Hopefully this isn't outside the purview of this subforum. I initially wanted to make a thread asking about a specific rifle for sale on another board but decided I could really use some broader advice on the subject.
A year or so ago I PM'd a number of members on this site about the costs and difficulty associated with putting together a HT reproduction rifle using an Albanian capture I had recently purchased as a base. I had a gunsmith recommended (Vaughn) and some of the reproduction parts necessary were also brought to light. However it turned out the base rifle I wanted to use was a bit of a dog as far as accuracy was concerned so I eventually dropped the project.
Fast forward to now, a little less than a year or so down the line, and I'm thinking it might be a lot less headache to just buy a reproduction rifle off someone else who has done the work or had the work done. That said, from what I've read it seems like gunsmithing work, especially on HT/LT repros, can be very hit or miss. Is the same true with LSR/SSR reproduction guns? How do you guys decide what a fair value for a reproduction put together sniper would be since quality of workmanship and features encompasses such a large variety of possibilities? Basically should I be looking at a ~$1k budget? $2k?
The specific rifle that brought me to these questions is this one:
According to the seller is was originally a 1937 S/147 code Russian Capture. The mount is described as a real type 3 side rail and the scope is purportedly an authentic Zeiss 4x - although I don't know these scopes well enough to know whether that is war-time appropriate or a period commercial, or something else entirely. Close ups of the scope here:
The seller is asking $1500 for this rifle. I find it very difficult to determine where on the price spectrum that falls due to my unfortunate ignorance. What do you guys think?
A year or so ago I PM'd a number of members on this site about the costs and difficulty associated with putting together a HT reproduction rifle using an Albanian capture I had recently purchased as a base. I had a gunsmith recommended (Vaughn) and some of the reproduction parts necessary were also brought to light. However it turned out the base rifle I wanted to use was a bit of a dog as far as accuracy was concerned so I eventually dropped the project.
Fast forward to now, a little less than a year or so down the line, and I'm thinking it might be a lot less headache to just buy a reproduction rifle off someone else who has done the work or had the work done. That said, from what I've read it seems like gunsmithing work, especially on HT/LT repros, can be very hit or miss. Is the same true with LSR/SSR reproduction guns? How do you guys decide what a fair value for a reproduction put together sniper would be since quality of workmanship and features encompasses such a large variety of possibilities? Basically should I be looking at a ~$1k budget? $2k?
The specific rifle that brought me to these questions is this one:
According to the seller is was originally a 1937 S/147 code Russian Capture. The mount is described as a real type 3 side rail and the scope is purportedly an authentic Zeiss 4x - although I don't know these scopes well enough to know whether that is war-time appropriate or a period commercial, or something else entirely. Close ups of the scope here:
The seller is asking $1500 for this rifle. I find it very difficult to determine where on the price spectrum that falls due to my unfortunate ignorance. What do you guys think?
