rifle originality rant......

[John Macrini]

Ok....... so my main area of interest in this hobby is firearms..... rifles to be more specific. I was just looking at gunbroker at the k98's and it about made me sick! Ugh! On the top 5 to 8 big money slots are all these damn put together, altered, in correct P.O.S rifles! I mean is nothing sacred anymore? I know you can sap more money out of the unknowing collector, but if you have a nice k98, why in the hell would anyone want to drill, tap, add, take away, or basically (in my opinion) RUIN a great old rifle!..... this is getting way out of hand! I really wish that more people would realize that an all original un messed with rifle would hold way more collector value than some put together piece of crap Fake ass sniper rifle wanna be!


Sorry for the rant fellas, but its getting sad,

John from texas!

[Johnny Peppers]

When the rifles were brought back there was virtually no collector interest in them. Even when the surplus dealers imported them in the 1950's there was still no collector interest, and they were turned into a cheap hunting rifle. Some were as basic as taking the hand guard and hardware off and cutting the stock back. Others were d&t'd for scopes, and some were polished and blued and fitted with stocks turned out by Bishop and Fajen.
When the NRA/DCM was selling the surplus 1903 and 1903-A3/A4 rifles, they even put out a pamphlet on how to sporterize them. There was still virtually no collector interest. Fast forward about 50 years and everything has reversed. Everyone wants an original unaltered rifle, and those that were mildly sporterized are being restored to original configuration. We are just living in a different time, and we can't undo the past.

[scotty1418]

Nicely put Mr. Peppers

[phild]

I think that he is also talking about the more recent and indeed current practice of altering an all original, albeit say bolt only mismatches into a "shooter" sniper configured rifle ...say by drilling and added repro mounts and scopes.

A lot of this is caused by the non-sense information preached by so many that a bolt mis-match (or other part) is not collector material and therefore open season to be doctored up as a wanna be whatever.

You don't see many SS officer tunics converted into sleeveless biker vests because they were missing a arm eagle or FJ helms that were chromed or re-painted because the chinstrap was cut (KIA) ......but for some crazy reason (money....arrogance.....ego...?) good and honest military arms (at least German) get held to a BS standard.

This is changing as more and more bolt mis-matches routinely sell for prices in excess of 1k these days. Maybe the insanity will end due to market forces and collectors gaining common sense.

[MikeP]

Just how time changes things.
I began collecting in the early 60s and a bolt mm was a huge deal killer.

Small parts like barrel bands or floor plates significantly devalued them.

Complete matches were well under a hundred bucks, though.

[John Macrini]

I think that he is also talking about the more recent and indeed current practice of altering an all original, albeit say bolt only mismatches into a "shooter" sniper configured rifle ...say by drilling and added repro mounts and scopes.

A lot of this is caused by the non-sense information preached by so many that a bolt mis-match (or other part) is not collector material and therefore open season to be doctored up as a wanna be whatever.

You don't see many SS officer tunics converted into sleeveless biker vests because they were missing a arm eagle or FJ helms that were chromed or re-painted because the chinstrap was cut (KIA) ......but for some crazy reason (money....arrogance.....ego...?) good and honest military arms (at least German) get held to a BS standard.

This is changing as more and more bolt mis-matches routinely sell for prices in excess of 1k these days. Maybe the insanity will end due to market forces and collectors gaining common sense.

Yes, this is more along the line I was getting at, a mismatched bolt is better than a chopped up fake garage project gun that some fool wants an outrageous price for, and these are becoming more and more frequent. Even if the mismatched bolt gun and a built sniper were the same pricei'm not so sure I wouldn't take the mismatched bolt gun......

I do understand the whole veteran taking his trophy and turning it into a hunting rifle, you are correct.... the rifles had little or no collector value then.. but now days if you look at all the websites that sell repro mounts most of them say that they will stamp the serial# of your gun on there for you! This could be construed in two ways, one is honerable and one could say that since they are mating this with there rifle for personal use and record keeping and theft recovery or whatever....... b ut this can also be used to fool novice collectors with more money than smarts into thinking they are getting a period made sniper....... and I have been seeing more and more of this as the years progress and the prices go up....