About 45-50 years ago my brother in law pulled this up off the north coast of Nfld in his deep water cod net. He gave it to me about 35 years ago. The stock appeared burned and was pretty worm eaten and not in a very usable condition. The firing pin was broken, one of the extractor detents was ripped clean off and the Lange Vizier (roller coaster) rear site had been replaced with a newer ladder type although it kept the original site base. All the parts had matching serial numbers. The smaller parts has the last 2 digits of the four digit serial number. Receiver ring had "Amberg 1917" stamped and Gew 98 on the left side of receiver. All metal parts were badly corroded, the bore dark and severely pitted. So as a young and novice firearms aficionado, and without any knowledge of collector value (not internet back then just library books) I set out to revive this rifle and make it shootable again. I found a K98 stock at Laurentian Trading Post in Ottawa and after a few years I tossed the remains of the original stock. (My bad) Then I picked up a stripped 98 bent bolt at a gun show. Later found a 98 firing pin from a Yugo mauser that did not fit. (did manage to sell it later) Found a 98K rear sight and firing pin at another gun show. Next I used emery cloth to remove as much pitting on the metal as I could, erasing the Crown, Amberg 1917, some factory markings that were unreadable. Replaced some more metal furniture that was newer and in better condition. Using Dicropan IM, I reblued as much as I could. (My bad again) After all was said and done I put together a true Frankenstein Mauser that won me several Military Rifle competitions at our gun club. I still regret what I did to this Mauser though. It might have actually been worth something left in its original un-shootable condition.
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