Quote:
Originally Posted by DonVoigt
Alvin,
I'm curious what makes this correct for a flatside 1896?
Oh, and I think it is over priced too- given the reproduction
leather rig.  |
Well, buyer could resell that repro leather on ebay to get $80 back. That's not an issue. With or without this repro frog leather, the price is good.
Why?
This stock s/n is 28403 -- 5-digit full s/n stock -- buttstocks for conehammer, Large Ring hammer, and early small ring hammer has full s/n on the stock. All later stocks have 3-digit partial s/n.
All features on this stock is correct for s/n 28403's supposed to be. Mauser made a million C96s but only three pistols could have #28403 -- a flatside, a Red 9, and a Schnellfeuer. Red 9's stock and Schnellfeuer's stock are different from this one. Combine those together, it's the stock from flatside #28403.
Why it worth the money... Due to stock is a hallow wood structure, it's fragile. Fewer stocks survived than guns. Even some excellent C96s do not have stock. Large Ring Hammer's stock (all Mauser made flatside had large ring hammer) usually has chip on lid due to the cutout on the lid to fit the larger hammer. A genuine Mauser stock for large ring hammer without chip nor crack is not easy to find.
But,,, if spending almost $900, this stock will still not matching the gun in hand, right? -- No. It won't. But that's the best owner can do if he/she cares to find a mismatching but correct stock for the gun. It's much better than a repro stock, especially when the gun is in nice shape -- people usually don't want to put a repro stock on a nice original gun. Repro stocks are for guns in lower condition.
Large ring hammer stock in excellent condition went over $1700 in auction. Of course, that's auction house sale and item condition was better. But that reflects the demand on the market. This one is about 50% of that sold price.
Hate that leather? sell it. It should not be there to begin with. I don't know why previous owner want to put a repro WWI style leather on a flatside stock.. that's wrong anyway. And new owner could fix that problem, sell the leather and lower the cost. Other players could have correct use of it -- put it on a wartime stock.