I posted this on another board and got exactlly ZERO response. Let's see if anyone here cares!

I've got an Israeli 98 Mauser (Czech, I believe) I bought cheap about 15 years ago. This was one they'd rebarreled to 7.62 NATO and then just put away for reserve use and eventually surplused. Bore looks absolutely minty--might even be chrome-lined.

I've been thinking of turning it into an ersatz sniper rifle--something along the lines of an 03A4 that the Israelis might have put together in the late 50s or early 60s. This would of course involve scoping it, which would of course mean drilling and tapping holes. So the question is, is this thing of any "collector" value that I'd be screwing up to do so?

If I do this, I'll glass-bad the action and float the barrel. Might be fun to see if I can get MOA or better out of the clunky-looking thing. BTW, I'm not interested in "scout rifle" scope mounting or one of those cobbled-up things that fits in the stock rear sight mount--if I'm gonna scope it, it'll be with Redfield (most likely) mounts, similar to an O3A4 setup.

Comments appreciated. It's the top rifle in the pic below.

Are there any unique markings like a star of david and ss deathsheads?

Most Isreail Mausers are totally used up.  Unless there are some neat markings I say do what you want with it.

Dennis Jenkins

quote]Quoted:

I posted this on another board and got exactlly ZERO response. Let's see if anyone here cares!

I've got an Israeli 98 Mauser (Czech, I believe) I bought cheap about 15 years ago. This was one they'd rebarreled to 7.62 NATO and then just put away for reserve use and eventually surplused. Bore looks absolutely minty--might even be chrome-lined.

I've been thinking of turning it into an ersatz sniper rifle--something along the lines of an 03A4 that the Israelis might have put together in the late 50s or early 60s. This would of course involve scoping it, which would of course mean drilling and tapping holes. So the question is, is this thing of any "collector" value that I'd be screwing up to do so?

If I do this, I'll glass-bad the action and float the barrel. Might be fun to see if I can get MOA or better out of the clunky-looking thing. BTW, I'm not interested in "scout rifle" scope mounting or one of those cobbled-up things that fits in the stock rear sight mount--if I'm gonna scope it, it'll be with Redfield (most likely) mounts, similar to an O3A4 setup.

Comments appreciated. It's the top rifle in the pic below.
img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Snake45/JW141.jpg

don't mess with it. sell it on one of the c&r sites. you should be able to get around $300+. by the time you do all of that to it you could have bought a savage 10fp that will shoot much better. as was said above those are hard to find today. let a collector buy it and take care of it.

Wow, had no idea there was any collector interest in the things. When I bought it in late '80s, Century had been selling them in Shotgun News for a year or so. I think I paid just under $100 for it. Bought it because everyone should own a Mauser of some kind, right? But I was never interested in any of the original metric calibers. .308 I could relate to.

Just had another look at it--no markings like swastikas or stars of David. Only real marking on it is a big 7.62 with a small "dot" under it. SN of receiver and bolt handle don't match. Gun is parkerized overall, condition of that is about Good I'd say. The bore is still stunningly bright.

Bolt handle would cause me problems to scope it. I'd have to have it lowered. Even if I just ground it out a bit like an 03A4, I'd still have to mount the scope way high.

I was mainly interested in scoping it because my old eyes can hardly see rifle iron sights anymore. Ah shucks oh well, maybe some "collector" really will come along and offer me three bills for it. If I haven't shot it in 15 years, I guess I can get along without it!

Leave it alone or sell it, Isreali 7.62 mausers are hard to come by today especial in deceant condition.

One of my favorite 98k variants to shoot since you don't have to worry about cleaning rifle ASAP after shooting

Quoted: Wow, had no idea there was any collector interest in the things. When I bought it in late '80s, Century had been selling them in Shotgun News for a year or so. I think I paid just under $100 for it. Bought it because everyone should own a Mauser of some kind, right? But I was never interested in any of the original metric calibers. .308 I could relate to. Just had another look at it--no markings like swastikas or stars of David. Only real marking on it is a big 7.62 with a small "dot" under it. SN of receiver and bolt handle don't match. Gun is parkerized overall, condition of that is about Good I'd say. The bore is still stunningly bright. Bolt handle would cause me problems to scope it. I'd have to have it lowered. Even if I just ground it out a bit like an 03A4, I'd still have to mount the scope way high. I was mainly interested in scoping it because my old eyes can hardly see rifle iron sights anymore. Ah shucks oh well, maybe some "collector" really will come along and offer me three bills for it. If I haven't shot it in 15 years, I guess I can get along without it!

SCOUT scope it.  You can probably find a scout mount that replaces the rear sight.  You then mount a pistol scope on it.  

No mods to the rifle, you can put it back anytime you like.

I have an M38 Mosin-nagant that I did this to - I really like the setup.

I found this one, it might fit your needs...

www.scopemounts.com/scout.html