I haven't been spending much time around here lately, (no real reason), but I've aquired a rifle that might get a little interest and hopefully advice from some of Y'all.
It's a 1943, K-98, bring-back. Numbers on everything are matching, but as you can see, the fore-stock has been amputated and I'm missing the front barrel band and bayonet lug -- and cleaning rod.
Whoever cut the stock simply used a knife, and made no effort to smooth the job. Aside from that, the old girl cleaned up pretty nicely, and function is perfect. The bore is nothing to brag about, but I scrubbed the heck out of it with PB Blaster and a stainless brush. (I know, somaya probly think that's crazy, but I disagree)
Instead of buying shells, I bought a few things needed to reload for it, and after cranking out a fairly gentle basic load, we went to my excuse for a range.
My "rock solid" shooting bench.
This first target was at fifty yards, and the group measured 2 3/4".
This next one was shot at 100 yds., and six shots measured 3 3/4".
I frankly don't know if I can do much better than that with these particular open sights, and after reading a thread further down on this page, it doesn't seem that most other folks do either. If anything, the bore looks better after shooting, and I think I've blasted quite a bit of the rust out of it.
I'd love to do a stock fix on this gun, and save this stock which is numbered with the rest of the rifle, but if that doesn't work out, I'm in the market for a complete stock replacement. I'd love to hear any coments/advice from folks who are mo-expert than me in the Mauser department. jd