Trade 1937 Erma K98 for 1941 VKT M39

[Chevelle SS]

I have an Erma 1937 K98 that a friend offered to trade a VKT M39 Mosin and 910 ish rounds of surplus ammunition for.

I had originally bought the Erma just for the stock to put on my bring-back K98. The Erma is a Mitchells Mauser's rifle that is import marked and the eagles have been pinged. It is a good shooter but has a kind of dark bore and some misc pitting on the outside of the barrel. It is currently in a sporterized laminate stock.

The Mosin is pretty nice with a good bore. I have shot it before and it shoots well.

Wondering if you guys think this would be a fair trade. He also offered to sell the Mosin outright with no ammo for $400. Maybe that's a better decision?

Thanks

 

[Gordon]

I'd trade !

 

[adcoch1]

Sounds like a reasonable trade if you are in the market for the mosin as a shooter.

 

[caribou]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...............Mosin.

 

[boom boom]

Pretty close to an even trade on value if both are in good condition and future price appreciation on the Mauser is pretty much gone due to the change from full military configuration.

Finn m39's are probably the better shooter and have better price appreciation left in military issue condition. I would not sporterize it as it is an easy way to turn a $400-500 rifle into a $250 one with no appreciation in price. The Finns knew their way around a rifle and the m39 was probably the best you can get of the Mosins.

On surplus ammo, there is surplus of recent vintage and then there is old stuff. A lot of old time shooters grew up on surplussed ammo when it was dirt cheap and often the only ammo available for their rifle. They piled it high and deep and will argue that it is safe, accurate, etc. even from WWII and earlier vintages. Many tolerate the hot rounds, hangfires, and inaccuracy because their personal stash is already paid for and they may have multiple copies of a particular rifle bought cheap in the day so if one goes kaboom, it is not a huge loss to them apart from possibly being injured.

For the rest of us, the truth is that all smokeless powder deteriorates with age. Single based propellants generally last a bit longer than double based but there is a buffering stabilizer on the powder that is gradually used up. The military checks their ammo by pulling bullets and checking the powder and surplusses or disposes of it when it no longer achieves the accuracy, safety, and firing quality that that military requires. Sometimes it is sold cheap to client states where life and limb are cheap. Then an importer buys it like Samco Global (now bankrupt) to sell to others, and they in turn are now selling it to you.

A late Soviet era sealed spam can might be still be ok depending on storage conditions. To determine this, you will need to go on the net to decipher when and where it was made though, but remember at the time Ivan was not the most motivated worker. There is also some newly made spam can ammo that is not really surplus but okay to fire and buy.

The old era of endless military surplus rifles at cheap prices is gone so any replacement rifle will cost you more than whatever dubious benefit you get from the ammo. Why risk an expensive price appreciating rifle using old ammo of dubious quality because it was "cheap"?

 

[Chevelle SS]

Pretty close to an even trade on value if both are in good condition and future price appreciation on the Mauser is pretty much gone due to the change from full military configuration.

Finn m39's are probably the better shooter and have better price appreciation left in military issue condition. I would not sporterize it as it is an easy way to turn a $400-500 rifle into a $250 one with no appreciation in price. The Finns knew their way around a rifle and the m39 was probably the best you can get of the Mosins.

On surplus ammo, there is surplus of recent vintage and then there is old stuff. A lot of old time shooters grew up on surplussed ammo when it was dirt cheap and often the only ammo available for their rifle. They piled it high and deep and will argue that it is safe, accurate, etc. even from WWII and earlier vintages. Many tolerate the hot rounds, hangfires, and inaccuracy because their personal stash is already paid for and they may have multiple copies of a particular rifle bought cheap in the day so if one goes kaboom, it is not a huge loss to them apart from possibly being injured.

For the rest of us, the truth is that all smokeless powder deteriorates with age. Single based propellants generally last a bit longer than double based but there is a buffering stabilizer on the powder that is gradually used up. The military checks their ammo by pulling bullets and checking the powder and surplusses or disposes of it when it no longer achieves the accuracy, safety, and firing quality that that military requires. Sometimes it is sold cheap to client states where life and limb are cheap. Then an importer buys it like Samco Global (now bankrupt) to sell to others, and they in turn are now selling it to you.

A late Soviet era sealed spam can might be still be ok depending on storage conditions. To determine this, you will need to go on the net to decipher when and where it was made though, but remember at the time Ivan was not the most motivated worker. There is also some newly made spam can ammo that is not really surplus but okay to fire and buy.

The old era of endless military surplus rifles at cheap prices is gone so any replacement rifle will cost you more than whatever dubious benefit you get from the ammo. Why risk an expensive price appreciating rifle using old ammo of dubious quality because it was "cheap"?

Don't worry, I don't sporterize rifles unless it has already been done. I might sell the ammo if I make the trade, I have 1000 rounds of Wolf I just bought at Knob Creek that I can run through it and my 5 other Mosins.

 

[boom boom]

Don't worry, I don't sporterize rifles unless it has already been done. I might sell the ammo if I make the trade, I have 1000 rounds of Wolf I just bought at Knob Creek that I can run through it and my 5 other Mosins.

Rock on. You know what you are doing then. BTW, though, if you get an earlier Finn, watch out as some of these are .308 instead of .310-11. Most were rethroated to eliminate excessive pressure but some weren't.

The Finns are nice despite being old and worn compared to most of the Russian Mosins. Mine is an older Model 28 (Civil Guard) with a Sig barrel no less. Shoots great--got it cheap because someone drilled and tapped two screw holes in the hex receiver, crappy wood filler in the stock gouges, missing sight, and it was missing a handguard. I had to alter a 28/30 handguard to fit it.

 

[JONWILL]

Great deal. The Mitchell with the stock gone really knocked down the value.

The M39 is a fantastic rifle.