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k98

Discussion in 'Weapons & Technology in WWII' started by Air Force 4 Life, Oct 9, 2004.

  1. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    the price ranges for a K98 and it's accourterments range all over the spectrum. It greatly depends on whom you are shopping with, whether online distributors or a local gunsmith and even the range of prices can be great if one attends any of the prolific gunshows here in the US of A. And guys there are many. Seems though that quite a few of the K-98's have been sold as "sporters" for hunting purposes as the the bolt action on the Ww 2 version is quite excellent. Though in this case you are not definatly looking for one of these. Serach high and low and you will find what you are seeking.

    heres a scan or two of mine which I am still trying to get back to it's original state.
    the stock although looking good in the pics is a bit screwed over by previous ownership.
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    and another view but this time a bit closer to show the markings on this particular model. A good former Heer friend said several times to me that the trusty K 98 never froze up on them during the winter battels of 41-42 in the northern region of the Ost front.
    [​IMG]
     
  3. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Hi there, I had the following conversation in the reenacment thread and want to import some of it here as it is probably more relevant!

    Yeah Erich, I'm not expecting much from this rifle, just a piece to shoot blanks with at reenactment shows.

    Stefan; It IS quite strange, a star of David stamp is on the crown of the receiver and not an inch away is the original waffenamt! What are everyone's opinion on the value of this kind of reissued k98?

    Any ideas also on how to restore this weapon? The wood is very dark now (from use I take it) and I really want to clean off the dark green (paint?) tinge on the metal parts of the gun.

    [ 13. October 2004, 07:50 PM: Message edited by: BratwurstDimSum ]
     
  4. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    what is the equivalent of AU 300 to US monies Brat ?

    if I were you and you do pick this itme up be very careful on the bluing if there is much left. Worn examples will have a dull silver sheen to them and maybe this is what you want. If anything a good trusty gunsmith could set you up by re-blueing the rifle but you do not want it to look to fresh off the shelves. the green puzzles me though.

    As to the rifle stock and butt again be careful if you want the old grain removed, you can easily sand down to an almost ugly yellow finish and then have to reprime and sand then restain to the desired colour. Again be careful

    E
     
  5. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Thats about US$217 mate, I'll ask the gun dealer about the green colour and see what he can do...thanks, in your opinion, is this a collectable rifle? Or should I wait for one that hasn't been restamped?
     
  6. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    An interesting article on the israeli...

    http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/oddshot4/index.asp

    Here's an extract:
     
  7. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Just an idea on that 'dark green' - could the rifle have been Parkerized ?
     
  8. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Got it...thanks to Stefan for pushing me to buy a "proper" German weapon ;)

    Its dirty, and nasty but its the real deal , its ex 1944 German army collected by the czechs, sold on to the Jews for their war in the late 40s with the arabs...a real piece of history.

    note the german eagle (waffenamt) marks mixed in with the israeli defense force star of david, yiddish and the rebarrelled "7.62" caliber marks!!!

    Martin, the dealer told me its not parketised but just the inferior late war bluing. I can tell you that the gun, superb piece of history that its (fighting in two wars) is real crap when compared to its swedish equivalent...It is easily the ugliest thing I own, still love it though... :D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [ 22. October 2004, 08:57 AM: Message edited by: BratwurstDimSum ]
     
  9. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Interesting rifle, BWDS ! [​IMG]

    Any chance of an image of the whole weapon ?...
     
  10. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    When you ask Martin...you always receive [​IMG]

    I had to paste together 5 pics so sorry if the gun looks bent a bit!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [ 23. October 2004, 03:32 AM: Message edited by: BratwurstDimSum ]
     
  11. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Thanks for taking the trouble, BWDS ! [​IMG]

    I note that the gun has a laminated stock ( which IMHO I prefer ) and the late-type butt cap with hole for bolt takedown.

    It would be :cool: if you could ditch the webbing sling and get a genuine, weathered leather WWII example.....
     
  12. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Yeah sling was on the cards a long time, but what did you mean by laminated stock (as opposed to?) and hole for takedown?

    Any info is good at this stage as I'm still a bit of an L-plate Mauser owner.
     
  13. FramerT

    FramerT Ace

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    Nice 'K' you have Bratwurst. Martin has better eyesight than me,I can't notice the stock that good. "Laminated" stocks are made from several pieces of wood,glued together to form the stock. Makes for a strong,bad weather resistant stock. Over one made from a solid piece of wood[ walnut etc.].
     
  14. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Early K98ks had walnut stocks - very nice, but a dwindling resource for Germany at war, so the beech stock made of laminated strips glued together was introduced. The glue used was red which gives a nice reddish hue to the stock and the beech wood gave a lovely grain pattern. The cupped stock was introduced as it was felt the laminated stocks wouldn't be as durable as the walnut - in fact, they turned out tougher in practise.

    Walnut and laminated were produced together until the end of the war ; that's why cupped walnut stocks can be found. The little hole to act as a bolt take-down tool was added very late in the war - I've forgotten the full story of this so you'll have to wait until I dig out my copy of 'Backbone Of The Wehrmacht' ....
     
  15. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    Brat nice aquisition !

    first ditch the white numeration 762 if at all possible.

    second get a sling as there a few spots on-line that sell them, in fact I need one for my 98K.

    third get a cleaning rod

    fourth get a Mauser cleaning kit as many of the German military sites carry them that specialize in arms and ordnance. Around $ 20.00 US in most cases and have most if not all the cleaning tools, chain, etc..........

    fifth and most important : "Have fun" :D

    v/r

    Erich ~
     
  16. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Ah - I've remembered....

    Most K98ks had a characteristic holed-metal disc through the stock, mid-way between butt and sling-hole. This was for disassembling the bolt.

    As an economy measure, this was dropped in 1944 in favour of a little hole in the stock-plate. At the same time, the cleaning rod disappeared also.....
     
  17. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    ah the cleaning rod was in use through 45 as photogrpahs show. The soldat were festidious about a clean rifle as it was their life blood.

    the overall K98 with the site hood became standard in 1942 as my ar 42 was to be fitted
     
  18. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Thanks for all the advise guys...

    Yikes, laminated strips? Have I got me a papier mache rifle then [​IMG] ? I WAS going to sand a very fine layer off the stock as it is a bit er..greasy and dirty as per instuctions on surplusrifle.com .would it work on this kinda stock?

    Erich, the 762 marking is unfortunately about half a mm deep into the receiver, directly over the eagle and swastika, so getting rid of it is nigh near impossibe and would rid the original marking as well so I think I'll try to get some turps on the white paint at the most so it won't be so obvious. :rolleyes:
     
  19. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Erich - some of the very late production ( Kriegsmodell ) K98s lost the threaded fitting and external hole for the cleaning rod....

    Brat, you can see the laminations usually if you look closely down on the rifle next to the receiver - you'll see fine parallel lines in the wodd, about 2mm apart.

    Here's what I did with mine, as per guidelines on the K98 forum ; rub over with cloth soked in methylated spririt to remove oil. grease etc. Allow to dry, then rub over very carefully with ultra-fine wire wool. Then go over again with meths. Now you have a choice. Some swear by linseed oil, which can give a very nice finish but some say unrealistic. Others recommend wax polish.

    I did mine with the most expensive, plain, uncoloured furniture wax I could find ( and I applied twelve coats ! :eek: Rubbing down between each coat ). The result was, and still is, absolutely beautiful. Good enough to display in the living room, if you're so minded ! ;)

    Have many happy hours with your new gun..... [​IMG]
     
  20. BratwurstDimSum

    BratwurstDimSum Member

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    Indeed Erich, here is an article about Kriegs K98s in wehrmacht-awards:

    http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/uniforms_firearms/firearms/98k/k98index.htm

    a snippet:
    Thanks Martin, I'll give it a shot...can't hurt I guess...
     

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