I am trying to find a nice shooter that looks the part but doesn't need to be a collectors piece.

Generally what do you watch for when shopping for a German K98?

I think your best bet for buying for the lowest price might be the Israeli ones. Ugly. Stamped 7.62 on the receiver and the Stock.   Shoots 7.62x51.  The other would be the Yugo's that have the German code removed on the receiver and restamped with the Yugo crest.

Too bad CDI Sales burned down they had some nice ones.  I got a couple from them for under $600. They were Russian Captures but had like new bores on them.  I don't think you will find them that cheap anywhere, unless you find on locally.

Another option I just thought about which I did not long ago.

I found a BCD 43 that had been sporterized. Nice bore.  Only the stock had been cut down, the sights were original. Missing most of the stock metal and handguard.

Got the gun for  $250.  Liberty Tree Collectors has Israeli K98 remake stocks for under $150 with all the metal that are in very nice shape.  I got one of those and had a pretty nice looking gun for $400

A RC is still going to be your best bet unless you put in the foot work and check out gun/pawn shops and gun shows.

Yeah, unless you luck into one, the days of "cheap" 98k's are way over, with RC's now hitting $800 plus on GB....which to me is ridiculous...I wouldn't buy an RC for $400 much less what they are now hitting....I only own one, and it is  my LSR sniper repro....there is only one other RC I actually kick myself for not grabbing, and it was a WWI Gew 98 that had been converted to 98k standards...

There are good ones out there, a buddy of mine picked up an all matching byf 44 at the last DACA show for $800, he decided to sell it to me, I got it for $1000, which is probably less than half actual value.

Of course the ultimate to look for is one with all matching numbers....parts will be serialed with at least the last two digits of the s/n...early ones up to about 1940 had virtually every part serialed, then things started falling off, until by late war when only major parts were serialed.

It is a minefield though...tons of fakers out there turning non-matching gun into matching. They will border on laughably easy to spot, to very difficult. Very well done fakes can usually only be spotted by looking for fine differences in fonts, or by seeing something that is not typically "correct" for that particular maker and time period. For example, certain dot's had the serial number stamped on the bottom of the rear band for a certain time period, if you find one that has a serial number stamped in the normal location, its a red flag to check over everything carefully.

Sometimes it is relatively easy to see the grinding done to remove an old serial number, and re-stamp...but a lot of guys stocked up on later war unmarked parts (like barrel bands) and simply stamp them to match, especially on "rescued sporters" which is typical of bring backs who have had their stocks cut down. they lose the front end of the stock, handguard, and bands typically. To restore to original military configuration, you just need a stock, handguard and bands. Back in the 80's and 90's when 98k's were plentiful, enterprising guys could easily get the parts and restore them. Some went out of their way to find un-numbered parts, and then either put them on as is, or stamp matching numbers into them. Now these are selling as original matching guns, or "armorer repair" guns....again, you have to be very familiar with how an original should look as far as serial placements and fonts, or looking for the telltale signs of an actual depot rework, or the markings that would be on original armorer replacement parts...

When run of the mill all matching guns can fetch over $3000 on GB, there is lots of incentive for humpers to do their thing and turn a $600 gun into a fake $3000 gun...

If you are just looking for a shooter, at this point finding an RC is the best bet...but as I said, even they tend not to be cheap...or scour local gunshows...unfortunately usually anything good put out cheap will be scarfed Friday during set up, or Saturday morning...like the byf I just got, my buddy found it Friday during set up...the one show I missed because I had to head to Bermuda for a job...

I went RC, and now have an actual German (or many Germans') K98 as opposed to one of the others.

For a casual shooter, the Yugo versions really aren't bad, and the '48 (I think they are named) ones have barrels that were replaced after the war - so they're good.

No Mauser is actually a great plinker, though, as the sights are usually all set for 200 or 400 meters, base.  Point of aim vs. point of impact is always off (for what many of us would like it to be with all of our 100-yard ranges) - especially if one isn't shooting the weak American manufactured Remington / others 8mm ammo.  Shoot war-loads and you get a real feel for the power of the cartridge, but they start to hurt to shoot too many of.

Really, though, I don't think many of us head-spaced our rifles - RC's came with mis-matched bolts, and I've never heard of one that still didn't work well.  On a Russian Capture, all pertinent pieces (bolt, magazine well base) should be electro-stenciled (or whatever that pen is called) with the serial of the rifle  IIRC.   I may not be recalling correctly though.

Save for the mis-matched parts, my K98 is a 1942 'bcd' - that's old enough to have seen a few different parts of the war.  I paid the extra $10, I think it was, to have a 'hand-picked' rifle from the sellers, and I'm happy with what I got.  From my perspective, as an actual German K98, I have no problem with it being a RC, and would have no problem expecting good money for it simply because it's solid war history that I value enough to not part with for little money.  At the time, I also spent the money on a 900 or 1000-round case (sealed soft-metal, like a lead-based tin?) Russian controlled-area case of 8mm on really good clips.  It's corrosive, but meh - it's something to shoot.  I think the date on my ammo is 1954 or 1956.

I bought a RC that looked really nice, still had the eagle stamps, but the bore looked a little dirty.  It turned out the bore was corroded, and no amount of cleaning helped.  Lousy shooter that makes a mini 14 look like a match rifle.  At least it was only 99$.

The yugo scrubbed k98s are the cheapest. I just grabbed one from the EE last month.

I would look for a RC or a bolt mis matched rifle.

Post war CZ's with winter trigger guard and yugo's are typically the cheapest and best shooters but are the least collectible.  They are usually better than the RC's because they were rebuilt not just reassembled post war.  If you go with a Russian I'd suggest a late war example to improve your chances of a good bore.  Also check the bolt face for erosion/pitting and for setback of the recoil lug in the stock.  Then once you get one shim the stock at the recoil lug.  Don't add the aftermarket lock screws to the action.  People do and they are not timed enough to tighten the action screws sufficiently.  The action will move in the stock and eventually split it either around the trigger guard or at the wrist.