What is a Big 5 K98 worth?

[CaptMike]

Hello everyone

So I may be able to get my hands on a Big 5 german K98. What do you all think one of those might be worth in middle of the road condition. I believe all the Big 5 K98's where original german 98's that were sent to Isreal. Isreal refurbished the rifles and put them into service and ultimately they ended up for sale at Big 5. None left at Big 5 anymore but I might be able to pick one up from someone. Just wanted to know what a reasonable asking price would be. thanks for the input

Mike

[Moonclip]

How do you know they are Israeli? Is the gun chambered in 8x57?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

The most recent batch of K98's that Big 5 sold were the "Russian Capture" rifles. These are rifles that the Soviets captured at the end of the war and "refurbished". Big5 got them from the importer Century Arms Intl. They seem to be selling for between $225 and $300 now.

Big5 used to sell the Israeli K98's too, but that was a few years ago. These included German WWII rifles as well as post war Czech and FN (Belgian) made rifles that were sold to Israel in the late 1940's. The Israelis eventually converted them to 7.62 NATO caliber and finally sold them off as surplus to some South American country.

Big5 has also sold all kinds of other K98's that were either manufactured or refurbished by other countries. They've also sold many different Mauser rifles that look very much like K98's and the sales people there sometimes even call them K98's even though they aren't.

So if you can get us more detailed information about the particular rifle you are interested in we can probably come up with a better idea of how much it is worth.

[xenophobe]

Generally between $250-$300 if it's a real Israeli .308.

The Century/Big5 imports have not increased in value significantly. They're only collectible to the shooter crowd, for the most part.

[MasterChief]

Paid $160 at Big 5 about 10 years ago. Probably only worth about $165 now...probably time to sell before price goes down....

[pogo]

So what kind of 98 rifle does big 5 sell now? I guess this question has been answered but what is the time frame, is Lt Mike referring to the Turk mausers that I saw on the rack yesterday, or do they currently have German K98s?

Paid $160 at Big 5 about 10 years ago. Probably only worth about $165 now...probably time to sell before price goes down....

That one doesn't look too bad, , I'll bail you out of it and give $170.

Seriously Masterchief, that K98 looks nice, but I'm not knowledgeable about these rifles and can't quite make the markings out, what are the markings on the receiver, is this a less common one?

[MasterChief]

Garden-variety Russian Capture 1943 JP Sauer: mis-matched, electro-pencilled, re-blued, missing guard screws-sight hood-cleanng rod and slathered in red shellac. Good points: not shot much and (probably) only dropped once.

I believe these were a great bargain at the time. In the late 90's the wholesale price on some RC K98's was down in the $75 range for 2-or-more's. I wish I'd bought a few more from Big 5 to "salt away". This was the the 2nd one I picked up at the first store I checked. Who knew...

Best wishes. Dave

[CaptMike]

So what kind of 98 rifle does big 5 sell now? I guess this question has been answered but what is the time frame, is Lt Mike referring to the Turk mausers that I saw on the rack yesterday, or do they currently have German K98s?

Hey there

No I wasn't talking about the turkish mausers, although those are pretty cheap and I may pick one up, Big 5 Used to sell german made K98 a while back but they sold out. The guns were either Russian Capture that were rebuilt or they were a version that was sent to Israel and rebuilt by them. The one that I might be able to acquire is supposed to be an Israel rebuilt German K98. I havent actually seen it yet but I will know by next week if the guy willl let it go. He wants 300 for it so I got my answer that he is asking for a fair price. thank you all for your help. I hope I can add this to my collection. I have an M-1 Garand, MkIV enfield, M44 moisen nagant, so the k98 would fit the collection nicely. then I would need a carcano and an arisaka and I would represent most of the big boys from WWII. thanks again

Mike

[pogo]

Thanks for the clarification and details M'Chief and LtMike, I'm with you now. Wish I'd bought more RCs as well, I imagine there are plenty left in Russia, but doubt the price will do anything but go up.