Gew 98 DWM 1916: All matching except for bolt - Great Stock - Approx Value?

mattakinbimwalker

Well-known member
I found a Gew 98 DWM 1916 that is all parts matching down to the screws with exception only to the bolt. Metal is about 85% and the stock is in fantastic shape. The stock has not been sanded, stained, refinished or molested etc. I visibly checked the handguard and it matches and all marks are on the stock. The screws also match the gun and it has a cleaning rod. The only issue is the non matching bolt and the gun has a small turk mark and a small import mark that is barely visible on the side of the receiver. Person is asking $375. Any thoughts?

Thank you
Matt
 
I am by far an expert but for that price if it what you want........... how could you go wrong?
 
no brainer

I have to agree. Gew98's dont bring what k98's seem to but, from you're description it sounds like a home run..
 
Welcome, - there isn't much downside if your description is accurate, but no Turk Gew.98 is a bargain at $375 imo.

Doesn't sound Turkish used, especially when described as "fantastic"... Turk rifles rarely have anything fantastic about them. Describe this Turk marking more, usually Turk Gew.98's have a crescent across the top, and a prefix added, and the import marking is often as you describe, which doesn't help value much.
 
Gew 98

Ok... well that doesnt sound like any mark I saw. From what you just told me it sounds like what I saw was just a part of the import mark which was difficult to make out. The import mark occurred on two very hidden places of the receiver just above the stock. One near the bottom of the receiver bridge and one near the bottom of the receiver where the proofs are located. On the bottom of the receiver bridge side the import mark mentioned a company name and "NJ" for New Jersey. On the receiver bottom side below where the proofs are located it said Turkish 8mm if memory serves me correctly. However, I have know idea how someone got this gun confused enough with it being Turkish because it blatently says Gew 98 and Berlin on the normal spots of the receiver. I don't remember seing any of the marks you described and definitely don't remember seing a crescent moon shape.
 
Gew 98

Kind of like this picture but below the proofs on the bottom of the receiver ring just above the stock. The company name and NJ are similar to this but near the bottom of the receiver bridge above the stock. (Bolt Side) However the marks look less machine produced. They are easily found when looking for them.

IMG_1773.jpg

Note: This photo is not mine nor is it of my gun. Just used for explanation of the type of mark I saw.
 
If the import marking says Turkey etc.. it undoubtedly is a Turkish used Gew.98, and I wouldn't put $375 anywhere near the rifle. The rifles were military aid during the war, Germany spent enormous amounts of money keeping them in the war, especially on their railroads, and these rifles, in part, were sent during the war. They probably bought more Gew.98's on the surplus market after the war, as Turkey had a lot of problems in the interwar period, but I do not follow Turkish topics too closely.

Generally Turkish used rifles were rode hard, often very hard and usually the stocks are crispy or at best well done. The metal is usually refinished (any rifle that is refinished by another country, besides Germany, is shooter or junk in my book) poorly, often weak markings due to the refinish process or wear-use, and I just do not think they are worth buying except for parts. Sometimes they have armorer parts, sometimes a good cleaning rod ($50 there), or a part or two is worth keeping, but overall they are not worth much to me, when you consider you can buy a nice bolt mismatch for $350-500 that is straight up Imperial.

Anyway, I doubt you would lose much at $375, but there is no upside at that price down the road, most collectors I know have zippo interest in them, and those that do, generally, are not "collectors" and have a shallow interest level in German military rifle collecting (they move on quickly)
 
As a general rule, I stay away from Import marks on Gewehr 98s. Import marks generally mean an abusive (Turkish or Balkan) past, and there are enough straight imperial un-import marked ones around.
 
Gew 98

Well I didn't go through with it. However, I am officially batsh_t crazy addicted to mausers. (As if I wasn't before) Thanks for the advice everyone...the search is the most fun.
 
Hell we all are to one degree or another!

I agree the search is often the best part, pretty much on anything worthwhile, - you find it, possess it, and then ignore it, then occasionally use it again while lusting after the next conquest.

Well I didn't go through with it. However, I am officially batsh_t crazy addicted to mausers. (As if I wasn't before) Thanks for the advice everyone...the search is the most fun.
 
Hell we all are to one degree or another!

I agree the search is often the best part, pretty much on anything worthwhile, - you find it, possess it, and then ignore it, then occasionally use it again while lusting after the next conquest.

I used to think this way until I began looking for my first mauser. I am curently still mauserless and about to go crazy. This search must end soon. :boom:
 
Pretty sure I saw Cyrus (PrayingMantis) selling or trading a few of his mismatches? He is a first rate collector, both knowledgeable and honest, and I have dealt with him a couple of times. If you are after a Gew.98, you should consider seeking out his offerings, as they would probably be a good foundation for a starter collection.

The opportunities on this forums trader are not comparable with any other forum or auction site, haunt the place and you can score a nice rifle cheaper than anywhere else. Bruce and Mike regularly offer their rifles there, usually significantly below their retail value. Nowhere else does that happen regularly.

The newer collector never had it so good, tons of free information, and a freaking Wal Mart department store for the Modell98. The old days, you'd wear out boots at gun shows and have a paper cut & lacquered tongue licking envelopes seeking out decent rifles for a collection.
 
My first matching gun

Well the gun I bought from Bruce is great. Its an all matching 1939 243 Luft with a beautiful stock. It's funny b/c I use it as a guide of what to look for in a stock since it hasn't been sanded or screwed with. For a relatively new k98 collector its a chore picking out which stocks are good and which stocks have been cleaned or sanded. The gun I got from Bruce taught me to look for crisp edged lines and at the bolt dissasembly lug. Of course look to find proofs. I would like to know more than I do about spotting cleaned and sanded stocks. In the meantime though...Ive just tried to find guns with stocks that are like my 243. lol

There have been a ton of great people on this site. Craig (Hambone) has been a huge help to someone who is relatively new. I've asked him a ton of questions and he has helped teach me a lot. I've looked at k98's off and on wanting a matching gun for four or five years. Then over the past year I got serious in my search. This site has increased my knowledge a bunch. Dave (touhy) has been extremely knowledgeable and of course Bruce. Wayne (mauser99) has been very helpful also. There are a lot of good people on this site to help new k98 collectors.
 
Im far from the most knowledgeable g98 guy here! but It sounds like one of the g98s that navy arms brought in probably 15 or so years ago. It should say "navy arms ridgefield park nj". Turkey released a huge lot of surplus all around the same time that they had stored since the first world war - sarco handled a lot of the g88/05's that came in, ima did all the mg 08 stuff (some still in stock!). It was said to be all the material supplied by Germany as an ally during the war. Virtually all of the turked guns are MO built, and storz's book gets in to the why's of this a bit. They tend to have the crescent on the receiver top, top of the bolt knob, and lower comb of the stock. Bt not all marked all the same way. G88's marked similarly. I was friendly with the owner of navy arms Val forgett (he and my father were buds) and he let me in the storeroom when he got the g98's in and I was able to go through literally 100's of guns to pick one. Most were pretty trash but I actually found one all matching to the screws and w/o an import mark. I think they were selling them for 129.00. He also had about 20 or so snipers that were mixed in but they were really bad. And he wanted like 400! I wish I had the foresight to record the serial numbers!
 
Im far from the most knowledgeable g98 guy here! but It sounds like one of the g98s that navy arms brought in probably 15 or so years ago. It should say "navy arms ridgefield park nj". Turkey released a huge lot of surplus all around the same time that they had stored since the first world war - sarco handled a lot of the g88/05's that came in, ima did all the mg 08 stuff (some still in stock!). It was said to be all the material supplied by Germany as an ally during the war. Virtually all of the turked guns are MO built, and storz's book gets in to the why's of this a bit. They tend to have the crescent on the receiver top, top of the bolt knob, and lower comb of the stock. Bt not all marked all the same way. G88's marked similarly. I was friendly with the owner of navy arms Val forgett (he and my father were buds) and he let me in the storeroom when he got the g98's in and I was able to go through literally 100's of guns to pick one. Most were pretty trash but I actually found one all matching to the screws and w/o an import mark. I think they were selling them for 129.00. He also had about 20 or so snipers that were mixed in but they were really bad. And he wanted like 400! I wish I had the foresight to record the serial numbers!

Fascinating information on the imports; do you still have the Gew you picked out? What maker/year was it?
 
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