Author Topic: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?  (Read 9558 times)

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Offline Phosphorus32

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I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« on: June 12, 2015, 10:41:40 PM »
I've made some allusions to Blicero spending my money over the last couple of weeks, and this is the story...and the rifle.

So, I've been hankering for an M1917 rifle and had my eyes on a nice Winchester on GB.  Struck up a PM conversation with Kevin about it late in the auction and it ultimately ended up going beyond what I was willing to spend (yeah, I'll probably kick myself down the road).  Anyhow, after the auction had closed he's looking for other M1917s and sends me a link to another suspect...and also this link and comment: "If you're looking to make a Tuesday night interesting you need to buy this now. It has sleeper written all over it." http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=486888095

Take a quick glance at the four poor auction pics before you read on.  I respond with something like do you feel fairly good about this one. Well, besides responding with details about the value of the walnut stock etc., he says: "Somebody will take that gamble by tomorrow night."

So I responded with "SOLD!"

It arrived today just 10 days post auction and I'm simply astounded...and grateful! Thanks Kevin!!! :)  Your instincts were spot on!  thumb1

The bolt is a mismatch with the rifle but matches itself. The only mismatched part on the rest of the rifle is the handguard.  The bluing is fantastic, just a bit of shallow old pitting on the exposed end of the barrel and the rifling is sharp and bore is mirror bright.  No import mark.  Silky smooth 5-1/2 lb trigger. Basically, what I'm saying is, this Mauser is not leaving my stable until my wife sells it because my ashes have already been scattered in the Cascade Mountains  rofl

Colors are a bit off with the bright sunny skies today but the stock is a slightly reddish medium brown. Bluing is deep blue and smooth.



























Stock SN


Handguard SN






Bottom of barrel: barrel manufactured in 1939


« Last Edit: June 13, 2015, 04:33:51 PM by Phosphorus32 »

Offline running-man

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2015, 12:35:00 AM »
Bah, horsetrash!  Blicero is out of control I tell ya!!!

She's a nice one Jon!  Do the mauser legends typically turn up their noses at the mismatch bolt?  Is that why it slipped under the radar?
      

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2015, 09:38:29 AM »
Bah, horsetrash!  Blicero is out of control I tell ya!!!

She's a nice one Jon!  Do the mauser legends typically turn up their noses at the mismatch bolt?  Is that why it slipped under the radar?

Thanks RM!

Blicero spotted it just 1 day into a 10 day auction, though it had received many views already, so I'm not sure it was entirely off the radar.  It was at $355 from a start of $199...probably a bidder just looking for the reserve point.  Yes, I'm sure to be a true legend you need to have a safe or two full of matching K98s and pricing certainly takes a big hit for the mismatched bolt.  I think "matching, except the bolt, bolt matches itself" type K98s (which this one is not quite there) are the next tier from all-matching.

I'm just tickled to upgrade so nicely from my Romanian rearsenaled K98s  :)  I think the bolt mismatches are very common.  I've read a lot of stories of GIs having to toss their bolts into a bag on the way up the transport ship and grabbing a bolt as they disembarked in the states. Not sure if that is a story oft-repeated and therefore "accepted as fact" or if it's the/a valid explanation.  I'm also not saying this is a bringback, could be, or not.  It's at least a pre-GCA import.

This gun probably hadn't been disassembled in ages, if ever, there was a bit of rust inside the upper barrel band that had it welded to the bayonet lug...they actually came off as a unit and I had to tap the tip of the lug with a block of wood to break the rust and free the barrel band.  Turns out it was really just light surface rust that cleaned up well.  That was the only "active" rust I found. There are signs of past light corrosion on the barrel bands and exposed end of the barrel.  Otherwise, it's in good condition for a 75 year old rifle.  This is my first early war K98 and the difference in metal finishing really shines through from the mid to late war examples.

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2015, 10:50:02 AM »
That's a beautiful example of "old world" German craftsmanship in my opinion Phosphorus.  thumb1 Good call on buying this one!  clap1  I've read accounts of German soldiers pulling their rifle bolts and throwing them away when capture seemed imminent at the end of the war. But as you point out Jon there are other ways bolts could be lost to us.

Congratulations sir!

Offline Blicero

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2015, 12:16:13 PM »
Uh, Phos, that's a Luftwaffe rifle.
That went from a great buy to a freaking highway robbery really quickly. Unreal.
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Offline ugafx4

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2015, 01:04:46 PM »
Beautiful rifle!

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2015, 02:18:53 PM »
Thanks ugafx4!

Thanks Danny. I hadn't heard the story about the German soldiers tossing the bolts.  Trying to keep their captors from benefiting from their firearms, I suppose.  I wonder if this was more common on the eastern front given the tremendous animosity between the Russians and the Germans.

Uh, Phos, that's a Luftwaffe rifle.
That went from a great buy to a freaking highway robbery really quickly. Unreal.

Holy cow! I totally missed the eagle/L on the stock until you said Luftwaffe. Are there any other indicators?
« Last Edit: June 13, 2015, 04:38:45 PM by Phosphorus32 »

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2015, 09:14:19 PM »
It's great to have your Luftwaffe stock for comparison!  thumb1
http://sks-files.com/german/24/instantly-in-love-oberndorf-k98k-luftwaffe-issue/1095/

Mauser Oberndorf, Luftwaffe
1938 (left), 1940 (right)


Offline Loose}{Cannon

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2015, 09:26:04 PM »
I just realized why I have yet to buy one of these...  THATS ALL ILL HAVE!!
      
1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms... It doesn't matter how many Lenins you get out on the street begging for them to be taken.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2015, 10:54:38 PM »
I just realized why I have yet to buy one of these...  THATS ALL ILL HAVE!!
rofl You don't need more rare SKSs

                 You need a K98k                    You need a K98k              You need a K98k                     

Offline Blicero

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2015, 01:28:42 AM »
Now that I've assuaged the self-loathing and placated the disbelief over my conservativeness and inability to pull the trigger on this rifle, here's what I see:

Totally unmolested walnut stock. After the era of popularly sanding and varnishing and oven cleaner-ing or chopping a stock for Bambi-blasting purposes, that's a miracle.

Strange wear patterns fascinate me. Don't know why. The bolt stop and the front bands show wear inconsistent with the healthy blue I see on the rest of the gun. The bands being rough make sense since you said there was some rustiness in the handguard. But why the bolt stop? If that part were exposed or wet or bloody, it stands to reason the receiver bridge was too, does it not?

That walnut stock makes me all warm and fuzzy...like Brooklyn Decker running to me in slow motion in a field of poppies to the soundtrack of Pour Some Sugar on Me and fighter jets doing loopty-loops above in the azure skies.

That's just a sick rifle. Totally honest. Totally undicked. And yeah, RM, the k98 oldtimers & well-to-do 1%ers, will deem this rifle devoid of value and worthiness of study, but there are tons of collectors out there, me included, who find immense value in k98s of this caliber and condition. Wonderful investment. For whatever it's worth, I paid nearly double for my bolt mm Luft BYF and I was giddy as hell about it.

I'm really happy it turned out to be such a good deal for you.

Are there any other indicators?

What more do you want? A picture of a falschirmjaeger holding it up to the camera as he jumps from the Ju52?

"I reject your suggestion."
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"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
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"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
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Offline Blicero

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2015, 01:42:46 AM »
And yeah I read the part about you being buried with it duck taped around your torso or whatever, but if you ever move this rifle and don't call me first, I'm disinheriting you from the Lugers and G43s that you're getting.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
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Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2015, 03:45:22 AM »
Here, lets help your hankering for an M1917 and reinforce the need for one.... :o

Don't get me wrong, the Mauser is very nice thumb1, but M1917s are just sexy chuckles1
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2015, 02:12:03 PM »
Blicero, you most assuredly get first right of refusal if I ever get crazy enough or destitute enough to unload this  :)

Are there any other indicators?
What more do you want? A picture of a falschirmjaeger holding it up to the camera as he jumps from the Ju52?
Well, since you mention it  :))

I wasn't sure.  After asking this question I read about the Luftamts on the receiver and the barrel in BOTW, but it sounds like those are far more rare than the stock marking.

Strange wear patterns fascinate me. Don't know why. The bolt stop and the front bands show wear inconsistent with the healthy blue I see on the rest of the gun. The bands being rough make sense since you said there was some rustiness in the handguard. But why the bolt stop? If that part were exposed or wet or bloody, it stands to reason the receiver bridge was too, does it not?

Maybe the private on guard duty at the aerodrome had a nervous habit of playing with the bolt stop, who knows.  Maybe his sweaty palms were hard on the muzzle end and the barrel bands too  :)) The bluing is good on the back side.  What I think is astounding, is how these early war K98s have every last part marked with a Waa or SN or both.





Here, lets help your hankering for an M1917 and reinforce the need for one.... :o

Don't get me wrong, the Mauser is very nice thumb1, but M1917s are just sexy chuckles1


GM, those are nice  thumb1

I have definitely not given up the hunt for an M1917, but after the K98 and the unplanned '54 Tula purchase...that search has been postponed  :(  rofl

Offline Dannyboy53

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2015, 10:16:21 PM »
Don't get me wrong, the Mauser is very nice thumb1, but M1917s are just sexy chuckles1

Yeah buddy Greasemonkey, I agree...two of 'em...you lucky rascal.  ;)

Phosphorus is another luck rascal finding this rifle too!



Offline sheepdog

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #15 on: June 19, 2015, 08:45:12 AM »
For that price.  clap1 :) 8) clap1
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Offline Blicero

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2015, 01:31:31 PM »
I'll trade you a rambunctiously psychotic elfin foxdog for it. He uses cats as chew toys. Would fit right in your pacnw abode.
"I reject your suggestion."
-Ramcke

"You would last about an hour in Charlotte before the police were called bc you were walking around outside with a bottle of scotch and a g43."
-Ty O

"I don't appreciate you showing Nazi images. My old lady's granddad died at Auschwitz."
"I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah...he fell off a guard tower."
-You Know How I Get Thomas

Regional Spelling Champoin, 6/6/2012

"Why the hell does it look like you turned into some weird trendy libtard?"
-LooseCannon

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2015, 04:38:06 PM »
For that price.  clap1 :) 8) clap1
Thanks sheepdog...and thanks again to Blicero for pointing out this beauty and urging me to BIN...

...but to my benefactor Blicero, thanks, but I don't think a cat munching dog would fit in with our current zoo, composed of one  bit**y Siamese, one friendly black cat (mine), one chocolate lab (nearly full grown) puppy, one old intellectually challenged rat-dog, aka Chihuahua (two brain cells ought to be enough, right?)   :o

I'll have to stay with door #1, the Mauser   :) :)

Offline CARBINE

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Re: I was looking for an M1917 and ended up with a K98?
« Reply #18 on: June 19, 2015, 05:55:21 PM »
I'll trade you a rambunctiously psychotic elfin foxdog for it. He uses cats as chew toys. Would fit right in your pacnw abode.


I bet you wouldn't, you 2 look pretty cozy together.....
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