Third Party Press

“Forced match” k98

Gerst

Senior Member
I was recently offered a “forced match” k98 for $1,300. The dealer was unable to explain.

When I commanded a basic traing company in 1969 we had a draftee who was very short, so short that he could not reach the trigger on his M-14 rifle. The battalion commander told me that ALL of my men had to qualify on the range, no exceptions. I instructed my supply sergeant to take measurements of the draftee’s arm and take the rifle to the armorers who shortened the stock, but only after he gave them two large cans of coffee. The fellow qualified - he was from Kentucky! This is what I would call a forced match!
 
LOL, funny. I was a battalion level rifle range coach in the Corps. I can picture that. A force matched K98 is one that had it's original parts lost or removed and replacement parts added then had some or maybe all of the serial numbers restamped to match in some way. Either with metal punches or electro pencil. In a nut shell "not original" and for that price had better be a pretty nice or rare code rifle depending on condition and type of work done. But any serious collector would more than likely avoid it. You can find bolt mismatch but otherwise all original rifles for around that price.
 
LOL, funny. I was a battalion level rifle range coach in the Corps. I can picture that. A force matched K98 is one that had it's original parts lost or removed and replacement parts added then had some or maybe all of the serial numbers restamped to match in some way. Either with metal punches or electro pencil. In a nut shell "not original" and for that price had better be a pretty nice or rare code rifle depending on condition and type of work done. But any serious collector would more than likely avoid it. You can find bolt mismatch but otherwise all original rifles for around that price.

The guy I talked to seemed to think that all-matching serial numbers was a plus, even though the non-matching numbers had been ground off and the new numbers stamped in, including on the side of the stock in large numbers! Thats what made the price so high! What a goofball!
 
The guy I talked to seemed to think that all-matching serial numbers was a plus, even though the non-matching numbers had been ground off and the new numbers stamped in, including on the side of the stock in large numbers! Thats what made the price so high! What a goofball!

There's a LOT of that out there. While it's technically not a lie that a Mitchell's Mauser or Russian Capture is 'all matching' it is not original or German wartime correct. Still lots of casual collectors and almost all the hucksters tout this.
 
The guy I talked to seemed to think that all-matching serial numbers was a plus, even though the non-matching numbers had been ground off and the new numbers stamped in, including on the side of the stock in large numbers! Thats what made the price so high! What a goofball!

Was that dealers name PT Barnum perhaps?:facepalm:
 
If you follow the threads on reworks, depot rifles, etc, there is a difference between a “forced match” from legitimate background and what the kids these days call “humped” (I hate that term).

The problem is distinguishing this difference.
 
Not sure where humped came from but I always took is as a nice way of saying fucked or fucked with.

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Not sure where humped came from but I always took is as a nice way of saying fucked or fucked with.

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That’s how I take it to be too, as a more polite way to say f’d up! “Humped” doesn’t just mean altered or modified, in this forum it means deliberately screwed up. A nicely converted sporting rifle done years ago therefore isn’t humped, but forced number matching (especially done to deceive) IS humped.


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Not sure where humped came from but I always took is as a nice way of saying fucked or fucked with.

Yep, taken from the term relating to what randy dogs do to bitches on heat (and derived from the hump backed shape of the male dog as a result)...... :biggrin1:
 

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