Hello All,
I recently purchased my first 98K and was wondering if I could get some info. and advice from the group. Any help is much appreciated. First, I have done some searching and research but would like some confirmation. I have been wanting to buy a 98K for a few years and came across this rife at a local gun store. Some things stood out to me so I decided to take a chance and pick it up. I guess time will tell if I made a good decision. If not, it's only money... anyway down to business...
To my eye it is a 1944 byf Oberndorf, e block waffenamt mark 135. The receiver, bolt and safety are matching numbers. The shroud and floorplate are not. The barrel i'm not 100% on although it does have a 135 mark. It also appears to have a faint 3 and 7 towards the centerline left of the 135. I believe it to be re-blued. I'll get back to this fact in a min. The bore is bright and rifling is good. The receiver appears to be tapped for a scope although i think screws were installed and maybe re-blued over. Now, unfortunately, it has been "sporterized" at some point and has a Remington stock (looks like decent quality). Not what I was originally looking for as I wanted military original trim but, again, decided to roll the dice. My thinking at the time was that with a matching bolt, receiver and good barrel, I was more than half way to where I wanted to be and would track down a stock and bands.
Since the gun store owner did not have any history on it I decided to have it checked out by a local gunsmith who had experience with Mausers. He checked it out ended up test firing and said it was in very good shape with excellent head spacing. So, when I asked him if I would have any concerns putting it back in military trim he said I would need a barrel. A little confused I asked for an explanation and he told me that the 98K barrels were stepped and this one had been turned when sporterized. Obviously unaware of this from the material I had seen previously (apparently not enough research) I was a little disappointed. His advice was to let him tap it for a scope, bend the bolt handle and go hunting.
So, I told him to hold off and I would do more research. After some late night reading, now I am wondering if this rifle is possibly a high turret sniper rifle. The 135 marks seem to be in factory locations to accommodate the turret mounts. So, if anyone can positively ID what this actually is and help with a few questions. Again, I'm new to the 98K and not a gun expert by any means.
1. Is this a HT sniper rifle? If yes, what is the tell tale sign? If no,what exactly do I have? Just run of the mill?
2. Back to the barrel... Can I put a military stock back on with the barrel as is, not wanting to break up the possible original? Is it possible but it just won't look correct or is it physically a no fit situation?
3. From what I have seen this rifle would have originally came with a laminate stock, cupped buttplate and stamped bands. Is this correct?
4. If I wanted to track down a correct floorplate which version do I want? Were byf plates milled? Were they marked byf?
5. Would the original front sight have come with or without hood?
6. If I wanted to install high turret scope mounts, who currently makes the best reproduction mounts? I doubt the originals are readily available or cheap?
7. What original high turret scope would Oberndorf used and who makes the best reproduction? Again I doubt I could afford an original...
Thanks in advance for the help.
I recently purchased my first 98K and was wondering if I could get some info. and advice from the group. Any help is much appreciated. First, I have done some searching and research but would like some confirmation. I have been wanting to buy a 98K for a few years and came across this rife at a local gun store. Some things stood out to me so I decided to take a chance and pick it up. I guess time will tell if I made a good decision. If not, it's only money... anyway down to business...
To my eye it is a 1944 byf Oberndorf, e block waffenamt mark 135. The receiver, bolt and safety are matching numbers. The shroud and floorplate are not. The barrel i'm not 100% on although it does have a 135 mark. It also appears to have a faint 3 and 7 towards the centerline left of the 135. I believe it to be re-blued. I'll get back to this fact in a min. The bore is bright and rifling is good. The receiver appears to be tapped for a scope although i think screws were installed and maybe re-blued over. Now, unfortunately, it has been "sporterized" at some point and has a Remington stock (looks like decent quality). Not what I was originally looking for as I wanted military original trim but, again, decided to roll the dice. My thinking at the time was that with a matching bolt, receiver and good barrel, I was more than half way to where I wanted to be and would track down a stock and bands.
Since the gun store owner did not have any history on it I decided to have it checked out by a local gunsmith who had experience with Mausers. He checked it out ended up test firing and said it was in very good shape with excellent head spacing. So, when I asked him if I would have any concerns putting it back in military trim he said I would need a barrel. A little confused I asked for an explanation and he told me that the 98K barrels were stepped and this one had been turned when sporterized. Obviously unaware of this from the material I had seen previously (apparently not enough research) I was a little disappointed. His advice was to let him tap it for a scope, bend the bolt handle and go hunting.
So, I told him to hold off and I would do more research. After some late night reading, now I am wondering if this rifle is possibly a high turret sniper rifle. The 135 marks seem to be in factory locations to accommodate the turret mounts. So, if anyone can positively ID what this actually is and help with a few questions. Again, I'm new to the 98K and not a gun expert by any means.
1. Is this a HT sniper rifle? If yes, what is the tell tale sign? If no,what exactly do I have? Just run of the mill?
2. Back to the barrel... Can I put a military stock back on with the barrel as is, not wanting to break up the possible original? Is it possible but it just won't look correct or is it physically a no fit situation?
3. From what I have seen this rifle would have originally came with a laminate stock, cupped buttplate and stamped bands. Is this correct?
4. If I wanted to track down a correct floorplate which version do I want? Were byf plates milled? Were they marked byf?
5. Would the original front sight have come with or without hood?
6. If I wanted to install high turret scope mounts, who currently makes the best reproduction mounts? I doubt the originals are readily available or cheap?
7. What original high turret scope would Oberndorf used and who makes the best reproduction? Again I doubt I could afford an original...
Thanks in advance for the help.