To drill or not to drill ( and tap, that is )

[RWMC]

I recently bought a GEW 98 receiver that was made by DWM, Berlin, in 1906. Only the bolt body and the trigger assembly have the same matching serial number as the receiver itself. It is a nice receiver with no pitting at all, but there is also no bluing left. My eyes are no longer friends with iron sights, and so I am contemplating getting the receiver drilled and tapped for a scope base . I still am having a hang up on getting holes drilled in that nice early 1906 dated receiver ring. I realize that whatever it is worth now is more than what it will be after it gets drilled and tapped. Is it something special that I should just rebuild into a 7x57 or an 8x57 with regular iron sights? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[chicharrones]

If possible, I'd do a rear sight scope mount before drilling the receiver.

I can't peruse S&K's website from my phone properly, but they may have a mount for your rifle. http://www.scopemounts.com/index.html?main.html

I have one of their rear sight mounts for my K31. You just have to get a scout scope to work with it.

EDIT: ooops, I see you don't have the whole rifle together. I'm slow at comprehending this morning.

 

[HoosierQ]

I have to wonder just how valuable it is, beyond its intrinsic value as a firearm. Sounds like little hardware, miss-matching, finish.

All in all, this sounds like a good candidate for sporterizing. Folks should seek to sporterize rifles like this so as not to be so tempted to mess around rifles that are in one piece, matching or not.

I think the Milsurp purists would think this act not much of a travesty unless of course there is a group that returns these things to original condition...in which case this might have value as-is. I am not aware of that kind of effort creating a much more valuable product.

 

[morcey2]

Do you have the complete rifle with hand guard et. al? If it's not complete, I say drill it as long as you understand the cost. If it's a complete rifle, you can probably sell it for enough to get a more recent/less valuable mauser to modify. I have a 1918 Oberndorf Gew98 that has been pre-butchered by having the barrel cut and the stock absolutely destroyed beyond any usefulness. It's going to become either a 6.5x55 or 260 rem. Still haven't decided yet. I know it's not a real cost-effective way to do things, but cost isn't always the only thing involved. As for the bluing, almost every GEW98 I've seen has lost most of its blue and has an interesting patina that I really like, at least on original rifles.

If it has the original Lange Vizier rear sight (Looks like a ski-jump), I don't think there's a rear-sight scope mount that fits the base, although it's a great idea if there is.

Matt

 

[Onmilo]

It's an old receiver and bolt.
It would cost way more to try and build an all correct mil rifle on that action than it would be worth as a completed weapon.
Drill it, tap it, feel no guilt.

 

[fotheringill]

It is a weapon. There are tons of them on the market. Unless you have a special attachment to the receiver, drill away and use it.

 

[mavracer]

If it's just a reciever I'd go ahead and drill it, I'd want to do a 50s style classy sporter.