Third Party Press

Confession of an idiot buying 98k

MS1

Member
I’ll try to keep the long story of being an idiot short and objective. I’ve purchased from byf_41 on CrookLocker before. The gun I bought and transaction were solid. We chatted for a while after the first purchase, he offered some other stuff offline and we discussed some fakes sold on different platforms. So I was sure he is a nice reliable guy.

And I didn’t know about this https://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?39269-Humper-Die-De…

I was quite surprised by final prices at the Amoskeag auction 129, that was actively discussed by folks here, and after not winning 6 out of 7 (ridiculously high, in my opinion) bids I reviewed my mental pricing and decided to acquire long wanted all matching pre-war 98k somewhere else. And came across this: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/895157691

So I thought the rifle looked correct apart from the front band and frankly after our communication I thought he wouldn’t sell fakes, renumbers etc., so I didn’t scrutinize all photos (check the post name again). Also I read in the description, that he had issues removing front band, but it didn’t seem to be alarming, especially after his story of a million dollar chip and that he didn’t do full gun strips. Pimped butt plate and discs, sanded stock seemed acceptable. So I bought it. :facepalm:

When I received the rifle, I noticed the machining line on the bayonet lug along with cold bluing "smears" that indicated that it was renumbered. So I reached out to the seller requesting return, although it was listed to be sold as is. I offered him to keep as much as he deemed necessary for his effort to make a gazillion pictures and me not properly looking at them. At first, he said 20% restocking fee and I agreed, then, after I asked him to transfer me the remaining 80%, he said that the person who gave him the rifle for a consignment didn’t have the money to pay me back and that it was not a fake/renumbered and looked pretty normal. After this he blacklisted me.

I sent him an email: “Well played sir”. The response was:

“I said in my description, I couldn’t get that barrel band OFF Twice and Pictured everything as much as I could. I told everything about the rifle and Pictured everything Multiple times. There’s nothing else, I could Do and Nothing was played.

I done my job to the Fullest.”

I replied:

“Sure. Hopefully you’ll use the money for the turd for a good thing : ) I sent you pictures and you said it is not a fake and blocked me. I don’t know how to discuss this. We both know it’s a fake and that real money was paid. Let the Lord be your judge. I simply thought that you wouldn’t sell shite. I was wrong.”

And received this email from his account:

“Sir let me tell you one time and One LAST Time,
The Next time you talk bad about my husband or say one negative thing about him again. So help me,
We know the people with GB very well and I will personally tell them about you running your mouth. My husband doesn’t own BYF_41 BTW. I own it and I do thing by the book.

BTW your FFL told me all about you, Especially the way you nitpick all the stuff that comes in and That’s your Bad Nature. You need to buy NIB guns and Not 70++ year old guns.

As I stated, You best stop your junk about my husband Now.

End of conversation.”

So I posted negative review on CrapStocker. The review stated: Rifle turned out to be fake - removed old # and re-stamped matching serial. Seller agreed to process return but then blacklisted me. Buyer beware. No responsibility for fakery is taken here.

After that I received a text:

“Let me tell you one Thing buddy
You best remove that feedback or I will be lighting you up on GB myself

This is a two way street

I done my job and I am fixing to light you up on feedback”

And a phone call. From the guy. After some emotional talks we agreed on 70% refund and rifle return, with the condition that I’d remove that feedback. I was supposed to drop the rifle off at the same time as I received Zelle payment back. I changed the feedback. But in an hour it turned out he had a $500 daily limit and suggested me to ship the rifle receiving $500 and then $500 everyday while the rifle would be in transit. When I said that we clearly had a trust issue there, women on the phone in the background told me that I’d better agree, because I didn’t have a better option.

I texted him next day, suggesting that the rifle stays with FFL and he can start sending me money, so before the last instalment I’d ship the rifle. He went emotional, saying if I didn’t call him immediately, the deal was over. So we had no communication since then.

I’ve picked up the rifle after 5 days of waiting that he changes his mind and goes back to what we agreed. Didn’t happen.

Fun fact the rifle has been discussed here already:

https://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?46045-243-1939-k98k-opinions

So, it’s a duffel cut, poorly repaired, seems to be original, looking at matching laminate lines. Bayonet lug appears to be a bubba replacement (why? lost? looking at similar pattern at front band, is it fake too?) and has a re-struck number and messed up front band that doesn't move, because it is sitting to far back to accommodate the length of band spring. Not sure that I will try to remove it, because chances are it won't fit back in. The rest of the rifle seems fine. Please see pictures attached (would be hard to beat 162 pictures, I’ll post only relevant ones). Don't know how to classify it - half & half shooter/keeper? :laugh:

So I don’t know if I behaved like a jerk leaving negative feedback having all the pictures and not thoroughly checking them. I am certainly not at the level of heavy_mech knowledge/experience, but that line is visible in the picture. And the dude stated issues with front band. Have a feeling that I learned a lesson hard way and that I shitted my pants at the same time :laugh:

Hope it can be a teaching moment for folks on this forum.

 
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Added the listing’s screenshots to save it for good.
 

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You aren’t an idiot, just not fully informed. And were taken advantage of imo by someone.

Bayonet lug and front band are faked to match.

Pretty amazing conversations.


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Dude and his indignant wife deserve way more bad feedback, trying to pull that "we know the owners" crap.

I'm sorry that it came at your expense and that you found this site just a few moments too late, but the final price wasn't half as bad as some of these faked guns go for. And you have a resource now that you can use to vet the real k98k that can fill the hole in the collection, if and when you want to go that route. I can understand leaving it alone for a while after getting burned though, it has happened to me too.
 
Dude and his indignant wife deserve way more bad feedback, trying to pull that "we know the owners" crap.

I'm sorry that it came at your expense and that you found this site just a few moments too late, but the final price wasn't half as bad as some of these faked guns go for. And you have a resource now that you can use to vet the real k98k that can fill the hole in the collection, if and when you want to go that route. I can understand leaving it alone for a while after getting burned though, it has happened to me too.

Thanks for your support. But I am not a young boy anymore, some lessons aren't free, sad that teachers are indecent. And I am not new to guns either and it's like poker in a sense, we all have been there, some will be again. But if somebody is willing to offload some goodies, I am ready:happy0180:
 
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Thank you for having the courage to share your story. I’m sorry you went through that whole mess, and clearly that seller cannot be trusted. It’s sad that people feel they have to lie and swindle to make a living. Your best bet for getting a good gun is the trader section here on this forum. Don’t beat yourself up too bad, it’s hard NOT to get misled.


Sent from my top secret official Bunker of the Order of the Def’s Hed.
 
Thanks for sharing your story-- and learning from it. Mrs.byf41 sounds like a real peach....

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You can’t sink his business, only he (she?) can do that, and stories like this affect it. They are clearly very protective of their GB feedback to keep the veneer pretty. Eventually someone is going to leave the negative feedback and fight back, then the cracks will appear. People start to figure stuff out. I suspect op will be getting more nasty texts and things soon enough.


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Interesting topic and discussion.. As for the rifle itself it was posted and reviewed on two forums and was given thumbs down. I dont recall the one here but, on the ww2weaponsforum.com who has just an auction section it was posted and i commented the bands were bad for sure. One thing that always amazes me and this is no dig at you just in general there are alot of "how'd I do ? " posts here and its always the same result. Very badly is how you did !

Now, Im not sure where the disconnect is ??? Where you buy something then ask how you did instead of coming here first and ask then buy.

In this case the rifle was listed on GB from a seller to be honest has listed a lot of great stuff and just sold a very fine 147/40.

He lists stuff for two weeks and posts an obscene amount of photos.. He said he couldnt get the band off ? But, you seemed to have no trouble getting it off...

So, In short I see one other person cropped the photos and posted them here and was told it was bad.. He avoided a mistake by asking first. We dont allow auction posting here for some reason but its allowed else where on a 1/2 dozen other forums where people here lurk. Problem could have been avoided.

What happened after the fact with the return is a different story and really wont comment on all that nonsense but its typical dealer behavior .

One thing GB has over old school auction houses and Amoskeag. As i was helping a few people with the AMoskeag shite show... GB most listing are heavily photographed and run for 2 weeks max. Auction catalog you get one photos and maybe a couple more if you are lucky. You really have to rely on gut and experience to make sure you dont get screwed. Most houses are "As IS " you cant send it back and thats a huge risk !! During this plague you cant even enter the hall and put your hands on the stuff without an appointment .. All bad things so we are very lucky most GB auctions are the way they are.

So it looks like your stuck with your hard earned lesson... I seen people get stuck with worse... Plenty of guys paid almost 6k for dealer hyped sham-pain-ruin SS lids now being peddled for 900. just saw one sell..

Your rifle with mismatched bands and hand guard might sell in the 1200 range ? Maybe a tad more ? A 243 39 MM bolt honest rifle just sold here for 1350.00 ...

So your rifle was likely shipped back and the stock end and bands and HG were lost .. This is actually quite common Ive seen it many times over the years..

Good luck with your further collecting !!!! :thumbsup:
 
Unfortunately and sadly there are many people willing to take advantage of others for profit in this hobby. And I for one will not beat yourself up too much on this. Every collector out there has had a horror story or has purchased a bad rifle in the past. We learn from our mistakes and in the process become far more knowledgeable. I can tell you eight years ago when I first started collecting k98k rifles I was a rookie! Now I'm AX-HOLE! You can thank mrfarb for the nickname we were both drunk when we come up with the idea.

Now that is another wonderful thing about being part of this forum. You will meet a lot of good collectors along the way that are more than willing to help you get a fine k98k rifle for your collection.

And I'll be honest I'm glad you actually put the effort in to try to get your money back a lot of people don't do that and walk away and say oh well. For how much pushback you got from the seller that clearly tells me that's the first time he probably got really nervous and scared by a buyer.
 
I hope you guys don't think this guy is me.

Those guys lurk on forums but they rarely use their Gunbroker names..... but good on you for clarifying that.


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Honestly really surprised to hear this from BYF 41. I have dealt with him in the past and thought while he was always very expensive that he was extremely honest and fair. Hope it was a misunderstanding he’s a first class guy
 
Honestly really surprised to hear this from BYF 41. I have dealt with him in the past and thought while he was always very expensive that he was extremely honest and fair. Hope it was a misunderstanding he’s a first class guy

That’s the train of thought that brought me into this purchase :laugh:
 
Honestly really surprised to hear this from BYF 41. I have dealt with him in the past and thought while he was always very expensive that he was extremely honest and fair. Hope it was a misunderstanding he’s a first class guy

typically good experiences are good.. And bad ones bad. Everyone makes mistakes its how they are handled that sets the good guys apart from the bad.. Hence the thread on WAF about the jap pistol and pre98. He basically caved but it took immense public pressure. If we did that here towards that sell it would probably work as well..

Seeing what he did after the fact shows all you need to see.

His wife has bigger balls than him also ...LOL not a good trait :laugh:
 
Thanks for your support. But I am not a young boy anymore, some lessons aren't free, sad that teachers are indecent. And I am not new to guns either and it's like poker in a sense, we all have been there, some will be again. But if somebody is willing to offload some goodies, I am ready:happy0180:

In order to collect goodies, you have to have the knowledge to know a goodie when you see it. It seems that the best way to start doing this, if you're truly serious about collecting 98k's is to buy the Karabiner 98k Volumes (4 books). Best collector reference books ever made IMO, written by truly decent super knowledgeable gentleman collectors. They're not cheap, but are extremely well constructed and mine have paid for themselves many times over in entertainment and saving me from expensive mistakes. So between the books, hanging out here and using the Picture Reference Index here you'll be far more protected from an increasingly wicked world. Best of luck from the "Karabiner Priest".
:laugh::happy0180:
 

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