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Where to find original snipers?

You should really give the Swedish guns a chance. They are some of the finest mausers out there. The M76 are neat rifles too. Have one but had it built from a military kit with a Green Mountain 30.06 barrel and custom trigger but still have the 8mm barrel too. Mainly due to flavor and variety of 30.06 ammo we have here and so I could run my standard .30 cal suppressor on it with a custom suppressor adaptor I had made. Thing is quite the tack driver even though it's really just a big ol heavy AK. I know nothing of the French guns. I'd say you could "affordably" get a true M76 or maybe even an M48 with ZRAK if you're patient. The HD18 are still basically 10k when it's all said and done. Buuuuttt.....if you do a little digging around you might find out they have a little more Rusky to them than everyone thinks. But ya didn't hear that from me ;)
I’ll look into a Mauser. Maybe just a iron sight one to start with haha!

For the HD-18, trust me, I know all the drama and history of them. They’re basically the best “SVD” to buy all things considered. Especially if you want to replicate a Chechen war rifle. If you want to replicate a original SVD-63, the NDM would be the move.

I’d dig a 30-06 M76, but I’m a purist, so I’d probably stick with an 8mm more so. But a 30-06 is probably better for overall shootability and ammo availability as you said.

We shall see, maybe I’ll be snagging a few things soon. I just need to sell my P38 to finalize a few things. Missed out on a Type 1 AK47 due to my funds being tied into the guns I got left lol.
 
Some russion SVDs will run you as much, if not more than the german snipers. Those have skyrocketed in the past 10 years or so. The M76 Mitchell"s import is a costly booger as well. Whoever said it above is correct... the SVDs are really really nice to shoot. very comforable and surprisingly light on the shoulder.
 
Found on gunbroker last fall and closing bid was ~$1200. An original LSR. Obviously needs restoring but a very solid project start. Keep your eyes open and you'll see them pop up. You can find projects in the woodworks like I did on this LSR for not too bad if you are diligent on looking. If you want an all matching original then make sure your budget is in the 5 figure range. I have seen turret receivers with bases for sale recently at Simpson and Legacy frequently has original sniper rifles. They go quick though.

My 2 cents - don't settle for a non-K98 sniper rifle or a clone build just because you can't find an original. It will always be a substitute to what you really wanted. Rather save your dough for the big ticket item and keep looking. Makes you much happier in the end. I can't believe I got this LSR. The forum members here have helped me source many of the parts I needed and I am just about finished. Will post photos in a few weeks once the scope arrives.
 

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Found on gunbroker last fall and closing bid was ~$1200. An original LSR. Obviously needs restoring but a very solid project start. Keep your eyes open and you'll see them pop up. You can find projects in the woodworks like I did on this LSR for not too bad if you are diligent on looking. If you want an all matching original then make sure your budget is in the 5 figure range. I have seen turret receivers with bases for sale recently at Simpson and Legacy frequently has original sniper rifles. They go quick though.

My 2 cents - don't settle for a non-K98 sniper rifle or a clone build just because you can't find an original. It will always be a substitute to what you really wanted. Rather save your dough for the big ticket item and keep looking. Makes you much happier in the end. I can't believe I got this LSR. The forum members here have helped me source many of the parts I needed and I am just about finished. Will post photos in a few weeks once the scope arrives.
I think many of us started that way. All the money wasted on an imposter. I started before the internet and if it wasn’t in the “Shotgun News” or at a local show. I had no way to find anything.
 
I have two original LSR snipers. One late phosphate the other ce and blue. Also, a double claw. All of which have been acquired from very old collectors that I’ve known for years. Since they’ve come back from Europe, I’m the third caretaker now of these pieces of history.
 
I’d post pictures but as usual, this forum can’t ever accept pictures. Could a moderator resolve this issue? Luger Forum and the others are much simpler.
If you're on a computer, snip tool is the shitz. Crop as appropriate from your high quality image and save as jpg.
 
If you're on a computer, snip tool is the shitz. Crop as appropriate from your high quality image and save as jpg.
I do practically everything from my phone. Unfortunately, all the pics I’ve tried to upload when I post are always too big. This only happens on this forum and not the other forums. Sounds like it’s a simple tech fix with this platform. I’ve seen other forum members comment on the same issue. Maybe an administrator or the site host can resolve this?
 
I do practically everything from my phone. Unfortunately, all the pics I’ve tried to upload when I post are always too big. This only happens on this forum and not the other forums. Sounds like it’s a simple tech fix with this platform. I’ve seen other forum members comment on the same issue. Maybe an administrator or the site host can resolve this?
If you are on IPhone when you upload photos select the photo that you wish to upload (it should pop up), hit “cancel”, then an “options” button should show up in a lower corner of the screen, select “options”, the resize the photo to “small” or “medium”, the photo will pop up again when it does hit “done” and it will upload.
 
I am really interested as well in getting even one with repro mounts with original scope or repro scope and mounts as a fun shooter grade one too since I already got two good shooter grade k98s and it would finish my collection of shooter grades having one shooter grade "sniper" and two non. Too bad original snipers are out my price range for now. Still diving in and learning about k98 snipers its been pretty fascinating so far!

Andy
 

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