Authentic German army Mauser M-98's from Russia?

[His lordship.]

I had read an advertisement of a batch of captured German army Mauser 98s coming in from Russia with their markings intact.  And lo and behold at last weekend's gunshow was a row of them, and yes the Waffenstampt and makers markings with date were on them.  The guy was asking $200.00 apiece.  For safety reasons they use plastic tie ons to keep the bolt action closed at the local shows so I did not look at the bores.  I could have the tie removed if I intended to buy.

However, these guns were used on the Russian front and captured toward/at the end of the war so I doubt that the average German soldier cared or had time to clean them from firing the usual corrosive ammo.  The Russians cleaned up the outside and stamped their markings on them for possible future use, but my question is...in general are the barrels in good condition?  Anybody buy one of those Soviet captured guns and have a good bore?

I know that alot of collectors of Mauser rifles care more for the outside appearance, but I like to occasionally shoot all my guns.  And I am a stickler for accuracy. :grin:

Thanks

[Jack Crevalle]

Most of the Russian capture K98's I've seen advertised do not have matching parts. The Sovs aparrently striped them, threw them into a big heap and re-assembled them. For $200 I think I'd save my money and try to put it towards one I could examine and that had matching parts.

[1911crazy]

Checkout AIM SURPLUS they have the russian/german K98's along with the yugo/german k98  unless you want to go in search of looking for a "YUGO Preduecci 44 8MM"  "Mod.98" its carbine and which a german 98 with the markings cleaned off and the yugo seal put on its the same "german gun" exactly I have one and its awesome they can be found reasonable under $100.  I treasure mine as if it still had the german markings.  You can still enjoy the one of the best 98's ever made, the smoothest.  It says preduecci 44 on the left side rail where the bolt is then look at the handguard it stops before the rear site same as the german gun like I said again its the same gun just remarked yugo!!!!      BigBill


Plus hang on now that I think of it I found another source for german mausers a while back and I just won't post it without buying one to see if its good or not for $125??  I'll send them my C&R and buy one to see how they are they maybe shot out.
If you have to have  german mauser in the meantime checkout AIM SURPLUS he has a few different prices and guns too plus you can call or email erik and ask about the matching numbers too.

[S.S.]

Be careful what you buy!!
Just because the mausers come from Russia does
not mean they were captured there. Even if they were,
that does not make them anything special.  They were probably
battlefield pick-ups that were cleaned and put into reserve for later use.
Some of the advertisements sound real good though don't they!

[1911crazy]

Be careful what you buy!!
Just because the mausers come from Russia does
not mean they were captured there. Even if they were,
that does not make them anything special.  They were probably
battlefield pick-ups that were cleaned and put into reserve for later use.
Some of the advertisements sound real good though don't they!

S.Sumner first of all how are you doing??  I been having these bad thoughts for a while now and  then when a batch of refinished mosins,  and now refinished mausers??  Are they refinished for us to buy?  I just find it kind of odd??                                      BigBill

I can just picture some way under paid guys in a garage with disc sanders refinishing stocks while others clean and reblue recievers to sell to us?  Then its we just found these in russia stored away in a vault.  I even like how many are trying to capitolize on these at gun shows here already their marked $400??  I'm just starting to wonder about all this??

[S.S.]

I am doing pretty well thanks,

I have seen some of these rifles, and there is really nothing
special about them. Some have a few Russian stamps
on them, but I think that the importers are trying to sucker us into believing the rifles are something rare. They did the same thing a couple of years ago with the "EGYPTIAN 98s".
As long as people fall for it, the importers will keep doing it!

[His lordship.]

I was planning on taking another look at those Russian front Mauser 98's at a recent gun show with the possibility of buying one.  The seller had lowered his price to $169.00 apiece for the plain ones, and was asking $350.00 a pop or more for the ones with rarer markings.

The cleaning rods were missing, the wooden stocks were darkened from cosmoline storage with some dents, scratches, etc., and the locking screws on the trigger guard and floor plate area were missing.  I had read that the Soviets decided to omit these parts to save time during reassembly.  It was interesting to see the various maker markings and dates, many with the machined nose cap and older style butt plate...but really, I felt that these guns were overpriced for the condition they were in.  

I have a minty Yugo Mauser 98 Model 48 that I paid $200.00 about a year ago that is very accurate, and has a new appearance.  Yea, you guys were right about the so called "Russian Capture" mausers.  If they were the same price as some of the Czech VZ-24s in the same condition for $80.00 to $100.00, I might think about getting one.  But not for $169.00 plus!

[1911crazy]

I just ordered a German mauser from Century Arms on their website they have three different buys on german mausers I chose the $119 my oldest son bought it for me for christmas its not here yet.   BigBill

[Mikey]

Fellas, I don't know how well the captured 98s lock up or how tight the actions are but, of the 4 8mm Mausers I have, two being VZ-24s, one a Yugo 48A and the other a pre-war made K-98, the K-98 is the loosest goose of the bunch.  The headspace is good and so is the bore, but she's a rattle trap.  The two VZs are better made rifles, both being made before that particular K-98 was, and the Yugo 48A is almost new (excepet for all the rounds I have put through it) and will become a carry around field piece.  

BTW, for us 8mm lovers, rumor has it that Remington will be making one of its lightweight stainless bolt rifles in the 8mm Mauser, giving us the chance to compare current production and older world quality.  Sounds like fun to moi!  Mikey.

[1911crazy]

Fellas, I don't know how well the captured 98s lock up or how tight the actions are but, of the 4 8mm Mausers I have, two being VZ-24s, one a Yugo 48A and the other a pre-war made K-98, the K-98 is the loosest goose of the bunch.  The headspace is good and so is the bore, but she's a rattle trap.  The two VZs are better made rifles, both being made before that particular K-98 was, and the Yugo 48A is almost new (excepet for all the rounds I have put through it) and will become a carry around field piece.  

BTW, for us 8mm lovers, rumor has it that Remington will be making one of its lightweight stainless bolt rifles in the 8mm Mauser, giving us the chance to compare current production and older world quality.  Sounds like fun to moi!  Mikey.

Mikey my Turkish 38 mauser has a really loose bolt too. I haven't dug it out yet to check the headspace on it yet.  I just bought the 8MM No-Go and Field gages from what I have heard if it fails the No-Go(closes) it may still be shootable if it doesn't pass the Field gage(doesn't close).  The field gage is the final limit of use and the gun needs to be inspected and not to be used anymore because the bullet case is too far back out of the chamber this is when bad things happen.  The 50k breech pressure can blow out the case thus hot gasses at the shooter and who knows what else too?  I think its very important to check every used military gun we buy before shooting it just for our safety.                 BigBill

A new remington 8mm?  Well I'm wondering which gun will out shoot the other?  An 8MM remington,   8MM Mauser,   7.62x54  M39 finnish??(big bores)  Some of these new guns are kind of questionable about quality but not about price?