Big 5 mauser worth buying?

brunette63

8mm with pretty good cond. Stock is worn but parts matching with bent bolt for $299, worth it or wait to buy one cheaper? It's a yugo

gruntled

It wasn't all that long ago I got my Yugo at Big 5 for $98.
Of course I also got my Mosin w/folding bayonet for $49 several years ago & a long time ago one for $5. It seems that the prices are only going up.

One thing I discovered with the one I bought from Big 5 was that there was a lot of gunk in the bolt. Not only would the firing pin not snap forward but you couldn't even engage the safety. I found an on-line site that described how to dismantle the bolt when you couldn't engage the safety & after I cleaned it out it now works fine.

charliemeyer007

Compare condition to these. http://www.GunBroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=496631835

Those bent bolts don't really work for scopes, they need more work and 3 or 4 holes D&T for a scope. A nicer trigger helps. As iron sight shooter as issued every 98 I ever had shot at least good, some exceptional.

BHAVIN

When I got my Yugo 8mm from Big 5 about 10 or 12 years ago. I talked to the guys awhile and then asked them to bring them all out. I went through 8 and picked the one I wanted. Might be worth asking.

Laredo Lefty

I also bought a Yugo Mauser a few years ago at Big 5 for $98. Used my C&R lic and walked out with it. The manager was not quite sure how to handle a C&R at first.

beantownshootah

Regardless of how cheap these USED to be, in the current marketplace I'd say $300 is a fair price. Yes, you can find them cheaper, but not THAT much cheaper, EG:

https://www.samcoglobal.com/1-M24-47.html

By the time you add in shipping costs, you're not really ahead much (or at all). Straight bolt version of this is still out there and maybe a little cheaper yet (around $250).

I don't think these are ever going to have too much collector value, mostly because they never saw service use and there are tons of excellent condition ones out there. But that said, prices on all military type Mauser rifles have only been slowly going up, and I don't think that's likely to change.

In practice, I don't think its going to be too long before the surplus supply of these post-WWII Mauser rifles dries up entirely. The true WWII Mausers have basically already dried up. . .you can still buy them, of course, but only in the used marketplace (rather than as primary surplus). These Yugo guns are really amongst the last military type Mauser rifles still available as "new" surplus, and even these are getting harder to find.

If you have any interest in a military style 8mm Mauser, go for it. They're solid rifles, you won't regret it. Even at "record" high prices, where else can you get a solid forged steel and hardwood stocked European made centerfire rifle for only $300?


Edit: Responding to below:
quote:If you want it just for the action then $300 seems high. I'd agree with that. If that's what you want, Samco Global arms has straight bolt barreled actions for $210.

FWIW, the Yugo Mausers are built on intermediate actions and aren't quite the same as the German 98K Mausers. EG, Yugo Mauser won't just drop into a 98K stock and there are some other dimensional and minor design differences.

Grasshopper

300 is fair,,,,,,,,,,,,,a long time ago I bought Pythons for 400. ..

ern98

Over the years I've bought several M98s of different makes from Big 5 for various reasons. Some I just wanted the action, one or two just because I wanted an original M98 as a shooter. If you want it as a shooter then I'd be guided by the condition of the bore. I'd take a 8mm string cleaner over and run it thru several times, then check it out using a bore light and then decide. If you want it just for the action then $300 seems high.

nononsense

brunette63,

In all honesty, the supply of 'original' condition Mausers is coming to an end and the prices are reflecting that activity, they're going up. This particular Yugo is not necessarily worth the $300.00 unless you absolutely have to have it.

Personally, I would opt to find either the Swiss K-31 or even better an original M96 or M38 Swedish Mauser. Both are significantly higher quality and more accurate than the Yugo ever could be. Sure you might spend a little more but the startling increase in quality is well worth that investment of dollars.

The auction side has quite a few of each listed.

Best.

rsnyder55

I've bought several surplus rifles and always checked the bores with a bore light after running a rod with a patch through it. The grease they use makes it hard to really tell the bore condition without removing it.

If they are not busy, they may let you look at several because the one on display is not the one you will get 99% of the time.