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A large K98 and other German Rifles collection has come into my local GD

None of this stuff is mine. Just stopped in and took some pics of the stuff. There is definately some issues with a lot of his stuff. Dont understand why some of the stocks are bleached???. Who would do that?

Because collectors in the 80''s loved that "blonde" look, much of it fueled by Backbone of the Wehrmacht...a lot of guns were messed up to make them look like the guns in that book...lot of oxalic acid was used back then.

There are likely some good stuff in the collection, but with all those red flags you'd have to be very careful with what you might buy...
 
Someone already bought that SS rifle for $5,500. I didnt get to look it over to well but seemed to be a.Gew 98 rebuild.

Then that buyer will regret his purchase of $5500 for a rifle with stock issues. Think about it your telling me the SS the elite of the nazi party. Would accept a rifle marked like that?
 
People waste money all the time, clearly the case here.


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The muzzle cone on the 41M is funky and the mountain carbine stock looks like it was grafted onto the original stock. What a rip for 13K.
 
There seems to be issues with all of this stuff. Guns with Bolts and metal matching have different numbered stocks. Probably were originally Duffle cuts.
Lots of Repro slings and hoods. Seems like the guy did no research and just replaced everything.
 
Is that shop in Pelham?

yep, i saw a bunch of these rifles there 2 weeks ago. while im no expert the more i saw of them the more disappointed i became. not one of the rifles available then passed my first look over. too darn bad, there were a couple bleached k98s that may have been worth looking at closely if the owner hadnt wrecked the stocks, i glanced at each briefly but didnt look at anything closely.

ill probably swing by again this weekend, some nice pieces show up there from time to time.
 
I used to live the next town over. When Terry ran the place there were very few turds in there. Last time I was up there I wasn’t overly impressed. I think Seinfeld’s dad said it best; “Cheap material and dim lighting, that’s how you move merchandise”🤣🤣
 
None of you can prove that Otto Skorzeny didn't carve that defs head and SS in that stock.
 
None of you can prove that Otto Skorzeny didn't carve that defs head and SS in that stock.

That is true, we were not there....:laugh:

But seriously, this goes to show, a 50 year old collection doesn't mean anything if its full of humped up, pimp shined problem guns...

The amazing thing is some idiot paid >$5k for that pimp tastic SS gun, and >$13k for a bad G41(M)…

Just proves the old adage about money and brains...
 
That is true, we were not there....:laugh:

But seriously, this goes to show, a 50 year old collection doesn't mean anything if its full of humped up, pimp shined problem guns...

The amazing thing is some idiot paid >$5k for that pimp tastic SS gun, and >$13k for a bad G41(M)…

Just proves the old adage about money and brains...

Yeah I agree to that but I mean come on who would pay $5500 for that SS gun? I mean ask yourself do you really believe that is how the SS would have marked one of their weapons from one of their depots. Some patience and a little bit of research could have saved that buyer alot of money but I guess he believed that rifle was 100% original. My advise to him is go buy some of that Nazi marked toilet paper he might need it later!

And yes because it came out of old collection doesn't mean its good you still got to look at what your buying. Folks need to remember they didn't have the books and knowledge back then that we do now.
 
..amazing thing is some idiot paid >$5k for that pimp tastic SS gun, and >$13k for a bad G41(M)…

Just proves the old adage about money and brains...

That just blows my mind. I think it's more outrageous than some of the Elite and Uncommonwealth 'sales' over the last few years where guys bid up 1500ish guns to over 3 and even 4k. Insane. Obviously people can do whatever they want with their money but come on.

I wonder if he had to grease the buyer with some elaborate story or dude was just like shut up and take my money? :)
 
And yes because it came out of old collection doesn't mean its good you still got to look at what your buying. Folks need to remember they didn't have the books and knowledge back then that we do now.

The Geoffrey Sturgess collection comes to mind. So much put together junk and fantasy/post war pieces.
 
Most long held collections are full of bad rifles, no one really knew much until the 1990's (late 1990's). Read the literature of the period, the few articles and collector journals, when you see articles on German military rifles they are superficial and often show questionable rifles. I think there were sharp collectors back then, some that knew what they were doing (seen enough to instinctively know good from bad, - it really does take study and hands on experience to get really good), but the vast majority had collections full of bad rifles.

Until Backbone came out, and it has some pretty glaring faults, the average collector was pretty vulnerable. I started in the early 1980's and didn't know shite, on reflection most of the rifles i bought had problems and I was pretty careful. I also probably lost money on every rifle I bought.. once I discovered a rifle was bad I wanted to move it and of course honesty will get you nowhere at resale.

But seriously, this goes to show, a 50 year old collection doesn't mean anything...
 
None of you can prove that Otto Skorzeny didn't carve that defs head and SS in that stock.

Exactly! Maybe there is a authenticator and we missed it?


@Loewe
I agree with you and the the today's collectors and beginners can be grateful to have books, like the series from Bruce and Mike. In the last few years, I have learned a lot from these books, but also from great collectors/researchers like you, Jon and many other members of the forum. The admins and members of this forum do research and share their insights, I'm very grateful for that.
 
Most long held collections are full of bad rifles, no one really knew much until the 1990's (late 1990's). Read the literature of the period, the few articles and collector journals, when you see articles on German military rifles they are superficial and often show questionable rifles. I think there were sharp collectors back then, some that knew what they were doing (seen enough to instinctively know good from bad, - it really does take study and hands on experience to get really good), but the vast majority had collections full of bad rifles.

Until Backbone came out, and it has some pretty glaring faults, the average collector was pretty vulnerable. I started in the early 1980's and didn't know shite, on reflection most of the rifles i bought had problems and I was pretty careful. I also probably lost money on every rifle I bought.. once I discovered a rifle was bad I wanted to move it and of course honesty will get you nowhere at resale.

All of this. I didn’t know shite until well after BOTW.
 

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