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 Germanyicon 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.
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