a tale about two 98 mausers from the 60,s

[eastbank]

two german 98 mausers in 8mm bought in the 60,s for 49.00, the top is a BDC-43 and was left as it came(sling added) and the lower one a BYF-43 was made into a fine sporter at close to 400.00 total and has killed a pile of deer. both are not for sale and will be given to my two sons. how ever the top rifle now is worth about 1000.00 and the lower one about 450.00. so if you have a original german 98 mauser in decent shape do not sporterize it, but buy one already sporterized as they can be bought for very good prices with all the work done and cheaper than you could get the work done today. and save a piece of history. eastbank.

 

[Decoy80]

I have a 7mm mauser with its short 3 step military barrel it came to our country with. It has been sporterized with a timmney trigger and safety. It had a beautiful walnut handmade stock when I got it some 30 years ago. I bought it for cheap in a pawn shop due to issues with the safety. It has been my favorite deer rifle every since. They are just so reliably accurate and I have yet to have a failure to fire with it. The only times I have not hit the intended target are my own fault. If those 8mm rifles are as good and you know the nature of deer I am tired now thinking of all the work caused by the effect of shooting deer. By that past the rush of your success shooting the animal the labor begins.

 

[LoonWulf]

More beautiful guns, I really like that sporter

 

[bannockburn]

eastbank

I like them both for different reasons. One for it's historical value because it's still in it's original condition; the other for it's quality customization into a decent hunting rifle. Thanks for sharing.

 

[dh1633pm]

Those are both keepers, that's for sure.

 

[I6turbo]

Nice guns, both! A broken-in version of the original K98 has a feel that is unlike almost anything else I've ever handled. The nearest thing I have to one is a 24/47, which I like a lot, but my brother has an original similar to the one above. It's a fine piece of mass-produced workmanship that is a joy to operate, IMO.

Interesting on the values today, but it'd also be interesting to know what value the owner would put on the experience of harvesting that pile of deer with the sporterized one?

For perspective, $49 invested in the broad stock market in 1965 would be worth about $5K today.

 

[Llama Bob]

Those are nice looking guns! I've been looking for a sporterized M98 for a while but haven't found the right one.

One interesting aspect of the pricing is that without the demand for M98 actions for dangerous game and sporter projects, the prices would be much lower - possibly in line with M96s or Arisakas.

 

[Dog Soldier]

The 98 Mauser is the Alpha of all modern bolt actions. The original 98 Mauser sporters are true classic rifles.

 

[entropy]

You chose well on which to keep as issued, and which to sporterize. Looks nice!

 

[Holescreek]

A couple years ago I was cruising the OGCA show looking for a 98 action to use for my 54r project and kept running into a member carrying a sporterized VZ24 around. I finally decided to check it out and ended up taking it home with me for about the cost of a complete action. At first I figured I'd use the parts I needed and sell the rest but once I got it home I couldn't bear to break it down because it's just so pretty. So now I have a 30-06 that kicks like a mad mule.

 

[aarondhgraham]

When I turned 12 my grandfather gave me an original K98,,,
His older brother brought it back from Europe after the war.

This was in 1963 when it was all the rage to sporterized milsurp rifles,,,
I bought a British .303 from a catalog for $19.95 and did all the standard stuff to it.

Now 54 years later I am so glad that my Pop wouldn't let me sporterized that Mauser,,,
I've taken 4 deer, one razorback hog, and countless rats at the dump with it.

Back then they were so common that no one ever thought they would ever be rare.

Aarond

.

 

[22250Rem]

I grew up drooling over sporterized Mausers that were seen here and there in gun shops and sporting goods stores. This was late '50's and up through most of the '60's and I always wanted one. By the time I got serious about one and didn't have to worry about cost it was in the mid '90's and by that time I didn't want to chop up an original nice condition Mauser and wasn't seeing any already sporterized ones for sale. Then in 1995 the folks at Kimber started selling those Mod. 96 Swedish Mausers that they sporterized and a friend of mine (FFL holder) who owed me some favors said he'd get me one of the Kimbers at dealer cost. I couldn't resist and after all those years I finally got my Mauser sporter in a sweet, accurate chambering, (6.5x55). And these days I'm glad I never chopped up a nice old Mauser; somebody else did but now I enjoy it without the guilt. With a 3.5-10x Leupold, an aftermarket trigger, and a Bell & Carlson stock to replace the Ram-Line stock it came with it's now that Mauser that I always wanted

 

[fpgt72]

Where did that thread go that talked about butchering surplus rifles.