Anyone ever do business with these people? ... WW2 era Mauser K98-M48
They sell a Yugo mauser that never served in WW2 for a couple of hundered more than you can get elsewhere. They pretty them up real nice, which has value to some, but their ad copy suggest real k98 to many who don't know better. For example: "A genuine Mauser 98K, the Model M48 is the Strongest and Best of the original bolt-action Rifles. " No, it is a model 48. The K98 is similar, in the same family, but not the same by any means. The action size is even different.
The rifles cost $299 and were made in Serbia in 1943. I plan to order one sometime before Christmas.
The Yugoslav M48 Mauser rifle was manufactured from 1950-65 at the Zavodi Crvena Zastava (Red Banner Works. Zastava was known as "Preduzece 44"--meaning Enterprise 44, from 1945-52. In 1952 it was renamed Red Banner Works.)
http://www.surplusrifle.com/yugom48/index.asp Mitchells has received so much flack, that they have started adding some disclaimers on the site, presenting faults as "advantages" and hoping nobody reads the fine print too closely.
The historical "real" K98s they advertise are super expensive and restored (which is a direct contradiction). Restoration kills collector value, so you are paying twice as much for half as much. They never say "all martching" in their copy, so I might surmise that they are humped up russian captures, cleaned up "refinished" maybe restocked and restamped and hugely marked up to start at $2,500. You would be very lucky to get $700 in resale "restored" IF they were actually all matching and not faked. If faked, maybe $200 from somebody that liked a pretty rifle.
If you want a really nice M-48 at a good price try AIM:
http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Yugoslavian_Model_48_8mm_Mauser_Rifle.html It might not be "quite" as pretty but it will be in very good or better condition. $119
A variety of sources sell straight russian capture K98k mismatched shooters for around $200. I paid $150 for mine in rough condition. It had a dark "pitted" looking bore, but after 100 rounds it cleaned up sharp and bright. I guess the pitting was just particle of super crud that just wouldn't brush out without some "help"
No real collector value with the RCs, since they are totally mismatched. The Russias took all the captured k98s, broke them down into parts, disposed of the damaged and reassembled the rest into random, non matching (serial number) guns for use in WW3. You can leave them in their nasty russian varnish finish "because that's part of their history too..." or strip the varnish and restore them to their precapture glory (mostly) without worry about "ruining" their value. They may be rough (some more than others), but they have actually been there, and can be pretty good shooters.
Try Empire Arms
http://www.empirearms.com/. They have top end, well described hand selected RCs for about the same price (or less) as the very pretty but not historical M-48s at Mitchells.
Charon
