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What do I have exactly? Whats it worth?

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DukeofRoc

Member
Hey guys, I’m brand new to this form and stumbled across it trying to do some research. I recently picked up what I believe to be a Bnz 1942 Kar98k. The gun has unfortunately been sporterized, so some of the markings are hard to tell what it is. You can ever so faintly see "Mod 98" on the side of the receiver under the reblue.

It has been reblued, drilled and tapped, and has a new stock and bolt. Besides that, everything appears to be original with numbers matching. It has Waffenamts on the barrel and receiver. Can anyone tell me exactly what I got, and what it is worth? I took a shot in the dark and paid $250 for it, so if worst comes to worst, I wasn’t burned too badly and have something fun to shoot. Thanks for the help!

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Thanks! I've been thinking of trying to source some parts to bring it back into its former glory, but if there's no value in doing such, I'll hold onto it regardless as something to bring out and shoot every now and then
 
there’s no MONETARY value in restoring it, but guys do it anyway. I’d find a scope for it & shoot it, & or hunt with it. you could replace the missing rear sight parts since they left the front sight alone, you’d need this:


and a flat spring:


Your pix don’t show it, but I’d bet they ground the hand guard retaining lip off the front of the rear sight base, & so without changing the base you couldn’t just slap it into a replacement stock, without the hand guard being loose at the back end. It “could be” the original bolt, but the handle was cut & rewelded in the new position. Sometimes they ground the receiver rail where the bolt handle stops to get it to close even lower. (relates to scope clearance when handle is up).

At the very least, you’ve acquired a good starter K98k, something to use & learn about, before you fall down the rabbit hole with the rest of us!
 
The handguard retaining ring/lip is the key here.

You could go down the rabbit hole . A similar sporterized rifle cost me $350, was also already drilled and tapped for a scope base, but was exactly what I wanted for my project:

www.k98kforum.com

UPDATE- she’s back - Matching but refinished sporter JPS, 375, would you ?

I’m thinking a sniper project . Bore is very nice. All matching on the metal that’s left , but obviously refinished . The front and rear sights are not messed with, and the hand guard ring is still there . Bolt , receiver , mag well, even retention screws all matching numbers. I already have a...
www.k98kforum.com www.k98kforum.com

Be warned though, it is a deep rabbit hole.
 
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Muncher 1953 said:
there’s no MONETARY value in restoring it, but guys do it anyway. I’d find a scope for it & shoot it, & or hunt with it. you could replace the missing rear sight parts since they left the front sight alone, you’d need this:


and a flat spring:


Your pix don’t show it, but I’d bet they ground the hand guard retaining lip off the front of the rear sight base, & so without changing the base you couldn’t just slap it into a replacement stock, without the hand guard being loose at the back end. It “could be” the original bolt, but the handle was cut & rewelded in the new position. Sometimes they ground the receiver rail where the bolt handle stops to get it to close even lower. (relates to scope clearance when handle is up).

At the very least, you’ve acquired a good starter K98k, something to use & learn about, before you fall down the rabbit hole with the rest of us!
Click to expand...
Just ordered some, thanks!
 
waw44 said:
The handguard retaining ring/lip is the key here.

You could go down the rabbit hole . A similar sporterized rifle cost me $375, was also already drilled and tapped for a scope base, but was exactly what I wanted for my project:

www.k98kforum.com

UPDATE- she’s back - Matching but refinished sporter JPS, 375, would you ?

I’m thinking a sniper project . Bore is very nice. All matching on the metal that’s left , but obviously refinished . The front and rear sights are not messed with, and the hand guard ring is still there . Bolt , receiver , mag well, even retention screws all matching numbers. I already have a...
www.k98kforum.com www.k98kforum.com

Be warned though, it is a deep rabbit hole.
Click to expand...
That's a great looking gun. Well done
 
Well for $250 you've got a functional rifle. That's a win. You also have a barreled receiver, trigger housing and floor plate for a restoration project. Even if you do have to replace the rear sight housing, they are easy enough to replace if you want to try your gunsmithing skills. Weld up the holes in the receiver and acquire the missing parts. You most likely won't come out ahead on this project but you have something that you did and that's good too. You could also try to flip it at a gunshow, who knows, maybe you'll make $100?
 
Leave it as is and enjoy shooting it. It would very costly to try and make it look right. First you need a decent k98k stock and that will run you $250+. Bands, rear sight base (as mentioned above, the lip may be ground off), rear sight components. A new bolt body or complete probably will run you $125-$250+. Honestly just doesn’t make sense. Perhaps if the receiver wasn’t drilled, refinished and stuff… maybe if you could get the parts for cheap. It probably shoots really well as is and I would leave it at that because for $250 it is most likely an excellent hunting rifle for an excellent price. Many times, putting a rifle back into “military configuration” without knowing how to fit the replacement stock (lug setback/rear tang), relieving pressure points from the replacement bands, etc leads to making a sporter that shoots “excellent” into a rifle that shoots “okay” or worse. The collector value is gone on this one, it’s a shooter….
 
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Thirding/fourthing/whatever leaving it alone. For the money you would sink into restoring that to kind of military configuration you could just buy a nice shooter K98k that's not already gone through the wringer.

The only real exception I can think of is if you want to turn it into a repro sniper. Wrecked guns can be a good basis for that. But beware, that gets expensive ,fast, because things like correct mounts and optics (even repros) can get really pricey. Still, if you really want a project that's pretty much the only way to take it that isn't just putting lipstick on a pig. At least from a military rifle perspective. From a sporter target gun perspective? That's a decent, functional action. Get it rebarreled into something interesting and create the bench gun of your dreams.
 
Thanks everyone for the insight, I appreciate it. I'm going to sit on it for a while and shoot it some before deciding what to do with it. I wouldn't mind trying to bring it as close to original over time, just for a fun project. Time will tell.
 
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