Absolutely true, although Ed doesn't need me to confim it, but absolutely here we are talking about two different catagories of pistols.

Fully correct K98s are not hard to find here, although what I call the internet-driven Hoarder's, (not Collectors) Market has driven prices up over the last ten years. Many of these are vet bring backs, but most of what is on the market today are reimports, be it from Russia or wherever else.

Again, I don't how else to state this, (and from the many "thank yous", our equivalent to FB "Likes", many of our most knowledgeable members agree), but in this market most of the imported surplus firearms are complete, intact, mostly if not all matching. Other than the theory I proposed above, I cannot account why the examples in your market are so poor.

Well,
Italy and the US are a continent and an ocean apart.
There is no doubt in my mind that there are different "qualities" of RC weapons for sale, or were.

What one sees in any given market is the result of who, where, when, and how many were purchased at the time. JMHO.

I agree if we talk about 1911 pistol, but about K98K I respectfully disagree, apart from me, I know that top notch German collectors in the past years have found a lot of people in the States genuinely enthusiast but perhaps not enough informed.

And yet the rifles are here, mostly if not all intact, as examined by many, many knowledgeable people.
I don't know where your German friends get their information, but they are incorrect, in this case.

Doug,

As I repeat I'm not an expert on anything, I've been collecting K98K many years ago, I live in Europe and I've got experienced collectors friends also in Germany, I only tell you that the market is chock full of "turds" as K98 Mausers as well as Luger pistols are among the most "faked" of all collectible arms, and these beautiful guns have been faked and restamped with new markings for many years now, and it's very, very difficult believe me, to tell a genuine original one from a fake or from some sort of a "put" together to make matching.
I can assure you that many serious an experienced K98K collectors have got burnt on that, .
Fakery now is worse than 1911s. Some of the original factory stamps, captured from the factories, are out there and there are complete sets of fake stamps available. The fake stamps are getting better/closer to originals. It is a swamp, believe, that's why I stopped collecting them.
The best site on K98s is the K98kforum with the three book series authors there, not to mention most of the contributors. They are rarely fooled. Having the three book series is essential IMO, the middle book is coming in less than a year and will be massive.
Long time ago I hung out with these guys and attempted to learn more... :rolleyes:
K98K are a deep swamp with more than 90% being total fakes and many of the remaining 10% not being totally original, but only "correct".
The prices were skyrocketing, and snipers K98 were worse still!
A common example, like a byf 44 (wich is probably the most common of all codes) in just decent condition like 75% if all original and complete brings the equivalent price of about $2000/2500. Then the snipers perhaps about $10-35K. :eek:


Kind regards and have a nice week end.

Not a question of being "informed" , only having eyes to see!

I totally resent your insult and implication that somehow "German collectors" have a corner on knowledge of firearms!

I would dare say that there are more "correct" K98 rifles in the US brought back from their former owners possession; not to mention the largest market in the world for surplus firearms, like the RC rifles.

You know not of what you speak.:mad:

This has gotten bizarre. German collectors now know more about our market than we do and 90% of the K98s here are fake?

I am also concerned at the "dis" to our knowledge base here.
I think I'll step away from this, as I have done my best to illustrate simple facts and my own empirical observations.

This has certainly drifted away from the original topic I posted.

I think that the one thing coming out of this thread is that to combat the boosting and faking of any of our collector firearms, we need good databases, documentation and the ability to compare and evaluate known original copies.

As values rise, and there is money to be made, it's safe to assume that people will work to defraud collectors.

If those of us with experience work together, we can combat and defeat those that would victimize us.

Perhaps a new constructive thread on that issue is due. This thread feels like it's had it's day...

Marc