There we go again. K98 with a single rune.

VuDu666

VuDu666

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Not my rifle but I held it today. Looks like it could be vet bringback since its mostly matching and no traces of epen of X’s anywhere. Unfortunately it was heavily bubbafied. I was told this used to be a sniper. Receiver has groves, I assume for WW2 claw mount. Modern scope is mounted using same groves. Its got regular safety which matches receiver and bottom plate which has single rune on it. Stock does not have a takedown disk but stock cup has a hole on the bottom, person who owns the thing assumed hole is there to be used as a takedown disk. Opinions?

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I hope it shoots good, because it needs something going for it, what with the hogged out stock, modified bolt handle, and holes for a peepsight....
My point is it would probably have more value if just were a run of the mill russian capture. Now if it had been my grandpa that brought it back from Germany, and than tried his best at making himself a hunting rifle, that would give the gun value to me, but likely no one else.
 
The rear receiver bridge has been milled off as well.

I don't believe those grooves for the scope bases were done during WWII. That was a common way of modifying receivers to accept proprietary scope bases back in the 50s.

The grooves had to be cut AFTER the rear receiver bridge was milled down.

About the only part of that rifle that might have some collector value/interest would be that trigger guard assembly.

The rest could be turned into a very nice, controlled round, sporter, in just about any cartridge of standard length/bolt face.

I've built several sporters on such actions and they have all been good, reliable, accurate hunting grade rifles.

The last one was built as a 300BR for a friend, the previous one utilized a take of milsurp barrel, chambered for the original 8x57 and it shoots very well, with 196 grain round nose soft points loaded to 2600fps.

Butchering those rifles was not unusual, what is unusual is the new demand for such rifles in their original garb.

I'm willing to bet that stock and maybe even the barrel came out of a bin and was put together to make it into a shooter/hungting grade rifle.

Those two holes drilled into the right side of the rear bridge are very indicative of the work from the 50s-60s, when such sights were commonly available at most well stocked local gunshops.
 
Brutus said:
What a terrible way to treat an old war veteran.
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I would have liked to see what it looked like in it's sporter stock.

What happened to that rifle wasn't a big deal back in the 50s-80s.

Every model and make of 98s were common and cheap. In 1968, I bought a box with 25 barreled receivers, all with pristine bores, for $125, delivered to my door.

Less than another $10 each to pick up everything needed to get them back to military configuration.

Add another $5 to that and you could get a walnut sporter stock from Sherwood. $20 would get you a Douglas barrel, pre chambered for the cartridge of choice and ready to install.

If you had the tooling, it was easy to make a trammel specifically for the 98 action for drilling and tapping the base holes.

Lots of people just got far enough to bugger up excellent rifles and tossed them into the local dump or sawmill burners.

Some were turned into very nice, reliable, accurate sporting pieces.

I just finished one for myself last spring, with an original take off bbl that had been cut down, behind the front sight. Picked up that barrel at a gun show for $15 only a few years back.

It may or may not have actually been used in the field.

Still, if it weren't for such conversions, such rifles would be valued more or less in the Mosin 91/30 range, or less today.

It's all relevant to the times and mood of the collectors/shooters.
 
Owner and his son are using it as a hunting rifle. It's apparently is very accurate compared to other K98 they have and they are both very good shots. Well, person who showed this to me took his first deer at 8 years old and he's over 30 now, so yea, when he said it's very accurate I believe him, several generations of hunters in the family. I actually got to shoot his grandfather's Auto 5. Still works like a dream. He also brought out bunch of antique shotguns from beginning of last century. Some cool stuff. Highly doubt anyone would restore it, it'll just stay hunting sporter.


CanadianAR, I was more interested in the authenticity of that rune. Posted same question on FB group and was told that runes mainly got stamped in the receiver. Pretty sure rifle is made by Brno, at least receiver is and it's matching bunch of other parts. Scope was not to be messed with so we didn't take it of but when I brought up dou person said he's pretty sure that's what it says under scope mount.
 
The one lone K98 in my collection just so happens to be a single rune. Though all matching it is an East German rework so force matched during refurbishment. They went to a fair amount of effort to remove the original receiver markings but when polishing they left just enough to tell what was originally there. Being a refurb I never feel to bad shooting it as I’m sure it’s not worth a whole lot.
 
OP... don't take it all to heart. Take that to gun show throw it on a table with a middling price on it and it would be gone very quickly.
No BS story, or anything dodgy like that. Someone would 'have to have it'.
We tend to be purists on here, hence the rainy reviews. Joe Canadian who has seen 'Enemy at the Gates' sees a German sniper rifle for 60 cents on the dollar? He thinks 'This guy doesn't know what he's selling. I'll get it for a steal!'
PT Barnum said 'You can't cheat an honest man'
 
tokguy said:
OP... don't take it all to heart. Take that to gun show throw it on a table with a middling price on it and it would be gone very quickly.
No BS story, or anything dodgy like that. Someone would 'have to have it'.
We tend to be purists on here, hence the rainy reviews. Joe Canadian who has seen 'Enemy at the Gates' sees a German sniper rifle for 60 cents on the dollar? He thinks 'This guy doesn't know what he's selling. I'll get it for a steal!'
PT Barnum said 'You can't cheat an honest man'
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Oh, I'm not upset or anything, especially since rifle doesnt belong to me. I posted it because I was wondering about origins of that rune. Owners are not planing to sell it nor restore it. Those dudes actually do not sell anything, they buy and keep, they still have relative's firearms from early 1900's :) Thing is very accurate and it forever will be a hunting rifle. Owner's son has "proper" K98 he uses for WW2 reenactment.
 
Not sure that I understand the significance of that single rune mark on the trigger guard tongue? I must have a dozen spare 98 military guards here - about one of most straightforward parts to swap among those military rifles. Is there a similar mark on the receiver or elsewhere?? Just old, I guess - I do not understand how a mark on a trigger guard translates into ID of the rifle?

Not sure what others see, but I think that receiver has scope bases installed, not grooves cut into original receiver - the front one looks like an extended base that allows the front scope ring to attach to the scope base behind the front receiver ring?
 
OP:

Rune on TG is legit to me. It shows up on triggerguards, floorplate, receivers and I think it can even show up on rear sight bases. It’s a complex subject. A rifle may have all, none or one of the listed parts. It was only down by steyr in 43. It may not belong on that rifle.
 
So, the single rune has significance for the rifle, if the rifle was a 1943 Steyr production - that will actually have additional unique maker's marks, from Internet search. And, I suspect would want the serial numbers to match up to establish that TG left factory with that receiver? As well as the bolt and the various bits on the bolt?

I would presume that last part not likely - original turned down bolt and the "over the top" safety won't work with a scope installed, so those are likely altered, also??
 
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