Amen to the forum being the safest bet when buying a Mauser. There are some hucksters on Gunbroker who out of greed or ignorance sell bad items but there are also dealers who know their business and value their reputations. The latter tend to attract the highest bids but there's a lot of piece of mind in dealing with someone whose standing in the trade is a given. Usually, if any item remains at a low bid that's a warning sign. I've gotten lucky with sleepers but dealing with unknowns is always a gamble.