A lady I know came by today with three guns that had belonged to her father. She wanted to know what they were and what they were worth. Two I had no problem with.
The third is a Model 98 Mauser. I know very little about these rifles and would appreciate any information anyone can give me about it and what its worth.

Mauser Model 98
8mm Mauser caliber
Fair condition
Bore is dark and rough, but lands are strong. I believe it is in shootable condition.
All numbers match.
One small crack in the stock at the receiver.
I took and include pictures of all the markings I could find.









Any and all information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

A very low serial number made at the Mauser Oberndorf factory in 1941 if all matching and no import markings worth $600-1000 to the right collector. look for matching serial number, or last two digits on all parts even screw heads. I would call that one in good to very good condition.

Despite the stock being sanded that is still a $600+ rifle on Broke Gunner.

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Release the Kraken

A BIG asset here is it's a matching numbers gun which is somewhat rare with 98s. For that reason in the right situation; I expect it could go for more than $1000 as there is a big interest in these within the collecting community. Did you pull off the barrel band to see if there is a "duffel bag" cut?
Jim

No, the Lady took it back home with her. However, I beginning to think I should get it back and take it apart to positively check all the numbers.
I have no idea what a "duffel bag" cut is?

That K98k was made in the middle of 1941, note it's from the W block, a block is 10,000 rifles. Mauser Oberndorf made over 420,000 K98ks in 1941. The bolt cutout is sharp, I don't think that's stock is sanded, maybe I'm missing something. It would be unusual but possible for a walnut stock during wartime production, the Germans went to laminated beech in late 1937. The big question is matching numbers. Most numbers are obvious, the bolt should have numbers on the root, where in meets the bolt body and does the stock have matching numbers in the barrel channel? A cut under the front band is a duffel cut, the G.I.s had to hide these in their duffel bags to bring them back and to make them fit they would saw the stocks into two pieces, most of the time under the front band, a cut would almost guarantee it being a vet bringback though some collectors would feel like it hurts the value. Completely matching for $600 I would drive to your house to buy it. We're looking at a $1500 rifle at least if everything matches. When the Germans surrendered they were made to take the bolts out of their rifles. When the G.I.s made these their souvenirs. it was a pick a rifle out of this pile and a bolt out of that pile type thing. A bolt mismatch rifle like this is an $800 rifle.

So does everything match? If so I have six crisp $100 bills and would like to be knocking at your door here shortly.

I just noticed you live in Bartlett, that's 15 miles from me. PM me if you feel like, I've been a Mauser collector for years, perhaps I can be of help..........the $600 still stands.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Good info here indeed! Be great if numbers match for sure. Much sought after and the year 1941 is a tougher year to find. Could be a real treasure ya got there.

The bolt cutout is great, but the edges of the wood in the picture immediately above look rather round to me. If the bolt, magazine baseplate, trigger guard and front band all match it could easily hit $1200 at auction.

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Release the Kraken

Yet all scratches and imperfections in these same areas are uniform and sharp with no discoloration. Look at the very small dents just ahead of the serial number on the barrel and right by the recoil lug, someone sanding on this stock would have surely removed this. Would like to see pictures of the stamps just behind the bolt take down disk on the right side of the stock. Just went through Karbiner98k Vol IIa by Karem and Steves and the 41 byfs are slightly rounded in these same areas.

I'll have to respectfully disagree.

On Gunbroker this rifle, if matching, would fly by $1200.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

What were the other two guns?

That is a good 98k. $1,000 - 1500 in todays market for an all matching non molested 98k. How are the cartouches in the stock? The condition of those would help in value as well. That gun needs to be cleaned up real well. It almost looks like the bluing is to nice for the condition on the wood, hard to tell by pictures. The blue on the receiver is real strong compared to the barrel in front of the handguard, might just be the pictues.


This is the stock cartouche on my BYF 43 duffle bag cut bring back. It is all matching with a walnut stock.

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Life NRA, Life TSRA, C&R FFL

I haven't bought a Mauser in quite a few years y'all are making me feel pretty good about my small mauser collection. i have a 1871, a mismatched 71/84, a matching 91 cavalry carbine, 1914 98 Gew that is all matching except the bolt which is arsenal renumbered to match rifle. my K98 is all matching except the front barrel band and bolt which matches itself which is common for reasons stated above. I have to update my inventory values I guess.

Ok, I definitely going to have to call her and get it back so I can give it a closer look. Just not sure when that will happen.

First was a Winchester Model 290 semi-auto .22 rifle that was like new in the box. Unfortunately, the rear sight elevator was missing.
The action felt a bit sluggish, I'm guessing its just gummed up with old oil. It hasn't been fired in at least 30 years. Even being as nice as it is, its only worth about $200.

The second one is something you don't see very often. a 4" Miroku Revolver in .38 Special. Its at least 98%. She shot it just the other day as she plans to use it for home defense. She also wanted me to show her how to clean it, which I did.
Its kind of odd looking, but you can definitely see a strong Colt influence in the design. Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture of this one.
I'm gonna tell ya, this thing has got the slickest DA trigger pull I've ever felt. I like it!
BTW: I've already told her that if she takes the foolish notion to sell it, I call DIBS!

When you get the 98k back check the grip area on underneath as the serial number is often stamped there as well as barrel channel. My dad's bringback 1940 Borsigwalde serial is stamped in that fashion. Sure sounds like it's a valuable one to me.

I just got off the phone with the owner. She's both tickled and surprised that the rifle may be worth that much. But, she's not real interested in selling it. After all, it was Dad's.
Her brother believes that Dad brought it home after WW II. She's not so sure, so the actual history is uncertian.
She will get it back to me to inspect further. However, there is a 4th gun which she describes as a snub nose S&W. The problem is that she says its suffered from neglect and is what she describes as corroded (rusty?). Unfortunately she doesn't know for sure where it is. She has a pretty good idea, but it may take some searching. The plan is for her to find this other revolver and then bring both guns to me.
Considering that she first mentioned having me look at them more than six months ago, she said that she'll try to get them to me in the next couple of weeks. So it may be a while.

Anyway, I want to thank everybody for their input. There truly is a wealth of knowledge here. I promise that when and if I get the rifle back in my hands that I'll come back and update this thread.

Interesting. I need to read up on Mauser 98Ks.

I got a copy of Backbone of the Wehrmacht Houston but heard there are errors in it. Still not a bad start. These guns seem to be more and more sought after by collectors. If ya find a bolt mis-match for a good price Grab It!!

Karabiner98k and Kriegesmodell by Steves and Karem, a four book set, are recognized as the bible of K98k collectors these days.. Backbone is dated and was pretty much based on one collector's rifles. Though it is still considered a valuable reference it does contain several mistakes.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

A German 98K (karabiner carbine) MOD98. Nice 8mm Mauser. I have the same rifle scrubbed and yugo markings put on it. Mine has a laminated stock. I purchased it 40 years ago for $79.

I also have one just like it. All matched, a duffle cut, and provenance of a vet bringback. I bought mine in 1967 for $20.

Wow $79 and $20 for 98k. Great you guys held onto em!! Now super collector items with R/C 98s bringing $700 and all matcher G.I. bringbacks often $1500 - $2000. One 1940 243 recently went for $5,500 on Gunbroker!

Its all relative. When I paid $20 back in the dark ages I made $1.15 an hour on a part time job. After taxes that gun took up my entire week's salary.