Mitchell's Mausers

[olivedrab]

What about the MM "tanker"?

I understand that there never was a tanker model before MM.
I saw one in a Dunhams and when I handled it, it fit me.
They had it "discounted" from the price quoted on the MM website, a steal at $494. I would have bought it, had it been $200 less.


Bender, sorry for the attempted thread-jacking.

 

[dstorm1911]

somebody please tell me how to "quote" on this board I can't find it!

M110, ALL of mine are shooters first collectors second as well PROBLEM IS its gettin harder an harder to decide which ones to shoot these days, Gotta clean em afterwards...... Latelly I've gotten to where I'll shoot the latest aquasitions to the collection the most but there are a few favorites that just gotta come out an play, I try to keep our weekend big shoots (we usually have 20 or so friends/family come out for a barbeque and target shooting, the grand kids play crocet (however ya call it, the lil clubs an balls with the wire hoops) I've gotten to were I'll only bring out 30 or 40 guns just cause it takes so long to get everything cleaned afterwards, some of the regulars are accustomed to cleaning Milsurps and will help otherwise its all me..

As far as getting took at a gun show I wouldn't worry about it most folks there will try and sell it on being a MM mauser etc... OR simply look for cosmoline, if its grimy with Cosmoline it ain't been messed with.

As far as dealers, Military gun supply in Ft worth TX has some really nice ones on their wall all still in cosmoline, if at all possible try to put your hands on it before buying, go to the gunboards.com forums and read up on what to look for etc... ya can get em most everywhere right now with new bores for around $109 - $119

I personally prefer the 24/47s but thats just my preference for Yugo mausers, I've gotten several that are in original mod 24 trim with original like new mod 24 barrels etc... the 24 did not have sight hoods, a 24/47 with no groove on the front sight base for a hood is a good indicator that its an original barrel. If ya aren't experienced at judging bore condition through cosmoline than take a few patches with you and a wood dowel or pencil to use as a pocket cleaning rod, wipe the bore down for about 6" from the muzzle with the patch/rod so ya can see what your buying then simply toss the patch, most sellers have no problem with this...

 

[M110]

somebody please tell me how to "quote" on this board I can't find it!

If you use Firefox us can use the extension 'BBcodeXtra" adds a right click options for common BBcode.

or the old fashion way is ]quote]text here[/quote] Just need turn that front bracket around the other way.


The point I was trying to make was I knew all about Mitchell's and there falls advertising practices. But it was a good deal to me seeing it was a collecters grade for $175, and I didn't have to clean it. Well worth the extra $50.

I have gotten many RC 98.s, and a few yugo m98 dripping with cosmo, plus Enfield, Mosin.

I stay away from the gun snobs over in the 98 forum on gunboards.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

somebody please tell me how to "quote" on this board I can't find it!

There is a little "balloon" fourth symbol on the button row (going right to left) symbols when you post.
Highlight the quote, then hit that button and it is quoted!

 

[Slater]

Up until about 2-3 years ago Big 5 carried the unissued-grade M48's for $160, with all accessories. These had mirror bores and were quite nice.

 

[dstorm1911]

m110, I just ignore the gunsnobs they have fits over my using laquer thinner to decosmo stocks as well as metal... I end up having to clean 4 or 5 milsurps aweek the laquer thinner leeches it all right outa the wood without damage, re-oil with linseed oil and ready to go.... seems most of them think ya needa preserve the cosmoline as well...... I'd rather go shoot the gun myself

 

[tdubya]

bender,
iSAXET Gun Shows usually have vendors that carry them between $250 and up. Im looking to get one soon. My uncle bought one awhile back and he is very big in collecting of American and German World War II weapons. I too was looking at
the real K98k on Mitchells but im not sure if im going to get one because i still have not found someone with the service grade 98. I want to see it before i spend the $299

 

[silverlance]

ONLY 30 TO 40 GUNS??!?!

 

[Rudy2281]

As best as can be determined through business news reports from the Serbian Congress in the U.S. and information published in Yugoslavia about Zastava Arms-USA, Mitchell is closely connected with Zastava which is an old, well established arms maker in Yugoslavia.

One strong 'sense' is that Zastava, which manufactured/re-arsenaled the M24/47 and the M48, also re-furbished many many captured K98's. They may be the source of K98's re-worked, rebuilt and sold through Mitchell.

With Zastava now under contract with Remington to make the 798 and 799, they have a pretty good foot hold in the U.S. market. I recently saw a comment stating that a German firm was re-tooling the K98's and selling them through Mitchell but my guess is that Zastava is Mitchell's source.

After all that, I think they (Mitchell K98's) are smartly packaged and marketed, over-priced and mis-represented.

Additional Background: http://www.serbianunity.net/sucinfo...vitation/company_profiles/zastava-oruzje.html

 

[another okie]

A friend of mine bought one. He likes guns, but is no expert and would never have purchased a rifle coated with cosmoline or that had a bad stock or needed a barrel replacement. He doesn't go to gun shows or hang out at big milsurp retailers - not that there are any anywere nearby. Nor does he care about matching numbers or symbols or anything else.

He wanted a pretty rifle that looked like a WW II rifle, and that he could shoot right out of the box. He got one. I don't see the problem. They have found a market and are satisfying it. Obviously if you are a collector and demand 100% WW II authenticity, you shouldn't buy from them. That doesn't make it a scam.

Their aggressive marketing is putting some good rifles in the hands of people who wouldn't buy one otherwise. More power to them. Lighten up. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Rudy2281]

Lighten up? Just putting out some facts. If someone wants to pay $400 for an item that can be had for $150, that's the enterprise system. However, slick marketing should not involve 'slight of hand' and misleading information. When it does, one has every right, and a duty, to call into question, a firm's business ethics. Not all of us smile as someone tries to stick it to us.

 

[270Win]

I agree with Rudy - they come very very close to outright lying in their advertisements. That's not putting good rifles in our hands... it's a classic bait and switch.

 

[Red Label]

Well now that I have made it back here to check this thread I see that dstorm1911 is trashing me and my gun trying to make me look like some foolish nutball who can't figure out which way to hold my gun! Well guess what bud, the only gunshows near me only have old trashed out mausers that would take at least several hundred dollars to rework if they could even be resurrected at all:banghead: Not all of us have the time or want to spend $100 in gas chasing the best deal. I also will state again that I bought a great shooter and if you figure in my time and gas money to chase the best deal I think I did pretty well. I'm not a collector and I wanted a Mauser to shoot. I like strong durable guns and this one will last numerous lifetimes. Thats what I wanted and thats what I got! For a reasonable price.

 

[Cosmoline]

Red Label has a good point. If you just want a shooter Mauser and don't want to mess with the cosmoline cleanup, you want it in a really neat white box, and you don't mind paying a few C's extra, then there's no harm done. Where Mitchell's gets my ire is by selling what they *CLAIM* are rare SS marked and other rare Mausers which in truth are nearly worthless refurbed Russian captures. Their advertising is highly deceptive and they have a long record for pulling stunts.

But if you go in knowing that you're paying a premimum for the fancy box and the clean rifle, there's no fraud. It's up to you what value you place on those added services.

 

[Trebor]

Let's be serious here - except for special variants such as a "sniper model" the average mauser WWII type rifle has as much collectability value in terms of dollars as an average MN 91-30 -

I have to disagree. Even the recent "Russian capture" German K-98's sell at a dealer cost double or triple that of your average recent import Mosin Nagant.

And, if you look at the prices of K-98's that are NOT Russian captures you'll see that there is alot of collector interest in the standard infantry version and the prices only go up if the numbers are matching, etc. "Vet bringback" rifles also seem to command a premium because they generally haven't been "messed with" since they were brought back and more closely represent a Mauser in "German Service Issue" condition.

 

[mrmeval]

meval has two mausers

One is a pre-1899 Turkish 8mm in shootable but ugly shape and the other is a 1903/38 of some sort with beautiful wood. The non-FFL requiring one was a gift but I know it cost 100 dollars mainly because I owed the gift giver the money so paid for it myself.

The 1903/38 was 80 at a gunshow the owner could not shove it into my hands fast enough. It had a jammed magazine which took a couple minutes to fix.

I really thought the Mitchell mausers looked good but I don't collect Nazi stuff and for what they're asking I could get a superb shooting gun in about any caliber I wanted.

I did not know they did restampings or misrepresent them as collectable. Isn't that a crime of some sort somewhere?

Gibbs rifle did something similar but really should have marked them as conversions. Look at what the Santa Fe Enfields go for now or how cool the Rhineland arms ones are.

I was burned on a Longbranch Mk4No1, it cost me $500, that's about a $350 dollar thump to the head. I've checked it pretty carefully and it only looks like it was cleaned extremely well, just over priced and misrepresented.

I now don't much trust myself unless I can carefully research the gun AND the seller prior to even attempting purchasing.

 

[Saleen]

Well, I've complained over the years at the Mitchell's ads for their deception and outrageous prices. I've steered everyone that I could towards other M48 sources that were more economical, but I will argue that Mitchell's Mausers do serve a purpose to both the informed and uninformed.

I do not begin to hold myself out as an "expert", but I'm not exactly uninformed either. To those who are taken in by the deception of the ads, I say shame on both parties. Sure, the seller should be more forthcoming, but the buyer has to take steps to be at least a little informed as to what they're getting into, right? I don't look at what Mitchell's has to offer as a historically correct or even significant piece. I know it's a refinished restamped humped-up K98k, and that it's been taken well beyond the point of no return for that description ever to NOT be accurate, however they are the only source other than Militech for a restored / rebuilt to near new K98k rifle that I know (and Militech charges $1200 +).

I wanted a pristine example for an LSR clone project that I'm doing. Once finished, I intend to shoot the snot out of it so I really wanted a pristine to new bore and sound wood. I was under the impression that MM used replacement stocks when I made my decision, so I went ahead and ordered from them figuring that for what I wanted to do they were the best source; and since the rifle wasn't what I'd call a "collector" anymore, I had reduced anxiety over drilling an otherwise nice RC gun for this project. Historically speaking, what's done is done on a MM, so where's the harm?

What I got when my rifle arrived was a pretty nice example that was obviously re-numbered on several pieces. It had a mis-matched front band, beautiful (sanded down) wood, and slight evidence of surface pitting under it's new blueing. The biggest disappointment, however, was that the bore was slightly pitted. Shiny, but slightly pitted just the same.

Since this was not what had been described, I called it in and they paid for shipping back. I received no hassel, their communication has been excellent, and my replacement rifle should be enroute shortly. I'll post what I get when it gets here, but my overall experience has been good so far. The rifle I received was beautiful, but it wasn't exactly what I ordered so I sent it back. Some people have complained about MM customer service, but that hasn't been my experience so far. Just know what you're getting into when you order from them.


Saleen