WW2 K98 Sniper rifle?
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Hard to tell from two photos.... Scope name and power? Mount brand/name/markings?
Lots of 'sniper' rifles were built from odd things. Lots have been assembled more recently!
What's the provenance? GI Bringback? Gunshop? Some dude on Craigslist?
More info! It's pretty! But before paying super premium price... some serious due diligence is a must! And I am not sure we can provide that much off two photos.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Lots of 'sniper' rifles were built from odd things. Lots have been assembled more recently!
What's the provenance? GI Bringback? Gunshop? Some dude on Craigslist?
More info! It's pretty! But before paying super premium price... some serious due diligence is a must! And I am not sure we can provide that much off two photos.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Remember this - Most, and I do mean most, k98 “sniper” rifles you see for sale are fake. Much research has been done to show original examples in the excellnet book by Richard D. Law, Sniper Variation of the German K98 Rifle. Just an FYI....
PS: That scope does not appear Richard Law's book and I don't think its a WWII era scope.. An expert would need about a 7 or 8 pictures of the mounts and other areas to see if it has any tiny Waffanemt stamps and if so, what are they and do they match the rifle. Also, on real snipers the front base will have the 4 digits stamped that match the rifle, etc. Again, assume its fake unless reviewed by an expert, as the vast majority are indeed fake snipers, which is why real ones bring so much $$).
PS: That scope does not appear Richard Law's book and I don't think its a WWII era scope.. An expert would need about a 7 or 8 pictures of the mounts and other areas to see if it has any tiny Waffanemt stamps and if so, what are they and do they match the rifle. Also, on real snipers the front base will have the 4 digits stamped that match the rifle, etc. Again, assume its fake unless reviewed by an expert, as the vast majority are indeed fake snipers, which is why real ones bring so much $$).
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IIRC, the German scopes had no windage adjustments. I don't know what that scope is, but it has a windage knob. That said, there appears to be windage adjustment also in the rear base/ring. Without closeups of them, it's hard to tell what exactly he has.
Pass on this replica unless they are giving it away and your friend just wants something to shoot that resembles a high turret K98 sniper. The telescope is completely wrong, but there is something else just as blatant... The Germans NEVER used split rings in the High Turret (or low turret for that matter). Smart money says that is an Accumounts mounting system...about $200 for the mounts.
This ^^^^^^^. As stated the Germans never used split ring turret mounts. They used solder rings. These sniper "clone" builds are usually worth the sum of the parts used. Keep in mind there is an advantage to having the split rings in case he ever wanted to put a more modern optic on it. It just does not appear historically accuracte.
Here are my K-98k sniper clone examples.
Scope looks post war, 50's or 60's era to me. Mounts are high turret mounts, 26.5mm tube, but no telling when they were put on the rifle. You can buy originals and reproductions today.
I would buy it as a collection of parts, and honestly if the rifle is all matching and the scope mounts are not original/correct, I think it hurts the value of the rifle. Looks like inconsistent finish on the bolt shroud vs. the rest of the rifle, too.
For whatever reason, WWII German stuff seems to be the thing to fake, and there's lots of stuff out there that's not original, fudged, etc... I run away at the first sign of questionability, especially over the internet. In person if I can verify what's what it's a little different, but it seems to be everyone has Nazi SS sniper rifles worth at least $5000....
I would buy it as a collection of parts, and honestly if the rifle is all matching and the scope mounts are not original/correct, I think it hurts the value of the rifle. Looks like inconsistent finish on the bolt shroud vs. the rest of the rifle, too.
For whatever reason, WWII German stuff seems to be the thing to fake, and there's lots of stuff out there that's not original, fudged, etc... I run away at the first sign of questionability, especially over the internet. In person if I can verify what's what it's a little different, but it seems to be everyone has Nazi SS sniper rifles worth at least $5000....
Scharfschutz... very cool and impressive picture.
So in that lineup... what is 'real.' Vs. what is a complete fake? Or are they all very good replicas of 'real' guns.
I don't know... not my area. So can you give us a rundown on that list? Has the makings of a very educational thread.
Cheers,
Sirhr
So in that lineup... what is 'real.' Vs. what is a complete fake? Or are they all very good replicas of 'real' guns.
I don't know... not my area. So can you give us a rundown on that list? Has the makings of a very educational thread.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Mount is replica...fake... what ever your favorite term is. Don’t walk away...Run. Again, the mount is a REPLICA. These rifles have been humped for a long time, and if you don’t have a pHD level education specializing in K98k snipers, you can loose your shirt...I am talking down to the correct font on the subcomponents.Also, real K98k snipers did not need to have their bolts ground down to clear.
Not sure how many different ways there are to say TURD, but that is what the rifle in the original post is.
Thanks!
All of them are clones except for the High Turret K-98k (3rd down from the top). That one was a sporter rescue that I purchased that had the HT holes and solder still visible. I grabbed it because it is the closest I will ever get to being able to afford a real German sniper. I then was able to track down the correct "byf" parts (non serialed), a wartime 4X90 Ajack, and a set of Robert Spielauer mounts.
Years ago at a gun show there was a vendor that had several different variants of cloned K-98k snipers all displayed together. It inspired me to do something similar with my German collction. I tried to pay attention to getting the correct receiver code/year rifles for each variant. The list is as follows:
-BCD 4 PU Field Armorer Clone
-BCD 4 Long Side Rail Clone
-BYF 44 High Turret Sporter Rescue
-BNZ 43 Single Claw Clone
-DOU 43 PEM Field Armorer Clone
-BYF 41 Short Side Rail Type 2
-1940 Mauser Oberndorf Low Turret Clone
- AR 41 ZF-41 Clone
Currently being built:
-Gew-98m PE Field Armorer Clone
To be built:
-BNZ 43 SS Double Claw Clone
-1937 S/42 Objective Mount Clone
-CE 44 "Sweptback" Clone
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Just from my amateur WW2 Mauser eye:
- Stock has been sanded
- There were no split rings on high turret mounts; the scope was actually assembled into the rings
- That scope doesn't look like any German scope I've ever seen
- The extended safety looks off somehow, like its too extended.
- If I remember right, the majority of extended safeties were found on Gustloff BCD code rifles which the majority of were long side rail (LSR) type sniper rifles, not the high turret. Additionally, if this is a BCD, the front barrel band would mostly likely have been the H style, not the solid stamped style. (this may not be true if the pictures above are accurate; the 2nd from the top is a LSR with a BEK scope)
- Have him get pictures of the serial numbers on the buttstock, receiver, barrel bands, floor plate. I'm 99% sure they won't match.
I'm going with the idea that this is just something someone put together, put a scope on and called it a sniper rifle.
- Stock has been sanded
- There were no split rings on high turret mounts; the scope was actually assembled into the rings
- That scope doesn't look like any German scope I've ever seen
- The extended safety looks off somehow, like its too extended.
- If I remember right, the majority of extended safeties were found on Gustloff BCD code rifles which the majority of were long side rail (LSR) type sniper rifles, not the high turret. Additionally, if this is a BCD, the front barrel band would mostly likely have been the H style, not the solid stamped style. (this may not be true if the pictures above are accurate; the 2nd from the top is a LSR with a BEK scope)
- Have him get pictures of the serial numbers on the buttstock, receiver, barrel bands, floor plate. I'm 99% sure they won't match.
I'm going with the idea that this is just something someone put together, put a scope on and called it a sniper rifle.
