OT a tad, Mitchell's Mausers

[J-BAR #18287]

Are they really worth $499?

[Sixgun Shorty, SASS #35717 Life]

Are they really worth $499?

 

 

If you are referring to the K98 Mauser, Yes, in their excellent collector condition, very much worth it,IMO..remember, the Mauser K98 action was THE standard bolt action for years, including converting to many different sporter varieties..it was the first real 'sporterized' bolt action, annd is still used extensively to make sporters out of.It is a practically bullet proof action that has been proven in countless wars and conflicts.Just as good as most of the modern bolt actions.Mauser made zillions of them, but most are trash..Mitchell's collector grade is exceptional..If you want that type of military rifle in your collection or to shoot, Mitchells are about as good as they get.

What I really like about Mitchells is their marketing..Every 6 months or so they find another last stash of unissued Mauser K98's! But like I said, Mauser made them by the gozillions.When the US Military adopted the Springfield '03, it was a close race with the Mauser 98 as to who would get the military contract.

Springfield obviously won out, and rightly so.

[Buckshot Frank]

This is a bit of a sore subject with the C&R bunch, but I will try to be diplomatic. I do not care for Mitchells due to what could be described as misleading (being nice here) advertising. They sold Yugo M-48 Mausers for years advertising them as German WWII Mausers. Sure, if you read the fine print and had knowledge about surplus rifles, you could distinguish between Yugo M-48's and German K-98's, but their ads were deceptive to less informed consumers. I don't know how many times people would come onto the surplusrifle forums wanting to get information on their German WWII Mauser from Mitchells, only to be disapointed to find out that they bought a post-war Yugo Mauser. Their ads have become a little more transparent in the last few years.

 

Getting past their advertising, their product is supposedly nice. It really depends on how much you value the service of cleaning and testing a surplus rifle. I enjoy doing it, so I don't value this service at all. I recognize that some do not want to take apart a rifle, clean all of the cosmolene out of it, and inspect it prior to firing. For those people, this service has value and Mitchells provides this service in the cost of their rifles. You could buy the same rifle for about 1/2 the cost if you do these things yourself. Of course, the surplus market has pretty much dried up for K-98s, so maybe Mitchells is the only game in town now.

 

Speaking of the Springfield 1903, it didn't beat out the Mauser in competition. The US recognized the superiority of the Mauser and tried to licence it from Mauser to make them here. Mauser wouldn't licence the design, so the US "developed" the Springfield instead which is a blatant copy of the Mauser action. Mauser tried to take legal action for years.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Mitchell's appears to be one of the few sources of decent Mausers left. I wish I'd bought one when they were $399 but I'm still looking for that garage sale Grandpappy's war trophy mint condition sniper model for $100. Haven't found one though.

[Buckshot Frank]

I just checked a lot of the big surplus importers and did not find any K98s, so it does appear that Mitchells is currently the only game in town. If true, then $399 for souvenier grade and $499 for collectors grade is probably worth it. The last surplus price that I saw (about 5 months ago) was $299, and it stands to reason that the value goes up once the supply is gone.

 

From their current ad, I would surmise that these are Russian-capture K98s. The receiver and barrel will be matching, while the other parts will have matching engraved markings (done by the Russians when they refinished them). The original markings will be intact (not pinged as on some Russian captures). I would expect them to be in "Very Good" to "Excellent" condition depending on the grade purchased. If you are not familiar with surplus rifle grading, "Good" is one step above a tomato stake . "Very Good" means that the bore isn't a sewer pipe. "Excellent" means that it should look nice cosmetically and have a bright bore.