russian capture k98

Depends on what YOU want....if you want a shooter weigh the bore very heavy when looking over the rifle....if you want more of a german history look for one with more stamping intact. There is not a really good way to tell how much use these actually got in soviet hands, so we will never really know their soviet history....the only think we do know is the soviets got tons of them and they tossed them into big piles to be carted off to the motherland. Be very weary of "all matching" captures....while I am sure some of the stuff stayed with the rifles....it will not be the norm.

To reiterate FPGT, numbers matching bolts and receivers are rare (and usually seen as dubious) in RC's, from what I understand. I bought a real nice RC a couple of years ago for around 400, and was troubled when I got it in and the numbers didn't match. But apparently, from what people more knowledgeable than I told me, Russians matched serviceable bolts to serviceable rifles after they were captured and before they were stored/exported with no concern to the serial numbers.

Also, don't buy "restored" or "refinished" rifles, if it's the history you're after. From what I've seen the unmolested rifles typically have a dark, low luster sheen to them, NOT a bright, finished look like the ones over at Mitchel's Mausers. Those rifles really have no collector value but are, from all accounts, fine shooters if you're interested in shooting instead of collecting.

Try and find one that hasn't had all the German markings peened off. Here are three of mine. The top one is a Yugo capture, bottom two are Russian captures.

Russians matched serviceable bolts to serviceable rifles after they were captured and before they were stored/exported with no concern to the serial numbers.

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When the Russians captured rifles during WWII they would remove the bolt and ship them seperate the rifles. That way they would be nonfunctional if they fell in the wrong hands. If a german unit captured 100 rifles and only had 10 spare bolts they would have to send most of the rifles back to be refit before they could use them.

Also, don't buy "restored" or "refinished" rifles, if it's the history you're after. From what I've seen the unmolested rifles typically have a dark, low luster sheen to them, NOT a bright, finished look like the ones over at Mitchel's Mausers.

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The Russians captures shows signs of armory refurbishment. The bolts have an electropencil serial number to match the receiver. The metal is typically reblued but not always. I have a BYF44 that was reblued while the other one that I sold had a reblued bolt and original finish on the barrel/receiver.