Need Help with Identification
- Thread starter TRH
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waw44
Member
Everything can be fixed with enough money, but not everything is worth fixing.
Outside of the rear sight being messed with, how is the front of the barrel? How is the bore ?
Assuming g you got this for free, do you really want to drop another $500 or so to make the rifle look like a ww2 k98k?
Yes, so far it has not cost me anything. The front sight is fine and the bore is actually in excellent shape. I found the rear sight, sleeve and the hand guard for under $200 bucks. That is about all I'm going to do so it looks a little better, to me anyway. It doesn't seem that it will ever be worth much but it still a K98 and fun to shoot.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
The money is better spent putting a decent scope on it and making a fun shooter sporter out of it. Putting the rear sight back on that is going to be some work, and unless you're pretty handy it's going to require hiring a gunsmith.
The money you will put into this would be better spent getting another rifle that is already a cheap K98k in wartime configuration.
The money you will put into this would be better spent getting another rifle that is already a cheap K98k in wartime configuration.
With respect, K98ks in wartime configuration aren't exactly as common or cheap on the market as they used to be. As a result, this one may not be a complete write-off for restoration, especially if it's in good mechanical condition.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
The metal has been totally hosed. The receiver was drilled and tapped, polished, and re-blued. The only way this rifle would be worth restoring would be if it was an insanely rare code, and a BNZ 4 just isn't.
If someone just wants a K98k-shaped shooter you can get an RC for under $1k. The Portuguese contract 98ks are out there for about the same (and are arguably the best deal in 98k's right now), and if you really want to go scrounging you can still occasionally find those SE European mystery meat imports for cheap in rough condition.
At a bare minimum it needs a new rear sight base, which OP already has $200 into. Unless he can do the work himself he'll need a gunsmith for that, so add a few extra hundred for labor. And at that point it's still not in wartime configuration. For that it would need a new bolt and a new stock. I'm going to assume that the barrel bands are correct, but let's face it there's a good chance you'll need small metal as well. That's easily $400-500 worth of parts.
And after all of that you have something that's varying degrees of K98k, has fewer matching parts than your typical RC, and still has that drilled, polished, and reblued BBL. In other words a gun that you will never, ever move for anything approaching what you've put into it.
Or, just put that money into buying a gun that's already a wartime configuration K98k, even if it's a mixmaster.
My advice is to use this gun as the basis for a fun project. If he wants to dump parts and money into it, get it done up as a repro sniper. If he just wants a shooter, get a decent commercial stock and figure out if the drill and tap job was done half way competently or is someone's garage work. You could turn it into a pretty fun sporter.
Based on the stock and the bolt my guess is that this was someone else's half-hearted attempt to re-militarize a deer slayer.
edit: and frankly bog standard wartime k98k's aren't as cheap as they were 20 or god help you 40 years ago, but they're still a pretty common gun. If you have a few thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket you can go buy one right now, zero problems. It won't be as cheap as if you'd been getting one in the mid-90s, but they're absolutely available. Meanwhile look at something that's actually uncommon or outright rare and you have to look long and hard for any example, and something that's mechanically hosed might still be worth looking into.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
put another way: investing anything into this gun, especially the cost of services, is just chasing bad money with good. Any amount, however little, is better used just saving for something that will hold its value better. It sucks that bolt m/m vet bringbacks don't cost $400 anymore, but this just isn't a gun worth investing time or money into.
If it was mine I'd part it out. There is at least a few hundred in the parts there, most of which can be sold without needing an FFL. The BBL is likely a write-off, but maybe there's someone local who wants a project for $100. If the bore is good it could be the basis for a fun sporter, and there's value in that.
Take whatever can be squeezed out of the rifle, roll it into some extra cash, and put that towards a good entry level shooter like an RC or a Port.
If it was mine I'd part it out. There is at least a few hundred in the parts there, most of which can be sold without needing an FFL. The BBL is likely a write-off, but maybe there's someone local who wants a project for $100. If the bore is good it could be the basis for a fun sporter, and there's value in that.
Take whatever can be squeezed out of the rifle, roll it into some extra cash, and put that towards a good entry level shooter like an RC or a Port.
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
I’m w/Cyrano on this one. When/if you only have 1 ‘Mauser’, its tempting to want to ‘rescue it’ but sometimes better to use it as is & pursue the next & better one. My 1st Mauser was/is a 1909 Argentine cavalry carbine in 7.65x53. It has decent hunting sights on it (ones I can actually use) orig sights removed, is D&T’d (poorly) & some genius drilled 100+ 1/8” holes through the sides of the cartridge box (soo much lighter!) but it serves well as a wet weather deer rifle. (no scope glass to get wet) It was a good starting point, have learned much from it, sits in a M1912 Chilean short rifle stock, no $$ value but still a useful tool.
Cyrano4747
Well-known member
lmao you can't post this without pics
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
I thot I had a photo, but only of the whole rifle. I’ll have to take some. The stock it came in was used at least 4 times, orig mil, sporters 1, 2 & 3. In addition to the holes, someone ground off the front lobe of the TG, so there’s a gap in front of it in a standard M98 inlet stock. One sport version had shortened fore end, & palm swell added, another had a Rem mod 700 barreled action glass bedded into it (could read the proof marks) then the m1909 Argy fitted to it. When I 1st saw it, it was like seeing a dog needing rescue……I had to go back to my LGS to buy it!
