Mauser Bleg
We get letters.
A reader:
I’ve been interested in buying a WWII era rifle, and having shot a Mauser, I’m interested in getting one, thought mainly because the one’s I see are cheaper than a Garand.
My biggest exposure to such is through the ad for Mitchell’s Mausers in the assorted NRA mags.
Would you be kind enough to point me to an authority on Mausers and whether Mitchell’s offerings are a fair deal? http://www.mauser.net/
If this isn’t too much trouble, I appreciate it. If it is, please let me know. Thanks.
June 21st, 2010 at 9:37 am
Mitchell Mausers are vastly overpriced, as in 2 to 5 times actual value. Those ads cost MONEY, and it comes from their inflated prices.
Best to peruse a local gun show, with a knowledgeable person in tow. For a first time Mauser buyer, stick with something decent, common, and available in fair shape. The Yugo m-48 Mauser’s are probably the way to go. Many are easily available in decent condition, and they are very well made.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:07 am
Hey! Thanks Uncle!
June 21st, 2010 at 11:08 am
Wrote that before I read the commments. Thanks Carteach0. I’m the one that emailed Uncle.
Thanks again everybody.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:19 am
If you’re willing to pay ‘Mitchell Mausers’ prices… I’d say you’re much better off saving a little longer and going for a CMP Garand or Carbine. There are hoops to jump through, and by the time you join a club, add in shipping, and a little ammo, you spend more… but at the end of the day, a piece of American history (~$500 out the door) will give you more pride of ownership.
“http://www.thecmp.org/m1garand.htm”
“http://www.thecmp.org/m1carbine.htm”
June 21st, 2010 at 11:54 am
My opinion of Mitchell is that they’re rebuilds, not restored, and overpriced.
I would recommend an Israeli Mauser, in .308, if you have the patience to look for one. Preferrably one with the Czechoslovakian lion crest on it.
(But don’t expect to find a good trigger on any military Mauser.)
June 21st, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I found a Turkish Mauser through a newspaper add, it’s in 8mm and shoots just fine. The ammo for it is real cheap though it’s mostly military surplus. Hunting rounds are beginning to go up in price. I wish it had been in 308 just so I could find a more ready supply. What I would not do is to buy one of the carbines, it has a kick like a mule.
June 21st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Look around and get a Swedish Mauser. They’re insanely accurate and the 6.5×55 Swedish load isn’t as punishing in a bolt-action as others, while retaining a marvelous ballistic coefficient. All the crazy-accuracy guys are shooting 6mm and 6.5 nowadays.
In some recent GunMmagazine tests that I’ve read where Gun’writer’s shot the German war-issue Mauser and other WWII guns, their accuracy wasn’t the highlight of the event. The Germans in fact had developed more lethal and better ways of dispatching their enemies than by a soldier’s personally-held small-arm…
June 21st, 2010 at 1:47 pm
If you just want a Mauser, you can find a Yugo cheaper than a German. German K98’s, you’re looking at $300+. You can find Yugo’s for about half that, depending on condition. If you just want a WWII-era rifle, you can pick up a SMLE (Lee-Enfield) for $200-$250, or a Mosin-Nagant for less than $100. Classic Arms has all of these in stock (except for German Mausers) right now. I have ordered from them before and feel confident in recommending them. They also have decent prices on Swiss K31’s.
http://classicarms.us/firearms.htm
June 21st, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Thanks everyone. My plan is to get a WWII era Mauser and a Garand. I figure that by the time my 10 year old daughter is grown, there might not be any more. Ancient history. However, I do plan on shooting these occasionally. Just can’t afford a CMP Garand right now. Heck, I think that if I buy a Mauser for $300 bucks, my wife might, um,….use it…if you know what I mean. So, just doing my research for purchases later in the year.
I do notice that Mitchell’s is offering Service grade at about $300. That’s what they offer in the mags. And I know nothing about shopping for C&R rifles. That classiscarms link is great. Thanks!
Time for more research. Of course, now my menu has increased. I’ll need some Brit rifles too……
My wife is going to kill me…..maybe if I tell the alternative is buying AR’s…..
June 21st, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Southern Ohio Gun has a Czech VZ-24 for about $170, and some German K98 for about $270
June 21st, 2010 at 7:08 pm
You to turn your wife into a shooter, cause these guns are cheap. My dream gun is an SVD. I’ll be really lucky to get one for $3000
June 21st, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Mitchell’s has two problems: their guns are overpriced and their advertisements claims of how “collectable” their refinished rifles are is horse manure.
Other than that, the play was fine – Mrs. Lincoln.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:05 am
cargosquid: Nazi Mausers are extremely collectible, and you will pay a premium for them. The problem is that almost all of them that you see on the market (and all of them that you see for somewhat-reasonable prices) are so-called “Russian Capture” guns that were, well, captured by Soviet troops during the war. They remained in Soviet/Russian storage until after the Cold War ended, when they dumped them on the U.S. C&R market.
During the time they were in Soviet hands, they were “refurbished” probably multiple times. They were refinished (ugly shellac on the stocks) and the parts were all swapped around. RC guns will be mixmaster parts guns. You will very likely not find a single matching serial number on the whole gun (except for the stamp in the buttstock, which the Russians added at one point to match the receiver). So my point here is, your WWII-era German Mauser will be a parts gun from Russia, unless you spend in the thousands to buy one that was a USGI bringback. So there are really two markets for Nazi Mausers: the TRUE collectibles (all numbers matching) and the Russian Capture guns (which Mitchell’s carries) which, while probably worth the $300 they’re asking, are not really collectible. Yes, they are a neat piece of history, and all the parts are WWII-era, but it’s not really the same thing.
BTW, Garands and other U.S. rifles are treated the same way. My Garand, which originated from the CMP, has a 1942 receiver but a 1954 barrel, and the furniture is from the 60’s. That’s how the military works — they repair and replace parts on their guns. However, most of the time they will not do so wantonly. In the case of the Russian Capture K98’s, the replacement was pretty much swap-everything.
Pretty much any other foreign surplus gun will be in a lot more original shape. It is not hard to find a Mosin-Nagant, a Czech/Yugo/Swedish Mauser, a SMLE, or a K31 in all-numbers-matching, original configuration. Even if it’s not all-numbers-matching, usually *most* of the numbers will match.
Whether any of this matters to you, is up to you. I’m just letting you know, there are other options out there, at much more reasonable price/performance ratios. Mosin-Nagant rifles are a bargain at under $100, and the ammo is cheap too!
One other note about Classic Arms — they are known to get a bit, well, over-excited, and over-state the rarity of certain things. I just read everything they wrote about the Mosin-Nagants they have in stock, and while the photos do look to be very nice M-N rifles, I think they over-stated the rarity of the Dragoon era rifles. They are not super duper rare like they say they are. They *are* rarer than the 1940’s wartime production rifles, but still…. there were millions and millions of these rifles made. All the other claims are factual, but to say the Dragoon-era rifles represent 1% of what’s imported into the U.S. is probably not true. So take with a grain of salt any of Classic Arms’s claims that something is “extremely rare” or “supplies are drying up”, but their prices are competitive and they give quality service.
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Gun Blobber,
Thank you very much. I not know anything about the 2 markets. This quick education has save me a lot of research. I’m just glad that I’m not looking for “collectible” and just want a historic or “historical” gun. If its parts are mixed, so be it. Especially if its 1/10 the price. I’ll just treat C&R, esp. german and russian guns, like I do politicians…….big grains of salt are involved.
Thanks again everybody.
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Apparently, commenting before coffee is bad. Just read the grammar above. More coffee needed….