What does a mint K98 look like?

[Yuri D.]

Folks,

I had a chance to buy a "mint" K98 with matching numbers (1942 byf), but did not do it because I thought perhaps the wood was re-sanded and the metal re-blued. Please post photos of a real mint and untouched K98 so I can see if I made the right choice.

Thank you

[Yuri D.]

Anyone have pics of a mint one?

[Bob in OH]

Was the stock laminate or walnut?

[Yuri D.]

It was a light "dirty scrambled egg" color, as best as I can describe it.

[Luciusdegeer]

I wonder about it too. In the -beautiful but somewhat default- book 'Deutsche Soldaten' of Augustin Saez there's a picture of a Kar98k made for Portugal (and delivered I guess) that's supposedly 'mint'. The stock is laminated and looks like fresh pinewood, lightly oiled and polished. Just like the furniture you see in Austria or Southern Germany. I don't know the shiny 'scrambled eggs' lacquer is original, I always tought this was done postwar by the Norwegian army. Walnut stocks weren't lacquered too, or were they? I read in 'Backbone' that the walnut wood was lightly oiled and polished, nothing more. Like to see pictures!

L

[Yuri D.]

A pic or two from a collector would be nice.

[Bob in OH]

100s of pics...

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread....eference-Index

[Yuri D.]

So looks like a "mint" and untouched 98 has a dark reddish finish on it. Is that correct?

[Yuri D.]

Too bad that forum doesn't have a 'for sale' section.

[Bob in OH]

Too bad that forum doesn't have a 'for sale' section.

It does at the "forum trader" if you broaden your look at the whole site. Also, "dark red" "grain" would be true for an early, though later stocks sometimes had white glue too... and of course there's walnut stocks. The dark red is glue holding the beech laminate together.

[Johnny Peppers]

Bear in mind that you just can't arbitrarily assign a color to a K98k stock, and they will all be that color. This is a 1938 laminated stock that has not been touched, and it is still a fairly light color.

[bodes]

So looks like a "mint" and untouched 98 has a dark reddish finish on it. Is that correct?

Not all of them.....Some have a blonde and others a honey color.....Bodes

[juoneen]

Peppers is correct, some 98's had what they called blonde stocks, and Germans bluing is unmistakeable ,as is french or American bluing. I happened to have purchased a mint 98 from a case found by a bunch of GI's during the war,and they all split them up , and it came out of his estate in sun city when he died, as his widow told me the story to verify the auctioneers information ...unfortunately I do not have photos of it available. The stock markings are always crisp when minty, but this guy laquered the stock on mine , as vets sometimes would do , as usually they were finished with linseed oil or an oil finish not laquer. All parts will always be matching on any minty rifle,even the stock , the only exception may be the yugoslav rifles as they sometimes didn't have stock numbers at allbut were at times blonde.

[Scharfschütze]

An excellent example of 'mint' Mausers are the '41 dated Portuguese contract pieces; often untouched and a great way to compare metal and wood finishes.