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Opinions on this K98 Navy rifle (ended auction)

militarytorch

Senior Member

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I could be wrong but it appears lightly cleaned IMO. I would also be worried about the metal. The high polish blue looks commercial in quality.

MOD Edit : Pics added
 

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Odd, look at the condition of the takedown disks and compare to the rest of the metal. A bit strange don't you think?

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Well, I bought it from a member here, fellow mod, didn't know it was his auction. I've worked hard in 2012 and had a decent year so I treated myself. Earlier Borsidgwalde like this had a high polish finish, which this is, made shinier by a light coat of oil. The discs still retain a preservative dried coating or light rust. The stock has probably had preservative removed, but not sanded or wooled that I can tell. Early rifles like this had stocks which were final finished. Cleaning would have taken the crispness out of the dings and prangs and markings IMHO.
 
Well, I bought it from a member here, fellow mod, didn't know it was his auction. I've worked hard in 2012 and had a decent year so I treated myself. Earlier Borsidgwalde like this had a high polish finish, which this is, made shinier by a light coat of oil. The discs still retain a preservative dried coating or light rust. The stock has probably had preservative removed, but not sanded or wooled that I can tell. Early rifles like this had stocks which were final finished. Cleaning would have taken the crispness out of the dings and prangs and markings IMHO.

Oh I agree, it has never been sanded or anything, just a varnish or something was probably removed. Not a huge deal IMO especially on a scarce Navy gun. I was thinking the stock discs might be painted. Doesn't look like rust to me...
If you vouch for that beautiful blue, that is enough for me. :thumbsup:
 
Oh I agree, it has never been sanded or anything, just a varnish or something was probably removed. Not a huge deal IMO especially on a scarce Navy gun. I was thinking the stock discs might be painted. Doesn't look like rust to me...
If you vouch for that beautiful blue, that is enough for me. :thumbsup:

Ryan, thanks, but I'm not any final word on things. We all are. The early 243s in the pic sticky tell the story. It's quite tough, in my experience, to find this high polish in this condition. It gets "frosted" and dull before it comes off, and most of these we see are frosted and dull. It would be extremely hard to replicate this without the polishing removing the crispness of the markings. There could have been a preservative coat over the entire rifle, wiped off the wood and metal, not the discs. Usually when these get pimped the discs do too and those lighter stamps would have suffered.
 
Thanks Doc. I believe the finish appearance is a result of high polish (as seen on these 243s) + oil + sunlight. I'll have it in hand probably this week.
 
243 39

my gut was all the exposed metal items were cleaned of rust. Less the takedown discs.. I.E. the butt plate and recoil lug. Items not blued tend to rust at a different rate and this is fairly common on k98's.. I wouldnt be surprised if the disc was fleet marked under the rust. Cleaning them though is the issue. I liked the rifle from the get go when it was posted on the ww2 weapons forum but, never got around to adding my 2 cents. I cant recall seeing another 243/39 navy rifle.. I had an ar41 navy so mauser berlin was a kriegs supplier along with steyr. I'd say it was a good grab. looking again I like it even more. I missed the matching cleaning rod..Nice touch !
 
Well, I bought it from a member here, fellow mod, didn't know it was his auction. I've worked hard in 2012 and had a decent year so I treated myself. Earlier Borsidgwalde like this had a high polish finish, which this is, made shinier by a light coat of oil. The discs still retain a preservative dried coating or light rust. The stock has probably had preservative removed, but not sanded or wooled that I can tell. Early rifles like this had stocks which were final finished. Cleaning would have taken the crispness out of the dings and prangs and markings IMHO.
Real beautiful K98 mauser you got there,congrats:happy0180:
Regards
 
my gut was all the exposed metal items were cleaned of rust. Less the takedown discs.. I.E. the butt plate and recoil lug. Items not blued tend to rust at a different rate and this is fairly common on k98's.. I wouldnt be surprised if the disc was fleet marked under the rust. Cleaning them though is the issue. I liked the rifle from the get go when it was posted on the ww2 weapons forum but, never got around to adding my 2 cents. I cant recall seeing another 243/39 navy rifle.. I had an ar41 navy so mauser berlin was a kriegs supplier along with steyr. I'd say it was a good grab. looking again I like it even more. I missed the matching cleaning rod..Nice touch !

+1
I agree with every word.
 
Thank you. Good guy selling it, so there is comfort in the transaction. I agree Wayne. The buttplate looks like what happens when a rifle is smacked down butt first on concrete. This thing probably was in a barracks or bunker of a KM coastal artillery defensive unit. I've had rifles that had protective grease on them, like cosmolene but different. I reckon that was cleaned off and the discs may be dried varnish as well as rust. Don't see a fleet number, but many KM rifles don't have them on the discs.
 
Very nice, looks exceptional and untouched imo, the bolt handle has the blue wore off and the dings in the stock verfiy the condition as unmessed with. Congrats on your treat to yourself.
 
additional pics

some additional and different pics......
 

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a few more......
 

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I believe this rifle suffered from knocks and questions because we rarely see a true properly stored 98%+ largely unused 1939 date K98k. Also, there was oil on the metal which obscured the true look of the finish. Up into 1939 they had a high polish finish. They aren't seen often anymore, if at all. That finish first dulled, then wore to metal with handling. There are other clear indicators (even from the auction pics) that the finish is original. Likewise, stocks were better finished and polished as well on the earlier rifles. The stock on this one is untouched, which can be seen in hand. At an angle with the light you can see the sharp edges on the inspections and the sharp edges which would have been dulled with any wooling or sanding. The finish would have been lost with chemical stripping. The rifle has had the buttplate stripped of rust, but no abrasives or anything else on the metal. The bore and bolt face look unfired, incredible bore. Put that buttplate outside for a week and it'll get a brown patina back on it.

Thanks to DaveR who sent the rifle to me without any payment and wanted to be sure it passed all muster before he accepted a dime. It's the nicest 243 any date I've ever seen, matched 10" rod, even the lock screws are inspector stamped ;)
 
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Wow, much different looking rifle in those photos! I think sometimes high resolution photos can accentuate the wrong things, and I think the rifle had too much oil on it in the photos now that you post those. Nice looking rifle!
 
Yeah, your pics have definitely changed my mind. I now think the stock hasn't been messed with at all, and with the excess oil removed, the metal looks 'right' as well.
 

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