Russian Capture K98k - worth the $?

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ak610

Member
Hello all, glad to be a new member on the forum.
I'm pretty much new to the Kar98k game, and am looking at a Russian capture - from what I can see, it is in amazing condition for an RC. The stock is in nearly pristine condition and the receiver and barrel have minimal wear - the bluing on the receiver seems intact; I thought RC's were painted? The Waffenamts are intact, It has no matching numbers, the receiver is marked BYF 42, the front sight hood is present and it has a cleaning rod. Asking price is $350 - from the info I have given, could anybody say whether this is a reasonable price? The bolt is black and the stock does not have the metal cup butt, if that is relevant.

Cheers,
Jack
 
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Welcome to the forum. In today's market that sounds like a good price. I have seen common ones like that go for $450.
 
bsd said:
Welcome to the forum. In today's market that sounds like a good price. I have seen common ones like that go for $450.
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I agree. Unless there is more problems with the rifle than you are seeing, that is a great price in today's market.
 
Thanks for the replies. A few quick questions - did the Russians paint over their captures? Also, why do some K98k's have the metal cup butt stock and others do not? Finally - the seller has told me that he has the Tula arsenal capture/refurbish papers along with the rifle; have you guys heard anything about such a thing coming into the US with these imported rifles?

Thanks again!
 
Although, it's a mixmaster of parts, the fact that you say it is in nice condition and there are no pictures to go by, I would say the $350 would be a fair price. Yes, the Russians did "paint over their captures". The early k98's had flat buttplates and the later mid war ones were cupped but since yours doesn't have the original stock it will only have what ever the stock called for. I've never heard of the "capture/refurbish papers" but who knows?
 
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There are two schools of thoughts regarding Russian Captured K98ks.
One is the way they were rebuilt in mass by the Russians is how they should remain.
While I have seen some paint here and there most RCs were stripped acid dipped and reblued with this blackish crappy stuff and the stocks shellaced or something like shellac.
Some were peened of Swastikas some not most had the Russian property stamp of crossed rifles (looks like an X usually on the receiver)
Some were also electro penciled using the receiver/barrel number I suppose to ID for reassembly later.
Of course since no consideration was given to dating they can have parts from 1935 to 45 on the same gun which is why you have a flat butt plate and not a 1942 cupped butt plate (Generally all through 1940 had flat all 1941 on had cupped with a few exceptions in overlapping)

The other school of thought is a psuedo restoration to a more correct German look by removing the Russian blackish-blue stripping the shellac and cleaning up the stock and removing parts and replacing them with period correct for that receiver code and year.
This was my preference but there is no correct way only the way you prefer.

Below is a BYF 42 I cleaned up and changed parts to be correct for the year/code look. This is how a matching BYF42 might look form a distance where you can't see the MM numbers.


Wulfmann



 
They also were not imported with cleaning rod and hood. They are likey repro's but if original by chance that would be a great deal.
 
Great info guys, thanks. I read that there has never been a Russian capture K98k found that has had all matching parts; and that the majority of them have hardly any matching parts, if any. Is this accurate info? Seems a bit strange to me.
 
ak610 said:
Great info guys, thanks. I read that there has never been a Russian capture K98k found that has had all matching parts; and that the majority of them have hardly any matching parts, if any. Is this accurate info? Seems a bit strange to me.
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The Russians tore them apart and re did them, about the only thing that will match is the barrel and receiver. Other countries sometimes did nothing to them just used them hard and often were mostly matching but worn.
 
mto7464 said:
The Russians tore them apart and re did them, about the only thing that will match is the barrel and receiver. Other countries sometimes did nothing to them just used them hard and often were mostly matching but worn.
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Good to know, so is it true that the Russians just took all these captured Mausers apart, then re-assembled them from the best quality parts and discard the rougher parts or is that another internet rumor? (Doesn't sound like something the Soviets would have done...)

Another question - K98k barrels are not chrome lined, are they?
 
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The Russians basically disassembled the rifles, separated component parts, applied that horrible blue and reassembled them without any concern as to matching anything, be it year, manufacture, etc.

K98 barrels are not chrome lined, use diligence when using corrosive ammo. Clean up is easy and straight forward, but absolutely necessary as soon as possible, that day if at all possible.
 
20PZGR said:
The Russians basically disassembled the rifles, separated component parts, applied that horrible blue and reassembled them without any concern as to matching anything, be it year, manufacture, etc.

K98 barrels are not chrome lined, use diligence when using corrosive ammo. Clean up is easy and straight forward, but absolutely necessary as soon as possible, that day if at all possible.
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Good to know, many thanks.
 
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