Price Check: byf 43

Navy87Guy

Navy87Guy

Well-known member
This auction is over, but I'm trying to get my "value meter" calibrated, so I wanted to see what the collective opinion was. Price points on GB alone aren't enough - it requires the wisdom of experienced collectors. (On a side note....please, please, please stop deleting the price on ads here on the forum after it is sold. It's a hugely useful source of info to understand trends and pricing. Marking something $SPF doesn't help people understand where prices are going. Thank you!!)

The auction was for an all matching byf 43. There was a fair amount of rust but everything looked original. I'm not a wood expert, but it looked like it might have had the elm stock that showed up in the 43 k-block.

The gun ended up going for just under $2,750. Was that a great, good, fair-to-middling, or bad price for that example?

Here's a link to the auction:


Thanks!
 
Well, this rifle had a zf41 scope rail meaning that its price level will be different from a standard matching K98k. The stock appears laminate to me, the final picture in the listing very clearly shows the layering just ahead of the triggerguard. The stock has been sanded which has blended the layering that's normally pretty easy to spot. It also looks like it's either delaminated or cracked on the right side by the takedown disc which combined with the sanding is a big hit on value imo. I think someone overpaid given its current condition but I don't follow zf41 rifle prices closely so I could be off the mark here.
 
Did you notice it's a zf41? That's going to be a pretty good bump in value, all other things being equal.
 
Navy87Guy said:
Nope...which is why I am still a newbie seeking guidance and wisdom! 😀
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If you take another look at photo #6 you will see it pretty clearly. As to value I have no idea but I do think some of the rust will clean up but not all of it. Some parts of the wood are worse than others.
 
heavy_mech said:
If you take another look at photo #6 you will see it pretty clearly. As to value I have no idea but I do think some of the rust will clean up but not all of it. Some parts of the wood are worse than others.
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As soon as it was mentioned I looked and it's obvious -- but it didn't stand out to me initially. I wasn't factoring zf41 into the calculus -- but, then again, I have no idea what that market is like either!
 
Navy87Guy said:
As soon as it was mentioned I looked and it's obvious -- but it didn't stand out to me initially. I wasn't factoring zf41 into the calculus -- but, then again, I have no idea what that market is like either!
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Btdt, even recently. Too busy looking at certain things and totally missing something obvious.

It also brings up an interesting topic of sellers who because of their own lack of knowledge either miss significant details in their descriptions or mislabel the listings. Either of these and few/poor photos can become a great deal. It's honestly one of the few ways it happens anymore. Clueless seller and a bad ad.
 
heavy_mech said:
Btdt, even recently. Too busy looking at certain things and totally missing something obvious.

It also brings up an interesting topic of sellers who because of their own lack of knowledge either miss significant details in their descriptions or mislabel the listings. Either of these and few/poor photos can become a great deal. It's honestly one of the few ways it happens anymore. Clueless seller and a bad ad.
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I've bought a couple of things from that particular seller before. They really don't know much -- they're just helping a family liquidate a large collection. (It's actually a funeral home that happens to have an FFL). I picked up a couple of things (including a nice Romanian capture K98k) at good prices because the descriptions and photos were bad. I've asked him a couple of times for additional photos because he tends to leave out important features (like the series, serial number, and arsenal marks on Arisaka rifles!). I've helped him out with info on a couple of pieces that I wasn't interested in -- but I'm sure he could make more for the family if they were properly described and well documented!
 
hale1940 said:
Looks like the listing was taken off GB. Was it also a zf?

And I agree on the stock front. Heavily wanked stocks basically kill my interest.
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Good to know I'm not seeing things. I can't speculate on the damage up there but the sand down was pretty harsh IMHO.
 
I was looking at this rifle when it was posted and decided to send it to a fellow forum member who needed a ‘43 Mauser ZF-41.

While the delamination of the wood and sanding does hurt the value, it is still a ‘43 production Mauser which is much harder to find than other codes. IMO it went for less than it’s worth.
 
Mike2994 said:
I was looking at this rifle when it was posted and decided to send it to a fellow forum member who needed a ‘43 Mauser ZF-41.

While the delamination of the wood and sanding does hurt the value, it is still a ‘43 production Mauser which is much harder to find than other codes. IMO it went for less than it’s worth.
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I thought I recognized a few handles in the bidders.
 
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