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Posted: 1/4/2008 8:29:02 PM EDT
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Greetings all, Thinking about purchasing one of the aforementioned Collector Grade rifles from Mitchells. Any feedback regarding the rifle or Mitchells in general is appreciated. Right now the only WWII bolt rifle in my collection is an 03A3 Remington - looking to add to my collection. thanks in advance! Sakic #19 
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NO! First of all, Mitchells doesnt sell German K98, they sell Yugo mausers and pass them off as German. There is absolutely nothing 'collector grade' about Mitchells rifles. Do yourself a huge favor and pick up a K98 from AIMsurplus while they are still there. These are the real deal K98s and are full of history. AIM's k98s  Pic of my K98 from AIM |
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IMO, a real German Mauser will have more history/collector value than one of the Yugos. I just picked up a 1940 K98k in excellent shape except for the stock. The stock varnish was cracked and came off everytime it was handled. I stripped that off and re-sanded and oiled it and now it looks pretty darn good. The rifle has Waffen marks, proof marks, and the arsenal markings that indicate where it was made. It is a Russian (soviet) captured rifle, as indicated by the "X" on the receiver, which is actually a pair of crossed Mosin-Nagant rifles. How's that for history! |
| While researching the purchase of a k98 I went to as many gun boards as I could find and not one of them had a kind word to say about Mitchells. So I heeded their advice and stayed away from Mitchells. I purchased mine from Classic Arms and I am very happy with it. |
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Gent's, Thanks for all the feedback - I'll avoid Mitchells like the plague...after looking at their website - I was under the assumption that these K98's were the real deal? thanks again! Sakic #19 
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This is an example of how inacurate up the Web can be... here is the straight story:I personally examined the "German Collector grade 98-K's" from Mitchell, and found out that they are exactly as they were represented. Having said this, lets take a closer look...genuine GERMAN 98-K's...YES...pristine collectors items, NO! They are Yugo reworked captured arms from WW2. The re-working was well done...BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH, to pay $400 or $500 dollars for one. In fact, I examined several of them with absolutely beautiful wood, "ok" blueing... I'm not sure about this, but a couple of the proof marks almost looked too good- Re-struck? But each had a minor mechanical flaw, that bothered me, like a canted front sight, or dented floorplate...which I would NOT expect to find on a "collectors grade rifle". Would I want one? Most definetly YES, BUT...not for the price. They are worth, maybe $350...Are the AIM rifles a better deal? Perhaps, certainly a really good alternative. Also I own two of the Mitchell Yugo Mausers sold as "collector grade" and those REALLY were collector grade. !00% new and unfired...with new accoutraments for $300 in 1998. At the time I bought several other accesories from them like their excellent scout scope mount, and they gave me great service with no problems. So as usual, the truth is a mixed bag, there are deals out there, but the Mitchell Mausers seem to be ok hobby guns, but no collectors item. Buyer beware. (Incedentially you can still find REAL German WW2 bringbacks, unaltered and in decent shape if you look around the shows, for about the same $500 price.) GEW |
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I bought a VZ 24 completly sporturized,curved bolt and re-barrelled to 30-06. There is no crest on reciever,and only marks on barell are 30-06. And the barrel says BR 100XX. Why do I think it is re-barreled because you can eat off the barell groves! The rear sites are ramped(like Rem) the front sites look original without the hood. It really is quite unique,I paid way too much for this 100.00 rifle! Bob
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The Yugo's have little or no collector value. Neither do the RC German K98's that are out there. All of the ones I have seen are mis-matched numbers, poorly refinished (by Russian monkeys), electro-stenciled "force-matched" junk. The also have import marks, of course. If you want something more interesting, be patient and find a nice GI bring-back piece. Sometimes you can find all matching numbers, but that'll be more difficult. + Usually at least the bolt will be non-matching, because the Germans were usually ordered to remove the bolts from their rifles upon surrender. The bolts ended up in one pile, the rest of the rifles in another. A lot of the stocks will be cut on the muzzle end, because the boxes that most GI's had to use to ship them back were to small for the stock. Collecting "real" bring-back K98's is fun and interesting. If you just want a shooter, a clean Yugo will probably be a better rifle than the RC parts guns. |
I disagree. I would get the K98 from Aim or J&G sales. Much more historic than the post war Yugos. |
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