I have an option to buy a Gew 98 that is mostly matching and somewhat rough shape stock and receiver wise, but the barrel has some very deep pitting and a concentrated area with loss of section, likely making the gun unshootable. How much should this reduce a gun's value?
Value of Unshootable Gew 98
- Thread starter rolfyrolf
- Start date
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The condition would reduce it to about the same price as a small boat anchor at Canadian Tire.
IF you want a wall hanger, (and a poor one at that according to your description,) then you might consider a couple of Twenty Dollar bills as tops. "Mostly matching" is irrelevant here, a "rough stock" might be salvageable, a "rough receiver" will probably not be SAFELY salvaged for shooting, and a deep pitted barrel is scrap metal. Chances are the fittings are pitted too but you did not mention this.
Of course, if you are handy with tools, it might make a fairly good floor lamp and conversation piece, if the wife lets you even bring it into the house.
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The condition would reduce it to about the same price as a small boat anchor at Canadian Tire.
IF you want a wall hanger, (and a poor one at that according to your description,) then you might consider a couple of Twenty Dollar bills as tops. "Mostly matching" is irrelevant here, a "rough stock" might be salvageable, a "rough receiver" will probably not be SAFELY salvaged for shooting, and a deep pitted barrel is scrap metal. Chances are the fittings are pitted too but you did not mention this.
Of course, if you are handy with tools, it might make a fairly good floor lamp and conversation piece, if the wife lets you even bring it into the house.
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We ARE, however, talking about a rifle which is a minimum of 94 years old and has been through at LEAST two Wars, possibly as many as SIX, depending on where it has been hiding and who it has been hanging out with. You can not POSSIBLY expect it to look "new".
What is the MECHANICAL condition like?
What condition is the BORE in?
WHERE is the "very deep" pitting and how much of it is actually there? How much is just FINISH damage?
We NEED good photos in a case such as this.
I'm not being snarky, friend. I have a Gew 98 here that I bought some years back for $106. It is a 1915/1920 Mauser-built Mauser and it looks like War Two went over TOP of it. Cleaned up some of the rust and hauled some stinky old grease out of it, took it to the range, pits and ugly finish and all. It shot a 1-1/4 inch group at 100 yards. The Kaiser would have been proud.
Without a detailed examination, it is hard to tell. Photos make it easier, though, especially when one is 1400 miles away, as I am; some of the best people on this board are near 3000 miles from you; they WILL give you straight goods but they have to SEE it.
Friend BUFFDOG gave you a good, solid minimum; I'm giving you a good, solid possibility.
I would not be surprised if the RIFLE was somewhere in the middle. But we NEED photos.
What is the MECHANICAL condition like?
What condition is the BORE in?
WHERE is the "very deep" pitting and how much of it is actually there? How much is just FINISH damage?
We NEED good photos in a case such as this.
I'm not being snarky, friend. I have a Gew 98 here that I bought some years back for $106. It is a 1915/1920 Mauser-built Mauser and it looks like War Two went over TOP of it. Cleaned up some of the rust and hauled some stinky old grease out of it, took it to the range, pits and ugly finish and all. It shot a 1-1/4 inch group at 100 yards. The Kaiser would have been proud.
Without a detailed examination, it is hard to tell. Photos make it easier, though, especially when one is 1400 miles away, as I am; some of the best people on this board are near 3000 miles from you; they WILL give you straight goods but they have to SEE it.
Friend BUFFDOG gave you a good, solid minimum; I'm giving you a good, solid possibility.
I would not be surprised if the RIFLE was somewhere in the middle. But we NEED photos.
Not my gun yet, or will it be as it stands, so I don't think it is apropriate for me to post a pic; however, the question could be better formed, so here it is - if you arrive at a price of $675 shipped for a gun and then the seller realizes that this gun is likely unshootable because of the extent and depth of rust concentrated at the front band (he was taking it apart to ship and wanted to be upfront and totally honest), what range of reduction in price would account for the gun being "dewat" by rust? Is the market for a wall hanger Gew 98 such that it is still worth $500 or should it be worth around $250 shipped?
Pitting on the outside of the bbl at the front band would have zero impact on the shoot-ability unless it was so deep it broke into the bore itself. Take a look at a Merkel combo rifle sometime. The barrel is nearly thin as stiff cardboard at the muzzle, yet perfectly safe.
The only place that needs to be thick and robust is the knox form (chamber area).
The only place that needs to be thick and robust is the knox form (chamber area).
Claven2 is absolutely right, of course.
If you take a look at a time/pressure curve for the 7.92x57JS cartridge, you will find that pressure at the CHAMBER goes 'way up past 40,000 but also that it drops very fast as the bullet proceeds down the bore. At the muzzle, it likely doesn't make much over 5000.
If the pits go down HALFWAY TO the bore, then I would count the rifle as "reduced loads only" as a safety measure...... and you can STILL have a lot of fun with those.
Get into handloading, check out the C.E. Harris UNIVERSAL LOAD for Military Rifles. It is 13 grains of Red Dot shotgun powder with a 180-grain CAST bullet. VERY low breech pressures, costs a dime a shot tops AND it will give an honest 2MOA with a half-decent bore. It is low-velocity (1850 ft/sec) and muzzle pressures are just about zip.
LOTTA fun!
If you take a look at a time/pressure curve for the 7.92x57JS cartridge, you will find that pressure at the CHAMBER goes 'way up past 40,000 but also that it drops very fast as the bullet proceeds down the bore. At the muzzle, it likely doesn't make much over 5000.
If the pits go down HALFWAY TO the bore, then I would count the rifle as "reduced loads only" as a safety measure...... and you can STILL have a lot of fun with those.
Get into handloading, check out the C.E. Harris UNIVERSAL LOAD for Military Rifles. It is 13 grains of Red Dot shotgun powder with a 180-grain CAST bullet. VERY low breech pressures, costs a dime a shot tops AND it will give an honest 2MOA with a half-decent bore. It is low-velocity (1850 ft/sec) and muzzle pressures are just about zip.
LOTTA fun!
I can't see how pitting on the outside of the barrel might render a 98 Mauser unshootable. Inaccurate maybe if the bore were as pitted as the outside but not unshootable.
Pitting right up forward will only render the rifle unshootable if it allows GAS to LEAK out the side of the barrel.
THAT would ender the barrel unusabe BUT could be cleaned up by a counterbore job, as have so very many Moisin-Nagants.
Me? I would jump on it if I didn't already have a couple.
THAT would ender the barrel unusabe BUT could be cleaned up by a counterbore job, as have so very many Moisin-Nagants.
Me? I would jump on it if I didn't already have a couple.
