Mauser AR 42 ?

[mred]

Hello Everyone,
Just came back from a gun show...dealer has a Mauser AR 42 for$379, out the door. It has a bent bolt...is mismatched, and has a black bolt. Is it usual for a Mauser of this type to have a shiny black bolt?? AND, is this a good price.
Thanks in advance to all...

[Schuetzenman]

The AR was made by Mauser Werke A.G., Berlin-Borsigwalde. What you are describing is probably a Russian Capture K98k. They started selling a lot of those Russian captured K98 Mausers in 2002. Back then they sold for about $225 wholesale. 10 years later the prices vary from $325 to $475 depending on the code rareness and condition. Your price is in the middle. Check the bore for sharp rifling also see if it's dark or pitted. Check the muzzle for tightness or any damage to the crown. A good test is to take a bullet, (8 mm mauser) and put it in the muzzle as a wear gauge. If you have the neck of the case touching the crown of the muzzle, walk away quickly as the barrel is toast. The bigger the gap between the barrel steel and the brass caseing neck the better. A maximum gap you can expect to see is about 1/4". So if you see about a 1/4" gap the muzzle is excellent. I personally wouldn't buy a rifle with less than 1/8th inch gap showing.

[mred]

Thank you for the fast reply...My first thought was that it was a Russian Capture... but there are no electro penciled serial numbers and I didn't see an X or any capture marks...My next thought was that it might be from a company like Mitchels that puts together a mixmaster from mismatched parts... The butplate and some other parts seemed to be overly polished....and the rest of the metal looks to be to well blued. I looked quickly and didn't see any import marks...I think your right that it is a RC. BUT why the black bolt???? thanks again.

[Schuetzenman]

Thank you for the fast reply...My first thought was that it was a Russian Capture... but there are no electro penciled serial numbers and I didn't see an X or any capture marks...My next thought was that it might be from a company like Mitchels that puts together a mixmaster from mismatched parts... The butplate and some other parts seemed to be overly polished....and the rest of the metal looks to be to well blued. I looked quickly and didn't see any import marks...I think your right that it is a RC. BUT why the black bolt???? thanks again.

http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/Russian_K98k_Capture_Rifles_02small.jpg
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/Russian_K98k_Capture_Rifles_003small.jpg
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/Russian_K98k_Capture_Rifle.jpg
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/Russian_K98k_sight_closeup.jpg

Why ... because that's what the Russians DID when they put them away into storage. Images are of a crate full of Russian Capture rifles. I once was an 01 license holder, these images are from a trip I took to a certain whole sale house to hand select some for my shop. They all had black bolts and electro pencil engraving on the bolt.

Now if it was shiny blued steel bolts it is probably a Yugoslav captured k98k, the extractors are usually plum colored from the bluing process on the bolts. The Yugoslavs ended up with a few K98k's themselves after the war, had a couple of those as well over the years. Mitchels try's to make them look factory new and the stocks will be blonde laminate usually. The cupped buttplates will be shiny steel, no bluing / black color to them. http://mauser.net/firearms/rifles/mauser-rifles/k98german/index.htm link to Mitchell's page. You'll notice the bolts are bare shiny steel, not blued or black in color. No import mark, it's probably there. Some importers put them under the barrel between the cleaning rod and the barrel, that area. At one time there wasn't a spec by BATFE on how large the import marks had to be. In those days a small stamp sufficed. Now it's these huge ugly markings per their direction. Every once in a while a weapon slips through importation unmarked, I have found 2 such rifles over the years, could be something like that as well.

[mred]

Thank you for the great info...And for taking the time to post. It was very helpful...thanks again