Mismatched K98 parts. Whats your opinion

[ryalw]

I just recently rescued a nice GI bring back from a pawn store. Its a byf 41 with all dirty birds and waffenamt proofs. The original stock had been sporterized which meant the bayonet lug, cleaning rod, upper and lower band and spring was gone. Fortunately the waA655 stamped recoil lug was saved. The remaining part of the gun is all matching numbers except for the bolt. I have successfully found replacements for my missing hardware, a bolt shroud and safety on EBAY with matching waA 655 and a stock that is as close as I can get to the original that was produced in byf which is Mauser- Oberndorf.  My question to some of you experts is am I doing the right thing? Will this increase the value more than if I'd left it alone? I know it won't be 100% completed.

[MULE72]

I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination,but in my opinion you are doing the absolute right thing.I have brought the "life" back to as many military bolt guns as I have been able to.There are enough sporting rifles in the world and there are more being made ever day.What you are setting about doing will not make the rifle "original" but it will make a nice representative piece for your collection.I have also found that sometimes these are my favorite "shooters".I once owned an (S42G) K98 that was all matching and I also knew the man who brought it home from the 2nd world war.I didn't want to shoot it because I figured it was to valuable.It has since passed to a good friend of mine who collects K98's. He doesn't shoot it either.I never really had any trouble at all shooting a rifle that was brought back from the land of "sporter death".Don't get me wrong,I hold no fault with folks who like sporterized Mausers or any other sporterized military rifle.I myself have put some together from bare receivers, sometimes as sporting rifles sometimes back into military dress.Right now I am setting on a Turkish '93 small ring action that somebody yanked the barrel out of.It's all matching (bolt,trigger guard,floor plate,etc.).I don't know for the life of me why anyone would sporterize a '93 Turk.So I guess to get to the point I totally agree with you in re-fitting your K98 to it's proper military dress.For whatever that is worth.

[jcorl]

I think you are doing the correct thing to this little piece of history.  My gratitude to you.

Jim

[Deputy]

I agree 100% with both jcorl and MULE72. Most likely it won't increase collector value, as collectors are really good at spotting guns that have been restored or "rescued". But I think what you are doing is much better than hacking it up into a sporter. Some websites, especially the more snobbish "collector" websites, will say you are wasting your money and efforts. I don't agree with that at all. Well done!!! 

[GaleForceEight]

I can only echo what has already been said here.

Returning a rifle to the original configuration probably won't give you any additional financial value, but the reward is a more personal one.

A few years ago I gave a home to a K98 that niggled me because it just didn't 'look or feel' like all the others, but all the serial numbers matched up.

The rifle was acquired having sat in a Russian arsenal for however many years, in preservation.

Researching it led us down an interesting path - it was a Model 30, one of the batch exported to Yugoslavia in 1935. It picked up stamps and other Yugoslav markings along the way but the remarkable thing given the propensity for Russian arsenals to separate bolts from the rifles and store then using the "put all the bolts in the bucket" methodology is that all the serial numbers stayed together, probably because the rifle was packed in cosmoline up until the day I started stripping and cleaning it.

The scary thing was that it had a recent proof testing stamp on it, yet the barrel was completely clogged with 50 year old preserving wax; so I got the rifle rechecked before I shot it - just in case!

[HMA269snakedoctor]

In my opinion you saved many important pieces of history, collectors items and craftsmanship from winding up in a scrapyard. If you wish to bring it back to looking like it did when it was originally issued, do so, but don't let any of the replaced parts go to waste. Be proud of what you have, they aren't making them any more. But you are one of the few that have one!