Third Party Press

What the newbie needs first?

Bob in OHIO

Senior Member
I suggest we (collectively) start a sticky on what the newbie needs first & foremost. I cringe when I hear/read to buy books as step 1. While Bruce and Mike have a wonderful series of books, these are reference books, with so much detail that a newbie, IMO, needs another resource before buying books.

So, the suggestion is to create a sticky... and within that sticky, there could be several sub-topics, and each of those would be a short 101 lesson. Each lesson could be handled (written) by someone from here.

The number of "lessons" and their topics, could be agreed upon by the mods.

Here's a suggested starting slate.
  • Original factories, codes, serial numbering systems, blocks, production
  • What is generally found in the wild: Matched, bolt mm, Mitchell Mauser, RCs, bolt mm, etc
  • Wood,,, Tips to determine sanded, original, lam or walnut
  • Fonts, fake-oh engraved, blocks, and alphas
  • Metal finish rust blue, Hot blue, phosphate, and the Cz red extractor, hardening, post war cold blue, buffed
  • Minutia to examine when looking at a rifle
  • Examples of faked piece/parts, to include an explanation of why it's deemed a fake
  • other.... this whole slate can be determined upon by the mods

I remember one of the first rifles I bought.... a pretty special gun, rather scarce, but the wood was refinished. MauserBill told me about the wood issue and as a total newbie I thought he was kinda crazy that the wood wasn't orig. Newbies don't know what they down know.... and this idea is an attempt to help...Think of this as a FAQ section on steroids for the newbie
 
It sounds really good to me. I'm not a newb but think I could benefit from this myself.
 
Also a “what to photograph” on a German rifle when asking about one would be good.
 
Also a “what to photograph” on a German rifle when asking about one would be good.

Haha yes, no kidding!

It's a good idea Bob. We need younger would-be collectors to be well -informed. We were all were there once. Feel like I still am a lot of the time. A simple tutorial in one thread might appeal more to the younger crowd I'm guessing.
 
Excellent idea! I am all for it. Let’s make it happen, I will assist however I can.


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I can't help but feel like my last post was the straw that made the camel want to create a beginners guide! I'm almost completely new to Kar98's and I've only been shooting for almost a year now, but I'd like to help even if it means reviewing content to see if it makes sense to a new comer.
 
This topic comes up about once every other year it seems. Honestly, I don't feel that there is a magic pill to help the newbie, even compiling a list of threads would be somewhat futile as everyone that is new and getting into the game starts at a different spot. Some of the most common: Found a gun at a shop and want advice, bought a gun at a shop, saw a K98k somewhere (or used one in a video game) and got interested, inherited a rifle from family, bought a rifle at a local auction on a whim, found one in the neighbors clean out, etc. The list is endless.

There are some basic things, but really, the best part of being new to something is the search. How much fun is it if you just go to 1 thread and (almost) everything is there? Part of what makes a good future collector is good researching of your find, and sometimes even that search infects you more with the bug. It's already way easier than it used to be with Google search. You can find a lot of good info on specific things on Google, many times links bring them here. Or better yet, better than the search bar on a forum, I search what I want at Google and just add www.k98kforum.com to the search and it gives a list of threads that might help.

I'm not opposed to a helpful compiling thread, but I'm of the opinion that the search is what makes the person eventually a great collector, we've got a ton of new guys on this board that did the same, some are even branching out into actual researchers that are writing articles for the future. I'm not saying a compiled thread would end that, but how much fun is missed if you have a one stop WalMart thread? Just a thought.

One last point, I agree that our books are not for the new collector, they are way too full of information that would only confuse. No need to rush out and buy information at an early stage, this forums Picture Sticky would fill any needs for free.
 

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