How rare is an SS K98?

[Joe N]

[Matt Weber]

Joe,

That's really cool! And it's even a "41" date?! How ironic is that!?!? Does it have any SS markings on it?! Just kidding!

Matt

[Josh Beckett]

About the rifles:

I wouldnt recondition them because they are nice the way they are, and reconditioning them will not make them anymore German or any less russian. I would leave it alone, someday there will be no more original condition RCs because of people who want to make them German again. But they will always be mismatch parts guns.

[Infanteer]

Yes, they will always be parts guns but when you consider that it was done by the Russian military for official reasons then IMO it is a legitimate collectible firearm with real history. More history than some matching non-RC K98's because you at least know some details of their past. A non-RC that is mismatched and put together by a dealer post war would be much less collectible in my eyes.

Those SS marked rifles are great! Good score. As already mentioned, at least you know they are the real deal.

[Jason]

Wow neat rifles.I became very rigid in the last couple years,and started to frown on my RC K98.Lately I've noticed a shift in collectors attitudes towards these guns,and I'm coming around too.Considering it's difficult to find some rare variations,RC's open up a whole world for a collector.I still frown on P-38 RC's but thats my hang up,being a P-38 freak.I bought a neat book, Mauser Military Rifles Of The World 4th edition,by Robert WD Ball.Many of the German K98's featured were RC's,this really opened my eyes,that they are becoming legitamit collectors items.
Matt, next time you get special treatment,I invite myself

[Jean-Loup]

The thread started with a 1/1000 chance of finding SS rifles; and now the 1/9999 chance of having a matching number 7239 also occured!

[phild]

The thread started with a 1/1000 chance of finding SS rifles; and now the 1/9999 chance of having a matching number 7239 also occured!

Of course unless the letter suffix is also the same there is no match!

[History]

Joe I will give you $150.00 for the bayonet. Matt I will take $500.00 for the bayonet . Matt I have a bnz 42 with sszza4 marking on it. I hope to find out soon if it is considered authentic by the SS experts. I have been told by fellow collectors that these didnt exist at all. I tend to think they did but am so new to collecting that its only an assumption on my part. I hope we find out yours and mine are authentic as mine will probly be the highlite of my humble collection!

[colt45s]

I never knew they made an SS rifle, Wonder why?

[gew98]

I never knew they made an SS rifle, Wonder why?

It's not that anyone "made" an SS rifle..it's not that simple.
The SS started out as a political organ and morphed into a couple different directions. The SS needed milspec small arms for their ideas and early on were hamstrung by the wehrmacht in acquiring them in any meaningful numbers. They were forced to live on crumbs and rejected/reworked/salvaged arms. Hence the majority of SS marked rifles are rifles that were salvaged and or repaired at SS depots. As the war progressed and politics got murky on supply - especially when the wehrmacht was all but forced to feed the SS with modern arms in quantity.
Anyhow the whole RC thing is beat to death. They basically are matching in barrel and receiver with little story to tell of merit.
They are alot more common then you may think , but finding honest matched undicked with examples are the rare birds , oh and of course sorting through all the fraudulent examples and BS surrounding same.

[The Arctic Fox]

Good for you! I often receive original and sometimes rare original German/ Japanese WWII items from many vets, over the years. I know they are original because I am a volunteer with a Veterans military orginisation. You were in a very fortunate position to have a friend examine those 98K's. So often people have questioned if my collection at home or at a show is all original, and for good reason. You know your BNZ's are correct, at least the barreled/actions from RC. Congrats!

[Matt Weber]

Joe I will give you $150.00 for the bayonet. Matt I will take $500.00 for the bayonet . Matt I have a bnz 42 with sszza4 marking on it. I hope to find out soon if it is considered authentic by the SS experts. I have been told by fellow collectors that these didnt exist at all. I tend to think they did but am so new to collecting that its only an assumption on my part. I hope we find out yours and mine are authentic as mine will probly be the highlite of my humble collection!

Nice offer, but I'll pass on it! As for your "BNZ 42". Yes, there are "BNZ 42" rifles with the "sszza4" markings. They should be on the right side of the barrel below the stock line. In other words, if the stock is on, you shouldn't see it.
That being said, there may be more SS marked rifles in the group of imports that I looked through that are marked below the stock line, since we certainly don't have enough time to take off ever stock of every "bnz" 42/43 dated rifle!! And yes, I did mention that to my friend when we went through them all. We basically spent two whole days looking through them!! Boy did my arms and back hurt too!
So, if you happen to have, or purchase a RC, that is a "bnz" 42 or 43, take the stock off, check for markings. You may get a bonus surprise!!

Matt

[Joe N]

Stand by, I should have the bayonet SS marked by morning...

Joe I will give you $150.00 for the bayonet. Matt I will take $500.00 for the bayonet . Matt I have a bnz 42 with sszza4 marking on it. I hope to find out soon if it is considered authentic by the SS experts. I have been told by fellow collectors that these didnt exist at all. I tend to think they did but am so new to collecting that its only an assumption on my part. I hope we find out yours and mine are authentic as mine will probly be the highlite of my humble collection!

[dannyIII]

The sszza4 mark is not allways below the stock line i know of 2 original UK examples that are marked above the stock line

[Mike Steves]

The bnz appears to have an Astrawerke manufactured reciever as well by the size of the letters/numbers in the code- see if it has a "l" on the right side. Those are always cool to find- also, the serial on the receiver was put there by the importer, and isn't original.