I know next to nothing about Mausers, (I'm left handed so I never got into them). Why is this K98 worth over $20K?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=80436632

You might read the "Information added" at the bottom of the add.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewBidHistory.asp?Item=80436632

amazing.
and he thought he had a $300 rifle.
hope his wife doesnt check his auctions.
i dont care if Hitler poached a polar bear with it. its not worth 20K.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Petrov:
You might read the "Information added" at the bottom of the add.

OK, I read it and posted it here; Why is this worth $20K?

Very late model k98 rifle. Bolt and receiver barrel matches. Clear nice bore. 8mm caliber. Metal parts untouched in original condition. Stock is sporterized. Great example of a late model stamp and late style bolt. FFL or C&R needed to trasfer gun $30 for shipping
[Information added 09/15/2007 10:53:07 AM]
Rifle has no import mark and top of receiver has a stamp swjXE stamp. It is not russian capture rifle. Buttplate has no numbers.Floorplate is a mismach.

[Information added 09/15/2007 11:36:38 PM]
Additional infromation: The trigger guard is stamped svw and floorplate has the stamp byf. No numbers. Magazine follower is stamp lxr. All late style stamped trigger guard and single screw set. I will post pictures tomorrow.

[Information added 09/18/2007 8:34:49 PM]
A letter from a helpful collector: I'm sure you puzzled by now as to why your swjXE marked rifle is getting out of hand- the final Steyr code (unknown at the time BBOTW was written) was swj XE,- they are very rare.

It isnt! He paid $19700 to much, OOPPS!

Niche item. BBOTW = Backbone of the Wehrmacht (sp?), a book about the history of the 98K (for the non-German collector types - collector types have it down to the abreviation of course).

I cannot afford to collect these things and frankly don't have the interest, but from watching the auctions it appears to me that the later and more primitive ones fetch outrageous prices i.e. the VG-1 models with unfinished stocks, blind magazines / single shot actions, missing parts, crude rear sight blades dovetailed into receiver, etc. This one may not have been butchered by anyone other than the person who made it +/- 62 years ago.

Anybody out there with a funky, good for nothing 98K with a plastic / Bakelite stock on it, or even the stock itself, I've got two crisp $100 bills for you to send it my way...

Trust me I'm doing you a favor.

Todd

quote:

Originally posted by GSP7:
It isnt! He paid $19700 to much, OOPPS!

Every Mauser I look at is for the action.....nothing more.....I'm not saying someone paid too much but the most I'd offer for it would be $50 and then I'd be happy if it was refused!

That ordinance code is so rare it is not even on these lists. I have looked at a lot of K98s and have never seen or heard of it.

German Ordinance codes

Another list of codes

According to mauser experts on Gunboards that rifle was one of the last few hundred made at the Styre factory in 1945 and that makes it very very rare and the seller did not know what he had.

Rad

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by GSP7:
It isnt! He paid $19700 to much, OOPPS!

Every Mauser I look at is for the action.....nothing more.....I'm not saying someone paid too much but the most I'd offer for it would be $50 and then I'd be happy if it was refused!

It pays to know the codes because if you stumble across one of those you can potentially buy a lot of actions on the deal.

Ive seen That seller in eagle idaho selling for several years he had a bunch of nice swedish rifles at one time. Lot of other mausers too. wonder where he gets them all , maybe an importer.

wow... that's all i can say... wow ...
look at the bid history... i was concerned is was faked, but wow,

someone is out of their mind, I knew this guy who bought a gun that belonged to poncho via and that only fetched 25k, I can't see a gun like this going for this kind of money with so little history behind it, when you get into this price range the gun should have a notorious owner or somethng other than the fact that its a rare poorly put together late model mauser that the nazis put together

the situation strikes as the buyer has more money than he knows what to do with, or he has a buyer for it.

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:
the situation strikes as the buyer has more money than he knows what to do with, or he has a buyer for it.

Or he purchased it as an investment. Remember, when Vincent Van Gogh was later in his life he was sending most of his work to his brother who was in Paris and was an art dealer. The brother had trouble giving those paintings away. Today they are worth millions. I remember back in 1970 I was living in Santa Barbara CA and I had a chance to buy a couple of photographs by Edward Weston. They were in the $3000 range and I thought somebody was crazy in the head. Those same prints today sell for anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000.

People with money know what they are doing when they make purchases like this. That is why they have lots of money!!!!!!

quote:

Or he purchased it as an investment.

I recall as a teenager buying a '95 Chilean through the mail from Century- it's been gone a long time now. (ouch)

This is an investment just like the dot.coms, or the adjustable-rate-mortgaged $750,000 houses, to me. That is, not an investment at all, but a speculative hope.

Sure some make money off this kind of thing, if they sell quickly enough, but most lose. Bubbles based on ridiculous assumptions sooner or later all burst. Just like the government assumptions that they can spend us out of poverty....

Oh the human condition...at least sometimes it's fun to watch from a safe distance.......

This is different than all of the dot coms and the $750,000 houses. there were and are lots and lots of those investmets. there are very very few mausers with that particular marking.

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
This is different than all of the dot coms and the $750,000 houses. there were and are lots and lots of those investmets. there are very very few mausers with that particular marking.

There is a long-standing saying in the collecting field (collections of anything):

"Rare junk is still junk."

It just takes some folks longer to learn that than others. (Not pointing the finger at you WRF).

quote:

There is a long-standing saying in the collecting field (collections of anything):

"Rare junk is still junk."

I once found a Studebaker pickup truck for sale.....cheap and in fair condition.....I was delighted and wanted a restored antique....until I discovered this very statement.....it takes more than rare.....it must also be highly wanted.

This sale sure rings as a scam to me.

Look at the bids. all the bids over about $800 all happened in about 1 day.

Bid war between 2 people

All for one swjXE stamp.

4 different bidders bid $2000 or more for it.
You guys vastly underestimate the market for Nazi related relics.