Need help with a value of this K98

[ZOG]

My first K98 Mauser purchase and I want it to be a good one. Not necessarily perfect gun but a good value.

Can a price range for todays market be put on this?

No matching numbers, bore is nice and shiny. no Nazi marks. Imported by CIA St Albany’s Vt.

 

[PizzaBert]

Maybe like $600-$800?

 

[Muncher 1953]

as a “shooter grade” rifle, I’d agree w/PizzaBert. I see similar listed for more, but ‘for sale’ doesn’t = paid. bcd 43, fairly common, metal has lost much of its bluing, Nazi symbols defaced, import marked, non-matching. BUT russian captures seem to be selling in the $800-1200 range, sometimes. (not to ME!) Good ‘starter’ rifle, & probably good shooter.

 

[PizzaBert]

as a “shooter grade” rifle, I’d agree w/PizzaBert. I see similar listed for more, but ‘for sale’ doesn’t = paid. bcd 43, fairly common, metal has lost much of its bluing, Nazi symbols defaced, import marked, non-matching. BUT russian captures seem to be selling in the $800-1200 range, sometimes. (not to ME!) Good ‘starter’ rifle, & probably good shooter.

I think people are starting to recognize the Russian captures as legitimately interesting and historical pieces. The yugo and other Balkan reworks are still lagging behind in that regard. (Also maybe people just like the eagles)

 

[pzjgr]

I think people are starting to recognize the Russian captures as legitimately interesting and historical pieces. The yugo and other Balkan reworks are still lagging behind in that regard. (Also maybe people just like the eagles)

Really? Can't understand why...there is no collector value since they are complete mix-masters, and there is no record as to when or where or how many "refurbs" one has been through...they are examples of the type, and make good shooters, but I fail to see them as interesting or historical, IMHO, YMMV.

 

[moconfed]

Really? Can't understand why...there is no collector value since they are complete mix-masters, and there is no record as to when or where or how many "refurbs" one has been through...they are examples of the type, and make good shooters, but I fail to see them as interesting or historical, IMHO, YMMV.

About the only indication of how many refurbs a RC has been through is how deep the belt sander divot on the stock is.

 

[Muncher 1953]

Really? Can't understand why...there is no collector value since they are complete mix-masters, and there is no record as to when or where or how many "refurbs" one has been through...they are examples of the type, and make good shooters, but I fail to see them as interesting or historical, IMHO, YMMV.

I understand that some rcs are pretty nice & not too AFU, but I don’t see much historical value in the systematic buggering of finely crafted weapons. It was just stupid & ignorant, an unbelievable expenditure of effort for ideologic reasons. I’d prefer a mixmaster by bubba in most cases.

 

[nirvana]

Really? Can't understand why...there is no collector value since they are complete mix-masters, and there is no record as to when or where or how many "refurbs" one has been through...they are examples of the type, and make good shooters, but I fail to see them as interesting or historical, IMHO, YMMV.

I’ve been seeing this “No collector value” argument for close to thirty years now. Yet, somehow, their prices have continued to rise, their scarcity had increased, and collectors continue to buy them.

Maybe one day in the near future all of these misguided collectors will collectively realize that these guns aren’t worth buying…. Or something?

 

[pzjgr]

I’ve been seeing this “No collector value” argument for close to thirty years now. Yet, somehow, their prices have continued to rise, their scarcity had increased, and collectors continue to buy them.

Maybe one day in the near future all of these misguided collectors will collectively realize that these guns aren’t worth buying…. Or something?

That's nice for you. Don't care, in my book they have no value except as shooters or place holders. But again, thats my opinion.

Exactly what makes them collectible opther than they are not all over the place for $250 anymore? They have zero historical significance except as example of 50 years of make work projects in a communist regime. Thats the point, how many times have they been through "re-furb"? Once, twive, 20 times. Apparently if an arsenal had nothing to do, the higher ups in order to make work for their workers, would say..."refurb those German guns again..."

Was it mixed up again for the 5th time and freshly dip blued and shellacked right before their trip over? Because there are many instances where guys unpacking the fresh imports say the shellac was still wet, so literally "freshened up" before being sent out.

Look, if you want to collect them, more power to you. But I don't understand the "legitimately interesting and historical pieces" angle....

How legitimately interesting and historical is a '57 Chevy that has been completely re-built 5 times, and has 5 coats of paint on it?

 

[mauser202]

I get and understand PZJGR’s points on collectability, and for the most part tend to agree. On the other hand what I have always seen is one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Collectability is often in the eye of the beholder. People I know and respect think I am mentally ill because I spend money collecting WW2 items, I think the are cracked because they have a fortune in collectors commemorative rifles and pistols from NRA magazines. We see no collector value in each others “junk” but each know a multitude of others that value the same “junk“ that we do.

As pricey as WW2 stuff is, I am happy that everyone doesn’t place the same value on it other wise I would not be able to afford anything I have collected ;-).

 

[PizzaBert]

I should have elaborated a bit more in my comment a few days ago regarding “collectibility”. I completely agree that an RC is worse than a mostly mismatched gun in the eyes of a Mauser collector. Once beautiful rifles were torn apart, crudely renumbered, and refinished.

However, to someone with a more general collecting focus - I can see how the RC being refurbed countless times in preparation for a Cold War gone hot may be interesting and desirable historically.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that their intrigue is not solely derived from the fact they were German 98Ks. They are their own thing and represent something different than a matching, unadulterated example

 

[Muncher 1953]

I should have elaborated a bit more in my comment a few days ago regarding “collectibility”. I completely agree that an RC is worse than a mostly mismatched gun in the eyes of a Mauser collector. Once beautiful rifles were torn apart, crudely renumbered, and refinished.

However, to someone with a more general collecting focus - I can see how the RC being refurbed countless times in preparation for a Cold War gone hot may be interesting and desirable historically.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that their intrigue is not solely derived from the fact they were German 98Ks. They are their own thing and represent something different than a matching, unadulterated example

Just as the Nazis were “public enemy #1” of the 1930s-1940s & many who lived through that time can’t (or couldn’t, not many of them left today) understand our fascination with symbols of ‘the axis of evil’, (my father, a WW2 ETO vet among them) for a bunch of (mostly) right-wing capitalists, things/ideas the glorify russia/communist totalitarianism are anathema.

So PB, you shouldn’t feel bad (IMO, for the $.02 it’s worth) about liking or seeing interest in rc rifles, just that as in Mauser 202’s example, many don’t share in that interest among those here.

 

[PizzaBert]

Just as the Nazis were “public enemy #1” of the 1930s-1940s & many who lived through that time can’t (or couldn’t, not many of them left today) understand our fascination with symbols of ‘the axis of evil’, (my father, a WW2 ETO vet among them) for a bunch of (mostly) right-wing capitalists, things/ideas the glorify russia/communist totalitarianism are anathema.

So PB, you shouldn’t feel bad (IMO, for the $.02 it’s worth) about liking or seeing interest in rc rifles, just that as in Mauser 202’s example, many don’t share in that interest among those here.

No offense taken at all. Always interesting to see the perspectives of other collectors. I don’t own an RC and at the prices they are going for today, I think I would rather get a bolt mismatch.

I’m just trying to find an explanation for their meteoric rise in value these last two years.

 

[Muncher 1953]

internet, gov’t printing free money & giving it out, general societal trend towards instant self gratification, aggravated by the former AND the latter !

 

[JimF]

My first K98 was a RC . . . .a VERY EARLY RC!
Almost ALL numbers MATCHED (Borsigwald mfg’d.)
It DID have the “crossed rifles” and a THICK coat of the red “Ivan shellac.”
It went down the road in favor of my MO Luft. all matching K98.

 

[Berthier]

I’ve been seeing this “No collector value” argument for close to thirty years now. Yet, somehow, their prices have continued to rise, their scarcity had increased, and collectors continue to buy them.

Maybe one day in the near future all of these misguided collectors will collectively realize that these guns aren’t worth buying…. Or something?

They're the ones who scuffed at Norwegian and French K98ks and bought them to part out to "restore" "proper" German K98ks that had been raped by bubba. This rifle's history: good; this rifle's history: bad!

 

[ekimpert]

My first K98 was a RC . . . .a VERY EARLY RC!
Almost ALL numbers MATCHED (Borsigwald mfg’d.)
It DID have the “crossed rifles” and a THICK coat of the red “Ivan shellac.”
It went down the road in favor of my MO Luft. all matching K98.

What constitutes an all matching? Can a decent acquisition have a couple of non-matching pieces like barrel bands?

 

[ncreptile]

Really? Can't understand why...there is no collector value since they are complete mix-masters, and there is no record as to when or where or how many "refurbs" one has been through...they are examples of the type, and make good shooters, but I fail to see them as interesting or historical, IMHO, YMMV.

There are different types of collectors. With baseball cards for instance, some collectors go after the most choice and perfect condition cards. While others go after cards in any condition because they like the player on the card.

I've got matching rifles that were no doubt bring backs or very early imports from the western front. But I get admittedly more excited about RCs because the eastern front was total war and far more brutal and interesting than the Western front.(I am not discounting what the western allies went through.) Would I like it to be all matching? Sure. But I put the historical providence before condition.

With matching examples being so expensive and sought after now, it leaves little room for younger/newer collectors to jump in and build a large collection like many of us here were so lucky to be able to do back before prices really took off. So an RC or any of the other capture rifles are an easy way for the newer generation of collectors to get into K98Ks.
Not knocking anyone at all, we all have different tastes and areas of interest and I'm truly happy a lot of people still look down on RCs because it's kept the price lower than it could be.