Restoring a Model 98 Mauser Help

S

SailKing88

Inactive
Hey Guys! I am new to the forum. I found y'all (yes I'm from Texas) while researching my grandfathers Mauser. A little back history: From what I have been told, he never served in WWII. Instead of serving he was in charge of a munitions factory making machine gun bullets. He ended up shutting the factory down till they fixed the rounds so that they would fire properly. My dad is under the opinion that he was given the rifle as a thank you for his work in the factory. My grandfather used it to hunt deer and it has not been shot since he broke his back some 50years ago. I don't think the stock is original and it has issues. The barrel and action are rust free. There are matching serial numbers on the bolt as well as on the barrel and the baseplate. There are other numbers and letters on the side that I cannot find the meaning for. My hope is to restore the gun and use it. What do I need to pay attention to increase or maintain its value? It has never had a scope. I am 25 and I have a background in carpentry and metal smithing, though I have never done gun work.

Markings I can make out:
dot 1944 (I am pretty sure this means made in Chekoslavakia in1944)
There are 2 German eagles with swastikas
ab
AS
Mod. 98
8988 (located in 3 places around the action)
4462 (located on the barrel and the floor plate)

There is also a weird marking, very small, three horizontal lines and one hash mark striking through them in the middle. below that is what looks to be an 83 or a B3, it is not well struck on the first digit.

Also the front sight is un shrouded.

Thanks for the help.
 
Last edited:
1944 wasn't 75 years ago, it was 68 years ago. How could your grandfather have hunted with it until he broke his back 75 years ago?
Mismatched serial numbers on the receiver and magazine box means it is a parts gun. It will never be all matching.
Numrich has K98k stocks for a out $200. Some of the other hardware parts are available as well. You could easily put $500 in parts into it and still have a $300 rifle. It's a shooter, just shoot it.
 
Sorry, you are right about it only being 68 years. It was late and I was tired so I just threw a close number out. Thanks for the input.
 
You could show us some pichers (I'm from Alabama) so we could figger out what "issues" the stock has.

The gun is not match numbered, doesn't seem like much of a prize for job performance... unless they expected him to fight to the last to defend the factory.

I don't know what all those marks mean, I consider them stamps applied by men long dead for records long lost. A real collector might could decode them if he could see them. But he wouldn't care much because of the mismatched parts and "issues" on stock.
 
Pictures would be a great help.

What you have is a KAR 98K, made by Waffenfabrik Brunn, which we know today as CZ Brno. They were quality rifles.

You have a partial mismatch, which is not uncommon. No big deal. These are not highly valuable even when "perfect". Your value is not it's worth as money either... you would be a fool to ever sell it.

One of his friends probably gave it to him as a favor, these were very common at the end of WW-II and had little commercial value at the time. A friend might hand one over to a friend as a gift without stretching belief.

Let's see some pics and then we can probably advise what the best "restoration" is. The bottom line is that you might be replacing wood, and then not doing anything else. Never drill a hole... etc. Bottom line is that if you do not know what you are doing, do nothing. If you do know what you are doing, write down your plans and wait a year and then go back and review them and see if you still feel the same way. Avoid the temptation to do "something".

The front sight hoods are removable sheet metal. Presence or lack means nothing.


Willie

.
 
The "weird" three horizontal lines with a number underneath are probably the remains of the waffenamt stamp.
As for conservation of value, take the action out of the stock, give everything a good rub-down with balistol or similar, and run a couple of patches through the barrel. Nothing else needed, American collectors frown on refinishing etc. The mixed parts character isn't naturally a death sentence to collectibility, many guns got rebuilt in the last months of the war, and Germany did not renumber.
If you want to shoot it, give the bore a good cleaning, and take it to your local gun smith to check the headspace, for any obvious defects, and, more important, any bubba work, e. g. rechambering in 8mm-06 (very popular after the war due to a lack of 8x57 ammo).
 
Thanks Guys,

Im still having issues posting pictures, but I did take the gun to the high caliber gun show over the weakend and had it checked out. I got some great advice there as well. I will post pictures when I am done. I appreciate the advice.

M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top