K98 DOU 44 Matching Numbers Question/General Questions

G

GunsNBeer

Member
Hi,

I am new to the forum and looking to join the awesome community of Mauser K98 owners. I am no expert at all but have spent weeks reading every online material I can for K98s.

I am looking to purchase a K98 with nazi markings and matching numbers. Something I can maybe shoot once or twice then put on display for collection. My biggest concern is overspending as I have seen it is a common issue for these.

So my questions:
1) What is the rarity/collectibility of a DOU K98? More particularly a 1944.
2) Should I hold out and wait for a byf version all matching? Is that even realistic? I don't want to pass on another version waiting for a matching number byf if those don't come around.
3) The one I am looking at looks in good-very good condition (no pics unfortunately) but is numbers matching DOU 44. Is this worth $1,000? Or what range can I expect for a good to average deal? I know this is tough without pics but just curious a general range of anyone has any.

I live in California and an area where the nearest gun shop is like 45 min away so needless to say I don't see many.

Thanks so much for the help!

Also if anyone has any good reads online about K98s I would love to check them out. Would love to be more knowledgeable!

Thanks!
Ryan
 
Glad to see another new member and keep reading up on your research of K98k rifles it protects you from being burned by a fake. As far as rarity for the dou 44 code rifles I have seen alot of them come up for sale and are pretty common rifles on the market but 100% matching rifle in good to very good condition will bring a good price for one somewhere around to $1500 to $1800. And when it comes to the byf code byf44 is the most common K98k rifle out there because that code was produced the most. But byf43 is somewhat common and the byf41 to byf42 rifles are not common I don't see many of those rifles come up for sale. If you go back further to the very early Mauser Oberndorf rifles such as the S/42 code and the 42 code and the very late Mauser Oberndorf rifles such as the byf45 and the svw codes prices for those pieces get very high. But that is what is great about K98k collecting there is so many different codes for these rifles you just have to find which one draws your attention the most. And I wish I could say that $1000 is a good deal for the rifle but without pics of the rifle or more information I can't give you a complete answer for it. Tell us more about it finish color, stock finish, letter block, and how the parts look are that stamped or milled.
 
as far a collector grade rifle that you can shoot with no issues Id say dot44 dou44 or byf44. Quality remained high and the dot44 I had was a tack driver.
I have shot a couple other k98s but they all pretty much shoot the same. Close your eyes and pretend you are shooting a K date all matching LOL.
Dou 44 can be a bargin the the 3k+ k98k game that seems to be the norm lately.
 
mauser99 said:
as far a collector grade rifle that you can shoot with no issues Id say dot44 dou44 or byf44. Quality remained high and the dot44 I had was a tack driver.
I have shot a couple other k98s but they all pretty much shoot the same. Close your eyes and pretend you are shooting a K date all matching LOL.
Dou 44 can be a bargin the the 3k+ k98k game that seems to be the norm lately.
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Hey when I shoot my K98k byf43 code rifle I pretend its a S/42G code lol. And I would love to say thats a bargin for that rifle but I don't want to see this shop try to sale him one that was Mitchells Mauser rifle. I just saw a Mitchells Mauser K98k rifle that was for sale at a gunshow last weekend it was re-blued and refinished and was being passed off as the real thing for $1100 and it was a dot44 code by the way.
 
Thanks so much for the info. This gun is actually on gun broker. To be honest I was hesitant posting as I didn't want more competition if the deal was decent. So I apologize for not disclosing that information when I originally posted. For the future should I post links when requesting help and risk competition or was I correct in my original thinking? I just want to be sure I handle the situation correctly.

Ok with that out of the way here is the posting.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=486354106

I was researching more and noticed no SN on the bottom. After searching some more I found a post regarding this listing on WWII weapons forum. Apparently the seller swapped out mismatched parts for blank ones and claimed it all matching.

Here is the thread.
http://ww2weaponsforum.com/showthread.php?14076-Buyer-Beware-dou-44

Needless to say, without everyone's help I would be out some serious cash so thank you.

Note on Mitchell's Mausers, I saw someone recommend them for a K98k on a forum when I just started researching. So I shot them an email just to get some info. They said they were sold out but if I was willing to spend $2k they "might" get one in. I said no and moved on. I thought it was shady how it went down so I looked more into them and read nothing but horrible things. With that said do you have tips for identifying the frauds? Obviously my fraud detecting skills are no where near good enough at the moment. Looks like it is back to square one for me.

Bummed I almost became a victim especially after the amount of research I have done but happy I caught it before purchase.

Now that I wrote a novel, if anyone has tips on identifying real ones or weeding out bad ones that would be a big help. Thank you.
 
I've been at this for a few years (on and off) and still get fooled, and have worked out some "defense mechanisms" against the predatory sellers..
One is that some makers serial number fonts are quite unique and much harder (dare I say impossible?) to recreate than others, so look at the picture library with an eye to odd letter/number font makers and when you find one of those you have at least SOME assurance they are not fake..
Also if you narrow your search to earlier rifles then all the parts will have to have numbers and outside the very rare legit repair depot pieces (which will have their own special markings denoting same) you can spot parts that are missing numbers much quicker.
Other end of that scale is look for very late war rifle which will have few numbered parts, while these are easier to fake, as long as the pieces used are of the correct type, it makes little difference who installed them or when because there is (most of the time) no way to tell the difference..(I know, bad advice..I admit it..).
Best plan is to read, study, buy the research books (they are great reading BTW) and perhaps buy the picture reference CD by "bob in ohio"..you could perhaps figure out how to access his great pic library from your smart phone if you are "in the field" and need help.
 
The best method to avoid being taken is to go slow and develop some basic skills as a collector. Something that is difficult at first, as most beginners are eager to get a few rifles, but it is best to not be impulsive buying your first rifles, as that is when the big mistakes are usually made, especially if you go after matching-original before you are ready.

Dave's auction forum is a really good place to learn about detecting fraudulent rifles, the owners of this site and his are close friends and most of the experienced collectors frequent both. Very often the "outing" of bad rifles occurs there, - between the two forums you do not need another site, the rest of the 98k sites are swaps full of novices that can lead you into trouble.

Learn the technical side about the rifles (1898-1945) here and about potential traps there. I would also suggest asking (PM) a specialist before buying an expensive rifle, - most of the moderators will help if you ask for advise, or point you to a specialist that might, but if you do not want to ask for help, it is a good idea to at least check and see if Dave's auction forum has a discussion on the rifle you are interested in before bidding.
 
Thanks Loewe! I will check out Dave's forum and will definitely ask for help. I know I am a novice so the more help the better. Haha. And you are right, I am so excited to get the rifle and become a collector that I let that get the better of me and convinced myself I knew enough to make a decent decision, which was obviously not true haha.
 
What an awful effort. The auction is still on gunbroker, it wasn't hard to find. What the hell?

It reminds me of the fake sniper guy on gunboards, who was busted the same way....
 
Yes, but you were cautious enough to look for answers, - there is a huge difference between a novice with common sense and a fool who buys first and seeks answers after. Your "luck" was of your own making!

GunsNBeer said:
.. And you are right, I am so excited to get the rifle and become a collector that I let that get the better of me and convinced myself I knew enough to make a decent decision, which was obviously not true haha.
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