I attended the largest collector event (Crossroads & SAR) in the southwest this past weekend. The SAR in particular was packed and there were more C & R arms to see per foot than possibly even the SOS! Also more Class III and modern tac as well. I did not find much for myself in the first two days, but did pick up a fairly nice Ferlach-logo marked S84/98 T3. If you saw the example FS on Ebay a few weeks back from "WAK2", that is the one. Have known the seller for 20+ years and asked if he would bring the piece to the show if it did not sell. He did and also gave me a substantial discount from what it had been previously listed for. In fact, it looked even better in hand than online. Been searching a long time for this elusive variant so am happy to have it. Rg34s were relatively scant. One friend had a pile of 20 or so empty or partial behalter and used about 60% as partial trade on a holster he wanted. However, best of show was what could only be considered a like-new, high-gloss painted HAWIG kit. The paint was 99.9%. Nice brass latches. When I opened the lid and saw the gleaming steel oiler, RGK & HKW, I knew it was so! Seller stated he had paid strong for the kit ($325. or $350. I think). Perhaps it is the finest example existent for that maker and year and likely was never issued out but taken from storage. Otherwise, I picked up a butchered Polish Kbk. S. wz. 31 trainer and a very nice Kar98k 147 | 1939. Had been working on the latter for over a year. It finally came home with me when the owner's wife told my friend if I wanted the rifle he should sell it to me (most excellent advice)! Piece is matching except cleaning rod and bolt. Regarding the latter, the bolt is matching unto itself, in the same letter block and only 258 numbers higher than the rifle serial#. Spoke to a fellow K98k collector and we both agreed the rifle likely became mismatched after issuance on a unit-level... possibly during formation-cleaning of weapons where two soldats inadvertently swapped bolts while all the parts were laid out on a bench, etc. Such occurrences are known to have happened. Overall condition is exc-.
Show Report and Acquisitions, Observations, etc.
- Thread starter pwcosol
- Start date
My friend mentioned the rifle to me over a year ago. After questioning him, I advised he not let it get away and he followed through. When he brought it to the show last year I could see it was as I had hoped... never taken apart, screwed with, etc., like K98ks I used to see 40 years ago and rarely do today. Was thinking of posting a few pics on the appropriate rifle sub-forum if I can get a decent day with the right lighting to take the shots...
Quit "can teasing" us and show some pics of the rg34 ......
I saw the same can and snapped a couple photos. Price was way out of line in my opinion.
Dang... when I looked at it the paint seemed flawless. There are a lot of fingerprints, etc. on the behalter. Guess with the shine and cell-phone cameras having a high pixel count, every little nick stands out, Have to do this from memory as I do not use a cell phone and thus don't take pictures of anything (in fact, have a stable of Sony FD-73 cameras and 3.5 in. carts)! BTW, had the opportunity to meet and deal w/"Gray Blanket" himself... Larry Eisel. I found him to be a very decent guy in every respect. Perhaps the fact he did twenty years in The Corps and I three (although he began his service 11 years after I did) may have been partly why we hit it off. Also agree the seller of the HAWIG overpaid for it despite the nice condition and may take some time before another, like-minded guy comes along...
