Another Mauser Question

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I have been given my wife's father's "captured" Mauser. He was a B-17 Navigator in WW2 and was shot down behind enemy lines, but escaped to tghe allies.

I do not know how this was "captured" whether he took it off a German soldier or was given it. It has the markings 1916 Erfurt with a crown. it is 8mm and has a nose cap that removes. I assume it is to help guide a cleaning rod and not mess up the crown?????

Unfortunatly, he used it to hunt deer in Michigan and it has a homemade sporterized stock from the original. I have shot the gun and have some surplus military ammo with corrosive primers, and a box of winchester 8mm cartridges he used in the 1950's and 60's to hunt with.

To be honest, I really like the gun, but the recoil with the military stock kills my shoulder. I know the gun may not be worth much, but he took game with it and I like the gun very much. I bought a book about sporterizing mausers, but it seemed a disservice to take an old war horse and cut the sights off and cut off the bolt handle.

Is there anywhere I can get replacement military stocks for it to at least put some weight back on it, or a good aftermarket stock.

Most of the stocks I've seen are for the K98, but they always show a different front sight. I don't know if this is a carbine or not. Any help??

 

[Slamfire]

From the stock features and the front sight, you have a M98a carbine. This was adopted in 1908 and was produced up in the 20's.

Picture of an all original at the NRA musuem:

http://www.nramuseum.com/the-museum...nal-mauser-model-98a-bolt-action-carbine.aspx

The muzzle cover is correct for this rifle, I have no idea if it was to be used as a rod guide. There are sight covers, all different configurations, for Mausers, some have the port.

I think the primary purpose was to protect the muzzle, or the front sight.

Yours is a rare rifle, maybe Numrich, Jack First parts, might have all the parts that your relative cut off and tossed

I bought a book about sporterizing mausers, but it seemed a disservice to take an old war horse and cut the sights off and cut off the bolt handle.

These books were written by gunsmiths to drum up business. They have a financial incentive to get you to ruin your rifle.

There are a few sporterized rifles, made by guys like Griffin and Howe, are worth more than the original military version, but 99% of all sporterized military rifles are worth less than the all correct rifle. People who went to gunsmiths and spent dollars for high quality conversions spent more then they would have if they bought an equivalent commercial rifle. Hack jobs, such as what happened to your M98a, basically did not improve on what was there, but cost virtually nothing to do.

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I may have misspoke. All the parts are still on it, except the stock was cut down. It still has the ladder sight and all that.

Thank you for clarifying what it is, now I'm more interested than before to try to find a correct military stock.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Hack jobs, such as what happened to your M98a, basically did not improve on what was there, but cost virtually nothing to do.
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It did improve it as a hunting rifle,making it lighter and easier handling. As far as altering history is concerned,the alterations ARE the history of the rifle and restoring it will be altering it's history. Having said that ,because of it's rarity a replacement stock could be hard to find and if you DO find one,you still have a non-matching rifle.BUT,I would do it anyway.

 

[Slamfire]

I may have misspoke. All the parts are still on it, except the stock was cut down. It still has the ladder sight and all that.

If you look at the NRA picture, you are missing the upper handguard, the upper band and the lower band. If you get another stock it may come with a bayonet lug.

The cost of these parts add up.

As far as altering history is concerned,the alterations ARE the history of the rifle and restoring it will be altering it's history.

And restoring the rifle may cost more than its value. All those alterations with all that history reduced the value of the thing.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

All those alterations with all that history reduced the value of the thing.

Maybe,depends on who's doing the appraising.

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I see what you're saying about tne missing parts. Thanks.

Was looking at Mauser military rifles on the internet. The prices are all over the place. from $200.00 to over $1000.00. I fiqure this one must be worth arount $150-175.00 without the stock. I may try to find an aftermarket sporting stock somewhere just so I can shoot it more. I could use a good bolt action rifle anyway around here.

 

[WardenWolf]

Boyd's makes some nice stocks. I view a lightly or tastefully sporterized Mauser as an opportunity. You don't have to worry about butchering a historical piece, but it also opens the door to have a custom gun that's set up exactly how you want it.

 

[Don357]

If you could afford it, I would try and get the parts to restore it, and modernize it. After restoring it, it may be an extremely valuable piece. Get the modern stock first so you can shoot it more and then work on the restoration parts. Swapping parts is not difficult, and if you decide to leave it original, Mauser barreled actions are fairly easy to come by and not overly expensive. As a matter of fact, I just saw 'drop in' 1912 Mauser stocks for $29.97, and replacement Yugo 8X57 barrels for $79.97 at 'Sportsman's Giude', www.sportsmansguide.com.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

After restoring it, it may be an extremely valuable piece.

Not likely as it will still be mis-matched(even with the correct model stock). As Slamfire1 said,it's collector value is gone. It CAN be made into a nice presentation piece or a great shooter but is no long a collector piece(and cannot be made into one).

 

[MistWolf]

People restore sporterized military rifles all the time. While you may or may not recover the cost of the restoration if the rifle were sold, that's not the point, is it?

You can shoot the rifle as is until another military stock can be found.

I'm wracking my brains, but I cannot recall what the muzzle cap was for

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

OK, one last question, is this carbine a large ring or a small ring?

Thanks