1934 K98 Mauser Banner D.R.P.

Hello,

Trying to make a decision whether to restore or sell this Mauser, any help would be appreciated.

I bought this K98 along with a few other pieces which were part of an inheritance, it is an all matching Mauser which has been "Sporterized" with Lyman front and rear sights, the rear peep has been tapped to the receiver, the tangent rear sight is missing. The bore is clear with deep lands and grooves, I cannot see signs of brazing or silver solder to secure the front sight but I did not try to remove it so cannot say if it's just a slip-on. The barrel has not been cut and it has the original high-polish commercial finish.

Thanks, looking forward to your opinions.

That would be an expensive and, in my opinion, fruitless restoration. Too much work for very little reward in the end, I think its value is in the potential if that makes sense. By that, if someone had parts laying around they could pull it off, but if you had to buy them, no.

mrfarb said:

That would be an expensive and, in my opinion, fruitless restoration. Too much work for very little reward in the end, I think its value is in the potential if that makes sense. By that, if someone had parts laying around they could pull it off, but if you had to buy them, no.

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Initially that is just what I thought until someone pointed out that it was a D.R.P. which was only produced for two years and should be restored even though it would not be numbers matching due to the need to replace the missing tangent sight.
Thank you for writing, I appreciate it.

Damn, that was a nice one too. Once it’s drilled and tapped it’s toast.

nirvana said:

Damn, that was a nice one too. Once it’s drilled and tapped it’s toast.

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I feel the same. I thought, no way the bolt was going to match, it did. What can you say, in the Fifties they weren't collectible.
Looking at the full photo, the piece looks unbalanced due to how far back the stock was cut, initially I thought to take the barrel down to 18.5" and make it a ranch rifle but I just can't do it. Now I'm thinking I may add to the length of the forend, re-contouring the shape but keeping it a 1950's Sporter.

GjM said:

I feel the same. I thought, no way the bolt was going to match, it did. What can you say, in the Fifties they weren't collectible.
Looking at the full photo, the piece looks unbalanced due to how far back the stock was cut, initially I thought to take the barrel down to 18.5" and make it a ranch rifle but I just can't do it. Now I'm thinking I may add to the length of the forend, re-contouring the shape but keeping it a 1950's Sporter.

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Let me offer a slightly different opinion: even though most say it’s a shame it got “ruined” I would suggest that since this was indeed what many vets did with bring-back rifles, there would be nothing at all wrong with keeping it exactly as it is, and having it represent that end point of many rifles.

Purists of course wish it had never been modified, but even modified it still is what it is! You would never recover the cost of trying to restore it, so why not keep it as it is, which represents the fate of many “GI captures”?


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M1903A3 said:

Let me offer a slightly different opinion: even though most say it’s a shame it got “ruined” I would suggest that since this was indeed what many vets did with bring-back rifles, there would be nothing at all wrong with keeping it exactly as it is, and having it represent that end point of many rifles.

Purists of course wish it had never been modified, but even modified it still is what it is! You would never recover the cost of trying to restore it, so why not keep it as it is, which represents the fate of many “GI captures”?


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I agree, I think you're exactly correct. It truly is a beautiful rifle in it's own right.