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Going rate on an RC K98?

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ww2collector1944

Member
Hey guys, what’s the going rate for a Russian capture K98? Unfortunately I was in middle school when these were cheap and wanted to know what a common RC K98 is going for in 2024?
 
They range from $800 to $1000 in my area. $600 is wishful thinking IMO. Have not seen one for sale that cheap in many years.
 
At this rate you’re better off just grabbing an honest bolt mismatch. RC’s are unique, they are cool, but for the price I’d rather have that.
 
Herk1994 said:
At this rate you’re better off just grabbing an honest bolt mismatch. RC’s are unique, they are cool, but for the price I’d rather have that.
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Bolt m/m's are in the 1500+ range themselves. It's not just the RC's that have gotten more expensive. If your local shops/shows are selling $1200 RCs I'd hate to think what a m/m costs near you.

Kind of from the hip, but it feels like an RC costs about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the cost of a bolt m/m these days. Note: I'm talking about a decent condition bolt m/m, not something with a hosed finish and a heavily sanded stock etc.
 
bigwagon said:
They range from $800 to $1000 in my area. $600 is wishful thinking IMO. Have not seen one for sale that cheap in many years.
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You can hit $600 on GB if you're willing to hunt around for a while, but yeah that's the far low end. $700 is pretty doable and I've helped a few friends snag them off GB for roughly that much.

Now, that's before shipping and (if applicable to you) transfer so . . .
 
I’m gonna get flak for this but that’s why I moved over to Japanese, Type 99’s for the most part. Completely correct and matching mid-late war rifles can be had for sub 500-600. Or buy a mismatch hodgepodge of 98k parts for 1000. And Japanese rifles are just super varied and cool. In my humble opinion. I still love the couple 98k’s I have, and my books. I’ll add another collector grade 98k when I get a raise lol
 
Herk1994 said:
I’m gonna get flak for this but that’s why I moved over to Japanese, Type 99’s for the most part. Completely correct and matching mid-late war rifles can be had for sub 500-600. Or buy a mismatch hodgepodge of 98k parts for 1000. And Japanese rifles are just super varied and cool. In my humble opinion. I still love the couple 98k’s I have, and my books. I’ll add another collector grade 98k when I get a raise lol
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Nah, I feel you. Every once in a while I see how much those go for and start thinking.

The problem is that I can read German so research is a lot easier for me to really dig into, while Japanese isn't happening this lifetime.

My solution has been to really deep dive on Imperial German stuff and focus on trying to get one of every (attainable, manufactured in numbers - not counting weird prototype stuff) Paul Mauser design, plus the major derivatives. There is some truly obscure stuff that I'm on the hunt for that, when I find it, is going to cost less than the price of a bog standard numbers matching BYF 42.

If you are into German and want cheap, Ludwig Loewe rifles are the final frontier. Fascinating company, great history, and they produced a ton of Mauser designs for assorted third rate militaries that are still plentiful, cheap, and often in great shape. If you're spending more than $700 for an Argentine m91 it had better be in immaculate condition. And some of those can really give you an eye opening realization of how goddamned nice pre-WW1 military Mausers were before they got run through the wringer of two world wars.

edit: I feel the same way about USGI guns. I've got the highlights - a 1911, a Garand, a carbine, a 1903 - but good lord I'm not willing to pay what it would cost to really get into those waters. It's not as bad as K98ks but hooooooly cow.
 
Seem to be going up every time I look here. My BYF 44 mix-matcher ran me$250 in 95 from Century. Recall back in the early 70s practically giving some milsurps away. Wonder if my old friend still has that $25 Type 99. Hope he does!
 
prostate exams can cost under $100 w/o insurance (if you shop around- the right "doctor" might do it free...) but that doesn't mean there is great demand for one... I get the demand for a nice undoinkered rc w/o too much graffiti but over $800?

I have a ar/43 that is a handy shooter, been "de-rc'd" with a decent stock, a great shooter but it was a throw in to a deal from a CA "inmate" trying to downside his holdings (exposure). Seems nuts to pay more than $800 unless it is one hell of a nice example of a rare variation, - but as a half-decent porterhouse costs over $20 so the dollar isn't what it once was.
 
runner said:
I am going to the VGCA show tomorrow, and the Fisherville Va. show on Sunday.
Should be some RCs for sale, I will report back on actual asking prices.
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Frank, I look forward to your observations...! Impressions of likelihood of actually moving at over $600-800 ranges are also welcome, - I mean sure seller "ask" might be $800+ but what is your take regarding interest at that price or if they are hotcakes at such prices?

I am sure rc's sell for $600-800 plus but is that a routine or realistic "non-gunstore" expectation?
 
I'm also frankly shocked at what the asking price is on these. Guy posted asking about an RC that his shop was asking $1k for which I thought was really quite ugly. Terrible metal finish on some parts along with grinding? or other doinks to the metal. Crazy really.
 
Loewe said:
prostate exams can cost under $100 w/o insurance (if you shop around- the right "doctor" might do it free...) but that doesn't mean there is great demand for one...
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Off topic, but there should be, because that can save your life. I suspect most of us here are old enough that it's something we should be looking into.

Mostly on my mind because a close friend lost his dad way, way too early to something that could have been detected in time if he'd just gritted his teeth and let a doctor stick a finger up his butt.

Get your oil checked, there's way too many entries in the memorial board as it is.

Loewe said:
Frank, I look forward to your observations...! Impressions of likelihood of actually moving at over $600-800 ranges are also welcome, - I mean sure seller "ask" might be $800+ but what is your take regarding interest at that price or if they are hotcakes at such prices?

I am sure rc's sell for $600-800 plus but is that a routine or realistic "non-gunstore" expectation?
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GB is GB with all its own problems, but you can get a pretty decent snapshot by running a custom search for closed auctions and sort by number of bids. That's where you tend to turn up the rifles that started low and got enough interest that it's not just one person getting lucky with a snipe on a poorly listed gun. It's not perfect, but it's reasonably easy to do.

Here are a few that I pulled doing that just now, all RC. A few of them have issues (buttplate on one looks to have been polished, some stock refinishing, etc) but it's still a set of decently hand-wavy data points: (edit: click to go to the listings, god this forum does not display clickable URLs as text well)

BNZ 44, $765
S42/G$ 715. This is the one with the refinished stock and polished buttplate
S42 $705

All three of those are fairly established sellers and the buyers have feedback from multiple different buyers, so likely not shill bidding or a scam listing etc.

Of course you'll also get to see some idiots, like This Mitchell's DUV 41 that went for $1185.

I've helped a few friends pick up RCs in the last year on GB at about this price point. They're out there, and it's doable. You're not going to log in and grab one every day at that price, but with a little work it's still very possible to get in at the $700-800 ballpark ,and $600 if you get lucky with a badly crafted listing.
 
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