Pair of KAR98's 1914, 1915 Erfurts, opinions please

[HerrTurk]

I'm helping a older gentleman try to determine an approximate value for two KAR98's. He has offered to sell me one of the two after I help him get some kind of idea what each may be worth.
He's sent me a few pictures and plans to call me at 8:00pm Central time to talk me through each rifle. I am trying to come up with a list of question for him to answer and am looking for help from you folks.
Ive got some of the easy ones figured out like does the bolt match, bands, butt plate etc. What is the approximate condition of the bore?

In the pictures the 1914 has the better metal finish, the finger groove stock and the not very well fitting upper hand guard that is a much lighter wood.

The pitted, nearly in the white, 1915 has a non finger grooved stock although somewhat more consistent nicer looking wood.



Some of the things neither of us know,

is one year more rare than the other?

does condition trump fewer matching parts?

from the photos I've supplied from his email, would you say the furniture appears to be possibly correct? even if not original.


Believe me I understand that trying to determine value based on little or no information and distant not very good pictures is a difficult task, I am hoping that with assistance from you more knowledgeable collectors, I can ask him questions and hopefully get pictures that will make this task possible.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[Loewe]

1914 should not have grips, unless the stock was replaced. A ill fitting handguard is almost always a sign of a m/m stock, handguard or both.

1914 is much harder to find, many times more 1915's were made, also the pre-wars "generally" survived in better shape, probably because they were in hands of support troops. Condition is always the prime consideration, though typically the issue of matching is part of the condition question (importance of issues,- typically, stock condition is most important, including whether it matches receiver, metal finish, and then bolt matching followed by the balance of metal components... metal or stock refinishing KILLS value, usually turns a rifle to junk-shooter status, mismatched is important in so far as how much mismatched, a couple small parts, no biggie, major components, or a lot of smalls then it is increasingly worse... that is why rc's are junk-shooters, they have everything bad you can get in one package, avoid any rifle that has metal refinished)

Hard to say on the photos, the stock on the 15 is the style it would have on both years, - walnut, no grips or take down. Though a period stock replacement might have them. Period replaced is not as good as factory original, but better than mismatched. BTW, neither are scarce rifles unless exceptional condition, but both are tougher to find really nice than a 1916-1918.

Good luck!

In the pictures the 1914 has the better metal finish, the finger groove stock and the not very well fitting upper hand guard that is a much lighter wood.

The pitted, nearly in the white, 1915 has a non finger grooved stock although somewhat more consistent nicer looking wood.

Some of the things neither of us know,

is one year more rare than the other?

does condition trump fewer matching parts?

from the photos I've supplied from his email, would you say the furniture appears to be possibly correct? even if not original.

 

[HerrTurk]

Thanks so much for that primer/lesson.

I'll see how much information I can get over the phone from him and report back.

Then maybe with a more in depth detailed description, and or some more pictures, we can come up with a range of what each may be worth.

I appreciate your quick response,

Mike

If there's some more fellas with some thoughts along these lines feel free to whip them out on me.

 

[HerrTurk]

Well I just got off the phone with him, he's trying to do his best to tell me what he knows about these two. He can't remember what he paid for them and how long he's had them, he just remembers getting them both at a gun show from the same table.

He sent me this additional picture, you can see the difference on the upper handguard wood a lot better in this shot.

Basically they're both mixmasters, neither matching bolts, or assorted metal pieces.

Neither stock has numbers matching and he wasn't able to see much on them as far as stamps etc.

He said the 1915 with the least amount of finish showing, has the better looking bore of the two, something close to shiny and sharp. It also has the furniture that looks to be more of a matched set even if not original to that rifle, at least together for a long time.

The 1914, the one with the nicer metal finish, has a VG bore but more stock issues.

I explained to him that I was posting this information on this site with the hope of obtaining a collectors view point on a current value of these two rifles. He was trying to toss out numbers to me just now as far as what he wanted for each, but he seemed low, the 1914 a C-note higher than the 1915. I told him I didn't want him to feel like he had to be stuck with the numbers until we heard from you more knowledgeable folks.

Give me your thoughts on what they are worth, I'd really appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Loewe]

No way to tell what they are worth with these pictures, but it is minimal probably, -probably worth more in parts than together.

Matching-original 98a are worth a good amount, really nice ones do 98k ranges, more if they are pre-war and unit marked, or especially nice. But m/m take a worse hit typically, most of the value is in the stocks when they are like this, what they look like will probably determine value, but odds are you will start losing money over $300-400 each, - just an opinion, and it, the opinion, isn't worth much with these pictures.