k98's where are they hiding

Where are the Mausers?

When a lot of these rifles were surrendered, they were just thrown into a large pile, soaked with gasoline or diesel, and were destroyed that way.

Another reason is that many of the Mauser rifles were converted to Sporting rifles by various factories.

Even the surplus Mausers that were available during the 1950s and 1960s that were sold in Canada, were simply stripped, the stocks and fittings thrown away, and the actions used by the home gun nuts at the time.

.
 
Millions were captured by the Soviets. Many were sold and/or given to other nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain, like Israel, Norway, Denmark and France. These countries usually modified these K98's for their particular needs. Millions were also sporterized and re-barreled in a variety of different calibers. What all of this means is that there aren't very many K98's that haven't been altered or refurbished in some way. Most of the ones you'll find are either sporters, rebarreled, or Russian capture rifles.

Remember, these rifles are also being bought by people in the States and Europe, so the total market for them is huge. It is also important to note that since these rifles were all made in Europe, any rifles found in Canada would have to have been imported. The same cannot be said for things like Lee Enfields.

The difference compared to the SKS's is also worth noting. The SKS's were a product of Cold War stockpiling. Millions were produced and then put right into storage. The same cannot be said of K98's, where many of them were issued and produced during war time.
 
...where are they hiding
Click to expand...

If not rotting away in some backwards mud hole on the former Eastern front, I would say the bulk of them have been snatched up by collectors and not seeing the light of day in most cases :D.

Just watch, a properly priced RC Kar98k flies off the EE shortly after the ad has been posted. I'm not sure you can say the same for an Enfield but that is my opinion.
 
Maybe it was JP who pointed out once before when this question was asked - The Germans lost. Sounds stupid and obvious, but the countries that "won" made billions fobbing second hand crap off on client states and allies for decades after the war ended. This is why there are STILL pallets of No.4 rifles turning up in some backwoods s#$%hole 60 years later, and we're STILL hoping some of those Korean Garands are coming our way. Sure some German stuff was re-used but like the aircraft that were pushed off runways and burned and ships sunk at their moorings, the allies were hip deep in their own equipment never mind captured stuff that didn't fit anybodies TO & E.
 
Deltasilver said:
Maybe it was JP who pointed out once before when this question was asked - The Germans lost. Sounds stupid and obvious, but the countries that "won" made billions fobbing second hand crap off on client states and allies for decades after the war ended. This is why there are STILL pallets of No.4 rifles turning up in some backwoods s#$%hole 60 years later, and we're STILL hoping some of those Korean Garands are coming our way. Sure some German stuff was re-used but like the aircraft that were pushed off runways and burned and ships sunk at their moorings, the allies were hip deep in their own equipment never mind captured stuff that didn't fit anybodies TO & E.
Click to expand...

+1

One of the reasons Israel ended up with converted Mausers and Avia S199 aircraft (Bf 109 with a replacement engine with none of the quality of the original) was that nobody else wanted them and the price was right. Otherwise they were scrap.
 
I usually see sporterized Mauser's at gunshows. I rarely see origanal Mauser's and if I do they are expensive. It is a shame that so many have been sporterized.
 
At the time the majority of the were sportered you could buy an original K98k matching for way less than $100. People didn't place much value on them. I would have to say with a production over 11,000,000 the majority are no longer with us, being destroyed in combat or after capture, sporterized or just used until there wasn't much left of it. There were a lot more bringbacks by vets in the U.S. than here maybe due to different rules.
 
Mike Webb said:
At the time the majority of the were sportered you could buy an original K98k matching for way less than $100. People didn't place much value on them. I would have to say with a production over 11,000,000 the majority are no longer with us, being destroyed in combat or after capture, sporterized or just used until there wasn't much left of it. There were a lot more bringbacks by vets in the U.S. than here maybe due to different rules.
Click to expand...

I think the 11 million number is inflated due to the large number of variations of the kar98k that are lumped into it. I think the number of actual Kar98ks produced is much less. Factor in the loss, post war destruction rate, and sporters from vet bring backs and hunters, and you do not have much left in the end half a century later.

Still, the de-centralized production system in Germany was quite impressive and I think any RC Kar98k can attest to that as far as interchangeability of parts.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Canadian vet bring backs are scarce from WW2 because the authorities confiscated the war trophies ?
 
Pictures shamelessly stolen after following an image link on GOOGLE.
A G3 on a pallet of k98s
armspic007.jpg

MG34s
armspic017.jpg

A field of rust
armspic015.jpg

At least they were stacked properly...
armspic016.jpg
 
Keep in mind they converted many to shotguns at the end of ww1 , geha and remo were two companies that made them. Have a geha and it is a fun little gun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom