Ball Park Price for K98

[pastprime]

I may have a chance to buy a Mauser K98. I know very little about them. I have been reading about them this evening but looks like it would take months and months to get decent on what's what.

So, can someone give me a ballpark price on:

Mod. 98
byf 42
S/N 5265 over "aa"
All numbers match
ggm over 41 on buttplate - red paint inside buttplate
eagle/swastika on left side of barrel and receiver
eagle over 135 on top of receiver
eagle over 140 on back of bolt
lots of other letter and numbers on various parts
all milled parts
laminated stock
S/N stamped inside handguard and stock
no import marks
most of the metal finish is missing. Something that looks like a brown shelac on metal. very little bluing
no pitting, just almost no bluing.
no cleaning rod
no missing parts that I can tell except cleaning rod.
bore is not shiny but no pitting that I can see. Lands fairly sharp for 69 years

I hope that I have provided enough information to get an idea of what it might be worth. I realize pictures are helpful but I cannot do close-ups worth beans...

Any guesses appreciated....

Information

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[vintage hunter]

Sounds good enough. Pics would be a big help though. What's the asking price?

[pastprime]

We're somewhere in the $250 to $300 range now. IF, he is willing to sell it.

I will get the camera out and take a couple pictures soon.
Hank

[Calif-Steve]

A Russian capture? Sounds like it. Price is Ok at $250.00. Have you looked down the barrel? It must be nice or I would pass.

[pastprime]

here goes picture attempt...





Metal finish is a little darker than in the pictures.

How can I tell if it is a Russian capture ???

[Aragorn243]

The price sounds like a Russian Capture but not the description other than the missing cleaning rod.

Russian captures have been re-worked and re-built. Would have a nicely blued finish, probably an X on the receiver and a serial number stamped on the butt stock on the outside. Few numbers (stamped) would match but there will be electropenciled numbers on the major parts that would match the barrel serial number. They are usually missing the cleaning rod, the front sight protector and the small outside retaining screws on the bottom of the magazine. Will probably have a purple/red shellac on the stock.

A rifle with little to no bluing and no import stamp stands a good chance of not being a Russian Capture but this is something you want to be sure of. If all the numbers match and there are a lot of parts with numbers on there, I've seen one sell locally here at auction in excess of $800. There are fake all matching number rifles too. For the price, doesn't sound like you could go wrong in any case, worst case being it's an RC.

---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------

The stock finish has a RC look to it and it is missing it's front sight protector but the metal finish does not look RC.

Almost every metal part should have at a minimum the last two digits of the SN on them.

[pastprime]

I have done a little work with older military items but mostly US so I have a fairly good feel for things that have been changed or refurbished. I did have a RC P-38 pistol and I see nothing on this rifle that resembles the markings on the pistol. There are no electropenciling's, peening, or forced numbers.

my delima is ----is the lack of metal finish off-set by what I see as a matching number rifle..and still what is a fair price....

And, thanks for the replies...

[Aragorn243]

First, I'm no expert on these at all. I have an RC and other than researching that a bit, that's about all I know other than what I see them selling for.

The metal condition looks like a lot of the bring backs I've seen. Not sure why, whether it was simply hard use during the war or poor storage all these years so that isn't always an issue with the price.

Part of the attraction of the RC for me is that I'm not a hard core collector. I like nice looking rifles rather than historical wall hangers that are too risky to shoot for harming their value in some way. So I don't see paying a huge premium for what to me looks like an abused rifle. Just my personal preference. If I had a lot more money than I do, I might look at the historical pieces more closely.

From the pics, I'd say it's worth his asking price unless the bore is shot out.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I cannot see anything that suggests it is a Russian capture. The surface does not look like shellac to me, but rather like the weathered laminate glue + oil/grease.

If it was shellac, it would be all over the stock bolt, filling the gap between stock bolt and stock, and filling up the peg holes (or whatever they are called) in the stock bolt head. Can't see that your first picture, so - going by the reasonable assumption that no Russian ever took the trouble to cover the stock bolt with masking tape before applying shellac - it looks like the real McCoy to me. An original un-Russianed un-Bubba-ed un-"tidied up" K98k!!

But that is, of course, AFAICSWAHTOIMH.

As Aragorn wrote - if the bore is OK, you cannot lose. Get it.*



*And, from the collector's point of view - do not "tidy it up" with any kind of refinishing. Just clean it as any conscientious user would have done.

---------- Post added at 10:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

BTW:

byf = Mauserwerk Oberndorf
42 = 1942 ??

[Patrick Chadwick]

ggm over 41 on buttplate

??
Please check. It could be gqm. My reason for asking is:
ggm was a supplier of ammunition components (less likely) - F.Ulrich & Söhne, Annweiler
gqm was a supplier of magazines and gun components (more likely) - Lock & Hardenberger, Idar-Oberstein

---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------

is the lack of metal finish

- which rather speaks for un-"improved" originality!
Look at the dings on the stock. Unblemished metal finish would be a sign of "improvement" (metal finish not matching wear & tear state of wood finish)