Best story of a find?

Mr. Dynamite

Mr. Dynamite

CGN Regular
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Location
Northern Alberta
Hey there! Been reading and learning here for a while, really enjoying the resource here. Have something you folks may be able to help me with. I am wanting to get into the world of K98 collecting, but as you are all aware, they seem to be hard to come by and pricey! Got one I am trying to track down, but it is not going to well. :( So that got me wondering, if you could share with us the story of how you found and chased down some of the pieces in your collection, maybe we could learn from it, and pick up some pointers on the art of bringing guns out of the "woodwork!"
Thanks!
 
Brother-in-law reached behind his beer fridge and brought out and handed to me two rifles; a scrubbed, worse for wear, sportered Danzig K98 and a 6mm Winchester-Lee Navy.
That was kinda neat.
 
The chase is 95% of the fun.

Bought a Mannlicher 43M without a bolt and sourced a bolt for it from Oklahoma.

Got stock sets for a couple of Mannlicher M95M's by trading extractors and clips with guys from Michigan and Utah.

Swedish M94 Carbine for $250 from CGN (a few years ago).

Bought a lot of "several" Swiss Vetterli M69/71's with cleaning rods, etc., etc. through CGN. Got me on the path of loading for and shooting my favourite milsurp.

Bought "several" Cooey Carcanos which lead to similar interesting pursuits.
 
Had a bit of luck this summer. Saw a reference in this forum to a Polish M44 sitting in a local small gunshop. No reference to price. Gave them a call. It was still there and price was $250. Summer student really wasn't too sure about condition. I'm thinking for that price bore is maybe pitted from surplus ammo etc. Told him I was interested in making a trade on a nice Win 77 and would make the half hour drive right away. The rifle was mint on the outside and surprise I couldn't see the bore because it was still full of original packing grease! The young sales person explained he had made an error as the gun was on consignment and no trade was possible. The good part was that the asking price was really $225 and no tax as owner was selling it for a friend. Also a box of Priv Partizan was included. I was out the door in 5 minutes with my new treasure.

There is a "downside" to this story. I already had a minty Polish 44 which I have shot some. The plan was to shoot the "new" rifle and keep the better shooter of the two and trade/sell the other. Upon close examination I don't think the new rifle has ever been fired. I dry fired it and the trigger pull is much better than my "shooter". Now being of Scottish ancestory and seeing the value of unfired mint Polish 44's I still haven't put a round through the thing and probably will not.
 
I had a nice Tula SKS, was unissued and brand new when I bought it. I got sick of cleaning the corrosive salts out of the thing and decided to trade it for my first Ross. I was hoping to find a MkIII sporter nearly equal in value. I put a WTT on the EE. Right away I had a fellow PM me back that he had an old Ross to trade. Turns out it was a MkI* and is now my most treasured rifle.

Another tip is just to be super friendly and helpful to everyone you meet on here and elsewhere. That has helped me out a ton. You never know who you might befriend and how giving people are when they know you share a common passion. A lot of the fellows in the collecting community are getting up there, and I know I would rather pass my treasures on to someone who loves them as much as I do than on to someone with little interest in preserving them.
 
Old Ranger said:
Had a bit of luck this summer. Saw a reference in this forum to a Polish M44 sitting in a local small gunshop. No reference to price. Gave them a call. It was still there and price was $250. Summer student really wasn't too sure about condition. I'm thinking for that price bore is maybe pitted from surplus ammo etc. Told him I was interested in making a trade on a nice Win 77 and would make the half hour drive right away. The rifle was mint on the outside and surprise I couldn't see the bore because it was still full of original packing grease! The young sales person explained he had made an error as the gun was on consignment and no trade was possible. The good part was that the asking price was really $225 and no tax as owner was selling it for a friend. Also a box of Priv Partizan was included. I was out the door in 5 minutes with my new treasure.

There is a "downside" to this story. I already had a minty Polish 44 which I have shot some. The plan was to shoot the "new" rifle and keep the better shooter of the two and trade/sell the other. Upon close examination I don't think the new rifle has ever been fired. I dry fired it and the trigger pull is much better than my "shooter". Now being of Scottish ancestory and seeing the value of unfired mint Polish 44's I still haven't put a round through the thing and probably will not.
Click to expand...

That's why I try to avoid unfired rifles. There's no way I could have it sitting on the rack and not try it out.
 
My story isn't anything special, but its the best one I have.

Last April, a friend of mine wanted me to come with him to look at a sportered S-R 1889 in 30-30 and see if it was worth the 100 bucks the seller was asking. He apparently had a few other things kicking around, so I hit the bank and took out 200 bucks before heading there. Sure enough, the seller had a bolt matching 1915 Westinghouse 1891 for sale aswell, for 125$. Snapped it up in a hurry. I had to downsize my collection this fall though, so that one was sold unfortunately.
 
One of my nefew, told me, he is bring me a 303 full wood, to give it to me since i am the only family member who like rifles and he did not want to keep it...
He told me is wife great, great grandfather brough it back from the WW1, and since it was in a box last 60 years or so, but he told me, he also have with it 3 boxes of ammo written 303 Dominion Ross...
I did not see it, and this is the only infos i have, they will be visting next summer and he will bring it to me, then i will make pictures... JP.
 
caramel said:
One of my nefew, told me, he is bring me a 303 full wood, to give it to me since i am the only family member who like rifles and he did not want to keep it...
He told me is wife great, great grandfather brough it back from the WW1, and since it was in a box last 60 years or so, but he told me, he also have with it 3 boxes of ammo written 303 Dominion Ross...
I did not see it, and this is the only infos i have, they will be visting next summer and he will bring it to me, then i will make pictures... JP.
Click to expand...


That is awesome! Let's hope it's a beauty! Would love to see pics when you get it!

Ian
 
flying pig said:
Another tip is just to be super friendly and helpful to everyone you meet on here and elsewhere. That has helped me out a ton. You never know who you might befriend and how giving people are when they know you share a common passion. A lot of the fellows in the collecting community are getting up there, and I know I would rather pass my treasures on to someone who loves them as much as I do than on to someone with little interest in preserving them.
Click to expand...

This can always help out and I make it my duty to help out as many people on here as I can.

Ian
 
K98Ks are hard to find here.

These guys are on the right track, be nice to people, and your firends will give you leads, and info.

DSCN3452_zps119d4ad5.jpg~320x480
 
My story is about my 1945 dated SVT 40. Speaking of SVT rifle, the SVT 38 is a rare bird in Canada, they exist but are not for sale and if they ever come for sale, they aren't cheap. A SVT 40 1945 is a very rare find because very very very fews were made that year. So fews years ago, i see a SVT 1945 on P.S Militaria web site, me so happy that i call right away but damn, the rifle is sold, worst day of my life ever!(well not really but some drama is good in a story). Somes moths later, a fellow nutz pm me about another nutz with a 1945 SVT for sale so i contact the fellow in question and guess what? The SVT was the one i missed at P.S Militaria! I finally got the 1945 that i tought i will never had a second chance after first time i missed it!

Joce
 
My two K98's are russian captures. I went to the local gun store when they got a shipment of them in (they know my face well), and I spent a few hours going through them all. At the end of it only found 2 RC's worth buying. They were beauties though. Lots of original non mixmaster parts, as well as period correct parts (waffen marked too of course). I also found in a crate an all matching (with exception of the bolt release) byf k98. No renumbering, no refurb paint, even bolt matched! Sold it a while ago for $1500.

You got to put in the time, make connections with people, and do your research. It will eventually pay off.
 
I agree with the whole "help others and be friendly" way of being.

Many of my treasures have come from CGN'ers that found out that I'm looking for a particular rifle. For instance my Turk Mauser, 3 band snider, MLE mk1*, were all bought from users here.

Just last month Buffdog who I met on this forum and has become a friend sold me 2 rifles of his that I've been lusting after. He knew they were going to a good home and he was glad to pass on a couple gems to the next generation.

Another good source of guns is gun shows (do your research and know your prices). Word of mouth is a great way to find rifles to, if you work with hunters for instance mention that you are interested in old guns. They may not think of anything off the top of their heads but in the future they may have a buddy looking to clear out the safe. I got my first center fire rifle from a guy at work. I mentioned that I was looking for a lee enfield and right away he said he had one in the back of the safe. I bought that rifle (a 1916 lithgow LE sporter) with a spare mag, 4 boxes of ammo, a sling and 100 pieces of brass for $100. That's what started my milsurp collecting!!

Really if you're genuine and put your time in here the guns will literally come to you, it becomes a "can I afford yet another rifle?" game. Rather then spending your time looking for rifles to buy you'll spend time finding the money and more room to store them.

Happy hunting!!
 
Mr. Dynamite said:
Hey there! Been reading and learning here for a while, really enjoying the resource here. Have something you folks may be able to help me with. I am wanting to get into the world of K98 collecting, but as you are all aware, they seem to be hard to come by and pricey! Got one I am trying to track down, but it is not going to well. :( So that got me wondering, if you could share with us the story of how you found and chased down some of the pieces in your collection, maybe we could learn from it, and pick up some pointers on the art of bringing guns out of the "woodwork!"
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention, I see you are from GP, if you'd be interested in going shooting some time send me a PM. I get most Sundays off and am always into meeting others who have similar interests.
 
A few years ago a man who shall remain nameless arrived at the local Police Station and said he had a number of rifles from his Uncles estate in his trunk outside and did not want them. An Officer who will also remain nameless viewed the rifles which were mostly old beat up Cooeys and such and had the said Cooeys etc taken into the building to be held for destruction. One rifle was left in the trunk of the owners car when the Officer told him it was a full Military config Ross rifle. After the officer gave the man a history lesson on the rifle which was in real nice shape he decided on the advice of the Officer to maybe find another relative that would appreciate the said Rifle. I heard that the man gave the said rifle to a very happy relative out west, maybe Alberta.
 
Was in Barrie visiting with the gf. Going through a rough patch we decided to take a drive to talk things over. Ended up at Epps. Asked if they had any post war No4's.. He says this JUST came in, not even on the website yet. And that is how I have my 96L serial 1950 Long Branch. I call that day 'The day of Balance'
 
A four part story (condensed) . A local gunshop here got some sks just in , looked on the rack and found a 1952 sks with the serial number : AT 1, another time mosin nagants and found a 1929 for180 with taxes, svt 40s found a 42 sniper( sold it ), and the last was a m44 that some one took off the bayonet and had the bolt bent for $160. I don't know how he does it but he gets some very cool rifles in.
 
Not all that spectacular, but... as usual we went to church last Sunday. A fellow I know there asked if I was still collecting amd shooting old rifles. I said sure. I have a couple I like to shoot. Long story short, followed him out to his truck after church and he gave me a 1943 Mosin Nagant with sling. A little rusted. But nothing I can't clean up.

Other than that, I was able to buy a No4 Mk1 T with transit case and scope with case that a buddy at work was just not interested in anymore. What a beautiful fifle. It was just sitting in his basement.
 
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