Trying to determine value of Mauser rifle...

J

Jeff/1911

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Hi Folks,

My brother gave me this rifle, and I'm just trying to determine what I've got. :) I thought it was chambered in 30-06. EDIT: It is chambered in .308/7.62 NATO.

Thanks for any light you may be able to shed.








 
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According to the stamp on the receiver, it is chambered in 7.62 (the military equivalent of .308 Win) not 30.06. I know very little about Mausers, but think it is most likely an Israeli conversion of a German K98
 
3006 rifles I have seen have a notch cut in the top of the receiver to accommodate the longer rounds.

I have seen 7.62 stamped in 308 (7.62x51) rifles.

Have you tried to chamber a 3006 case?

I have a Columbinan 3006 Mauser, but it has the notch.

Are there any Israeli stamps on it?
 
B_noser said:
According to the stamp on the receiver, it is chambered in 7.62 not 30.06. I know very little about Mausers, but think it is most likely an Israeli conversion of a German K98
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agree. looks very much Israeli 7.62x51 conversion. somewhere on the butt stock should say 7.62 as well.

I cant say anything about its value but dont think this is valuable ...
 
Israeli 308 as star of david stampon the receiver near the serial# and also 7.62,as bearhunter said if it was 30.06 there would be a relief cut in the receiver for the longer 30.06 round.
 
Hi
I think maybe a little higher, there is a sporterised one going for $ 500 at a local gun store

seem to recall they had a full wood one for sale at about $800 around the start of last year

think they are getting less common now

i think the service history of these rifles is very interesting

more so than the russian capture mausers going for around the $1000 mark

cheers
J
 
B_noser said:
According to the stamp on the receiver, it is chambered in 7.62 (the military equivalent of .308 Win) not 30.06. I know very little about Mausers, but think it is most likely an Israeli conversion of a German K98
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The Norwegian 98 conversions to 30-06 are only stamped with 7.62 but not nearly as large as on the OP rifle. When the Norwegians converted some of the rifles chambered in 30-06 to 7.62x51, they were again stamped with 7.62 only. This was confusing because the receivers were also notched for the longer round.

The OP rifle is definitely an Israeli 7.62x51 or 308Win.

There is a Star of David stamped after the serial number.
 
Unless someone ran in a 30-06 reamer into the 7.62x51 chamber and never marked the barrel.... You will find out first time you try to chamber a 30-06 cartridge. Look in the magazine - the Isreali's installed a block to shorten the magazine length for the shorter 7.62x51 rounds, from the original 8x57. If the 1/2" spacer is still there, no way a 30-06 goes in magazine. Many commercial 30-06 loaded short enough to fit in 8x57 magazine, so if the block has been removed, might be a 30-06 - loading one by one into mag - don't need notch to eject fired 30-06 if that is what the chamber has been cut for.
And as above - several countries labeled 30-06 as "7.62" before the 7.62x51/308 Win was invented. I think the full current metric designation for 30-06 is 7.62x63.

So to OP question about value - depends on determining the actual chambering - a lot!!
 
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Condition of the bore influences value.
Israeli rifles were often reconditioned mixmasters of parts, and then modified to 7.62 - not high on the collector scale. Good condition, perhaps $400 in my view.
Pitted, worn bore would be less.
 
An Israeli Mauser in 7.62 NATO, with a decent bore and decent wood should be around $500-800. I think there are some fairly sound reasons for their popularity: a. 7.62 NATO or .308W is fairly easy to come by; b. historical factor; c. some are rather nice rifles. I currently am housing four at my place, all good shooters. I sold a nice one a couple of years back at the Calgary show to a young fellow who was so happy to find one. I felt guilty for having sold it, so managed to find a nice one at the Brandon show a year ago.

They may not be all matching, pristine Berlin built K98's from Hitler's personal SS unit, but they are still quite collectable, especially in the eyes of some of the younger people who are raising families and paying for housing, etc.
 
This K98 was built in 1945 by BRNO in Czechoslovakia as indicated by the dou code on the receiver, the stock and the hardware shows it's a
"kriegsmodell",instead of the round disc in the buttstock for bolt disassembly these had a hole in the butt plate for that reason and the front barrel band was much simpler welded affair.
Also a lot of the Czech rifles had a large trigger guard,some people say it was for winter service shooting with gloves.
It's probably chambered for 308-7.62x51 as most Israelian K98 were.
 
If it is an Israeli conversion, (pretty certain it is) that would have been a new, made for or made by Israel, .30 caliber barrel installed - careful inspection will reveal a stamping XX/XX somewheres on the barrel - usually near or on the chamber - first two digits are the "batch number" (not the month) and second two digits are the year produced - three or four that I have looked at are mid to late 1950's so "17/56" would be 17th batch produced in 1956. "02/57" would be second batch (not February) in 1957.
 
Thanks! I'll look for these markings. It's definitely a K98 chambered in .308. I just tried both rounds in it. The bore is bright & shiny with distinct rifling. It should be a good shooter!
 
Jeff/1911 said:
Thanks! I'll look for these markings. It's definitely a K98 chambered in .308. I just tried both rounds in it. The bore is bright & shiny with distinct rifling. It should be a good shooter!
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luckily there is no way to accidentally shoot a .30-06 out of a .308 :)
 
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