Going through all these rifles I came across this one. The bolt is strange, the TG has been forced matched. The stock is way to new looking but does have a cartouche. I can get this pretty cheap. Any onfo gratefully
Any Value left in this Depot ax 1940
- Thread starter MIKEMC
- Start date
So many things contradict each other, like keel skull K and SS2 skulls, small SS2 skull. To me its either a collection of real individual parts or a terribly assembled fake. Good fake stamps exist, and buying individual SS parts is not a way to purchase an SS rifle.
So discouraged lately. Literally hundreds of K98 s comming into the shop from a collection of over 500 rifles. All have been ruined, many have been faked. Every time I find a complete matching one I later find its a forced matched fake. Many, many bleached stocks?? Why would you do that?. I am realy considering getting out of this hobby as there is way to many fakes and it is getting harder as fake technology is getting better and better.....
This is not a hobby you can bounce into and buy stuff without spending time learning about what you are buying, that is for sure. Everything you need to determine that rifle isn't as built is in our Vol.2 book - If you study SS variations you can learn what you need to know in pretty short order. There was a time only snippets were out there, and you had to guess. So, my point is you can enjoy this hobby but you can't buy exotic variants without studying.
My bet is this is the typical 80's collection which is why you see so much bad stuff and cleaned stocks. There are some good guns in there, but the majority of what that guy had was bad. Either he built it all himself as a hobby or he bought a lot of stuff from a single source, and they soaked him. Might be a combo.
My bet is this is the typical 80's collection which is why you see so much bad stuff and cleaned stocks. There are some good guns in there, but the majority of what that guy had was bad. Either he built it all himself as a hobby or he bought a lot of stuff from a single source, and they soaked him. Might be a combo.
pzjgr
EOD - bombs and bullets
No, the problem is the collection you are picking is full of pimp shined and faked guns...there are plenty of good guns out there just not in this collection apparently.
There was almost nothing known in the 80's about 98k's, when Law came out with BBOTW it was revolutionary. But Law's book was based on 1 or two large collections, and some additional data, it wasn't like today where a bunch of collectors can send in data and observations at the click of a button. It had a LOT of cleaned guns, a lot of blonde stocks, and people emulated this by cleaning and did a lot of parts swapping....
Those collections are a product of their times.
Collectors then also didn't have amazing forums like this where they could instantly pick the brains of some of the foremost SME in the world. The learning curve was steep, and you bought bad guns which you didn't find out were bad until long after....
The answer is, stop picking through a collection where there are a ton of bad guns, or get better educated by buying good references like Mike and Bruce's books, and study them like text books so you can spot the wheat through the chaff....
You are right, I do have all the books. Just haven't studied them as needed yet. They have helped greatly and I do so much enjoy the ww2 stuff and German stuff. I have been collecting for over 10 years and remember the days when good specimens would come into my LGS. There was a lull of absolutely no K98,s coming in then in the last two months hundreds from one estate collection. Unfortunately the store owner doesnt know what is good and what is not. I have been helping him but he gets excited then I have to burst his bubble....lol . A friend of mine bought that other SS rifle with the carving in the stock. He was so excited. I informed him its not what he thinks it is......
You want to see bad there is an entire auction of refinished stocks from the same 90 year old collector who recently passed away. A bunch of K98k and others. A certain dealer who has had a few threads lately usually attends the auction. I am sure plenty will be listed for 3x the hammer price and as untouched closet finds in about 2 months.
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heavy_mech
RKI- Reasonably Knowledgable Individual
It's happened a few times in recent years where older, established collectors had their pieces finally vetted after death and many were enhanced. I was not collecting back then but the men say cold blue, pimp shining and bleached blonde stocks were all the rage. It happened. The interwebs and sharing of information has enhanced the collective knowledge IMHO.
I didn't even look at metal finishes, but I'm sure they have been messed with too. It's almost as if he was bored in his retirement and decided to sand and refinish all the stocks. As well as swapping stocks.
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Yes. There are too many guns with m/m numbered parts that have the correct WaA for it to be coincidence. It appears he tried to get them as close to correct as he could but with little regard for the stocks. Most have been at least sanded, some bleached. Only a few outright metal refinish jobs. The BCD 4 unfinished sniper I posted pics of last week might be an example of the limited info he was working with. He thought he was all good adding the "c" marked stock but didn't realize (as I didn't) that the stock inspection was wrong. The rifle has a few groups of parts that match themselves and all are Gustloff proofed in one way or another.
Warrior1354
ax - hole
With that many pieces you may have a couple sleepers in there that are actually good. You just have to know what to look for. I've actually seen problem Collections and I've actually found a couple good guns those were the ones I bought. But I had the knowledge and information to know what to look for.
But regrettably this is what many collectors did back in the day they had to make them look pretty for some reason.
But regrettably this is what many collectors did back in the day they had to make them look pretty for some reason.
pzjgr
EOD - bombs and bullets
The big problem is, that the uneducated (75% of the "collecting" community...) would look at that line up and think, oh my god, what a FANTASTIC collection...while we look at it and say, oh my god, what a bunch of pimp shined, ruined guns....
Ans as we all know, for whatever reason, pretty sells to the uneducated and meat grabbers....why do you think Mitchells sells guns?
No, it's in the racks. I'm not qualified to comment on the CE 43 sniper you refenced but the optics are clear.
To follow up on a recent post, yes, there have been some nice ones mixed in.