Checking in Before Bubba'ing

I am in the habit of collecting orphaned parts and assembling shooters from them. As of today, short of a cleaning rod and a sling, I've got all of the parts I need to bring my K98 action back to life. I wanted to check in with some experts and verify that what I have has zero collector value since I'd like to clean this rifle up a bit to the extent of polishing some of the worn metal and perhaps spot cold bluing some areas where rust has crept in.

The action came complete - a DOT 44 - but with no two parts having matching numbers. Rifling on the barrel is good but there is some frosting. The receiver is drilled and tapped on top for scope mounts, but not the correct kind/hole placement. The stock is a walnut Norwegian capture acquired by way of Mowzerluvr (who was awesome - thanks Dave). I picked up a trigger guard and stock metal from him that matches the stock. I think I have about $750 into the project which is, so far as I understand, the bottom of Russian Capture range in 2021.

My plan is to clean this thing up as best I can, take the shellac of the stock and put a proper oil finish on it, and touch up the finish on the metal. Eventually, I'd like to put turret mounts and a scope on it if it groups well at the range.

Is there any good reason I shouldn't do this?

Somebody else can give their opinion but that rifle sounds like it has absolutely zero collectors value. If you're looking for a scope I'm selling a Yugo scope cammed for 8mm Mauser and it's got the mounting brackets, screws, scope cover and two rubber eye pieces. Basically one of these:

Thanks. The scope will probably wait until I've seen how the barrel on the action performs. It doesn't LOOK like a sewer pipe, but if it performs like one, I'll want to rebarrel before putting a scope on or just skip it entirely.

Also, I'll be going with turret mounts to cover the hideous holes that are already there. It's never gonna be "correct", but it might be a respectable clone with a few hundred bucks.

Fortunately there are new production Mauser 98 barrels out there such as from Lothar Walther. I'd probably shoot a group first and see how it groups. Some barrels that don't look great can shoot surprisingly well.

I was able to get one from Numrich that was made by these guys:


I bought it for a second K98 action that I was able to get in better condition and with matching parts. It was about half the price of the WL barrel, but I have not shot with it yet. Need more tooling to fit it and a proper action wrench. Unfortunately, they're out of stock now so I won't be able to get another one even if it turns out to be awesome.

I suppose it would be hard to beat a WL barrel for a sniper clone. I'd be committing to some serious cash at that point, though.