Fed]

You may be fishing in the wrong pond here Enfieldman. That is just to say, that being an Enfield guy, you are more conversant with their relative values....maybe what you really need to do in an effort to better condition your decision, is get an up-to-date reading on the Mauser's value (since that is what you would be surrendering) from that forum / thread (forgive me if you already have, I haven't checked !). Then, you would be better situated to deal on the '42 LB....which, as we know, is a sterling rifle, right.
Best.

[enfieldman]

Mag-Fed i think you`re abolutely right. I have been told from local sources here that this
Mauser would be worth about $700-$800 CDN. If you or others would refer to my original
thread on this Rifle for details and offer me an opinion, then i would be greatful for your
input. thanks

[Mag Fed]

Enfieldman,
Although I own several K98s, I haven't purchased any lately, so am not so conversant with current pricing, etc.... I do note, however, that there is a thread on the Mauser rifles here which lists a "1940 code 42" rifle, if you haven't yet seen it. Two years ago the owner had it in the $400-$500 range. That's a start at least. At local auctions, I've seen the Nazi marked ones going btwn $450-$800....clearly, you know the rifle best and would have to assess the relative value in that bracket somewhere, I guess. Sorry that I can't be more helpful !
Cheers.

[Homer]

Don't trade. If you didn't make the decision to sell prior to his offering, you don't really want to get rid of this gun. If you trade off something good that you like for something else good that you like, your not really any better off are you. Keep the mauser and buy a good No4 and have both.

[bouletbill]

None of which is the rifle's fault.
which otherwise civilized country was the first to use the concentration camp against civilians in modern times - a hint, the guards would likely have had 303 ammuntion on them.

Well, I didn't know that the Spanish guards in Cuba used .303 ammo ! there yer go, learn something every day.

[villiers]

Not being a collector, I can only go by what I would like to own and what the market value might be. Here in Germany (where Mousers are two a penny), a really good Enfield might be about the same price (take a look through our largest web site: http://www.egun.de/market/list_items...cf9f0d0709530c). But maybe the Mauser might be slightly pricier. I no longer own a Mauser. I know that they´re much better quality than the Enfield, but the Enfield´s a lot better: the sights are better, the magazine´s better. And, above all, it handles better. Both my Enfields are keepers. They shoot better than most of the competition (even with me at the trigger).

[Beerhunter]

Hope this doesn`t become a political forum!
Collecting is just good sport and great fun..
Here`s something: My dad was an allied combat soldier during WWll, but for
all that he still admired his opponents` superb weaponry (K98), as do i.
I just admire Lee Enfields more!!

I agree with you and my post was an ill-advised reaction.

However I disagree about the Kar98k. (I own one of them, as well as my Lee-Enfields.) It's heavy, slow and has too small capacity. The Germans had an opportunity to produce something better in 1935 and, for what ever reasons, decided not to.