1941 Portuguese Contract K98k - are these more sought after by collectors?

K

korea1950

Well-known member
Are the 1941 Portuguese Contract K98k rifles more sought after by collectors due to their distinct markings and limited production quantities over the Pre-war/ WW2 German military K98k rifles? Or do the Portuguese rifle markings not being "pure" German military make them slightly less valuable and less sought after?
Thank you in advance for any inputs or opinions!
 
good line of questioning.. It seems they may be less valuable than a true German issued byf41 if found in the same state of condition. They are typically still treated as an "export model" even though they are the same exact model as the German issued Kar98k less the port markings.. The fact they are German military Proofed helps the value of these also.. They imported large amounts of these in the 90's and could be bought with matching bayo for a small premium. Many went to Canada and were common there than here.. Overall your best bet to get a flat new as issued kar98k .
 
Mauser99, Thanks for the input. To summarize - a pure German military marked K98k should be more valuable to collectors than a Portuguese marked K98k in close to equal condition. The "export" issue holds some sway also.
 
In German WWII service, the guns were interchangeable. That is, Port marked rifles were used by the Germns as well, mostly in the east. They are well represented among Russian captured rifles.

I have a 1941 marked unissued M1937A with a nicely flamed walnut stock. I don't think that it's worth less than a similar Mauser Oberndorf byf marked rifle produced at the same time. My avatar is one of the gun's stock markings.
 
finding a "true" byf41 in un-issued flat new condition would be very hard indeed.. The port41 is second best.. Imagine being issued one of these out the crate knowing that what it looked like ! Amazing item and true German quality before the war models truly set in..
 
Id also say less valuable. However that doesn't stop people from going crazy. There's one for sale right now, they want 5k CAD.
 
For me it’s a well known variant that’s not uncommon so many folks feel it’s something to have in the collection. Also to the above points most are in new condition and that’s just about impossible for a ‘41 so it’s a good way to see/show what an early one looked like as it left the factory. Hansen& Hansen brought quite a few in too and with the smaller import mark I’ve ver seen. We’re selling for like $275 in the shop.
 
Oh boy I’d have to look thru my paperwork. Some of the other folks here might remember but I’ll try and check. They ran ads at the time in SGN. I bought a cupped example and an earlier flat but plate. The cupped was select or something and like 400? And the flat was a lesser grade and 275. Still have the flat. I’m just about an hour south of them so it was an easy drive. To be clear these were not as mint as some of the earlier imports mentioned. But they were nice and all matching with mint bores. I’m sure there’s a few of the Hansen guns in collections here.
 
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