A friend of mine – Karl, in fact, who you’ve probably seen on InRange or 2-gun videos – is looking to sell or trade a reproduction German K98k sniper. It’s a gorgeous example of a single-claw sniper, built on an authentic sniper K98k sniper as far as we can tell. The work was very well done, and by someone who left a couple telltale details incorrect to prevent it from ever being passed off as an original. Karl bought it as a shooter, and it doesn’t quite live up to that standard, so he’s looking to get either sell it or swap it for a different reproduction K98k sniper.
Photos
(if you would like to see other photos of any specific details, let me know)
The Good
As I said above, the work was very well done. It is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. It would be perfect for a reenactor, or as a placeholder in a sniper rifle or German WWII collection for someone who can’t justify the many thousands of dollars that would be required for an original single-claw sniper. Matching numbers on all the major parts (everything we can see except the buttplate), correct scope, correct sniper markings, the works. Excellent quality glass.
The Bad
The bore is not in good shape. With Yugoslav ammo, it shoots 3-4 MOA. Closes on a NO-GO gauge, but will not close on a FIELD gauge.
Price or Trades
Cash price would be $1500 shipped & insured to your FFL. A trade would be preferable, though, for another high-quality reproduction K98k sniper. How well it shoots is more important here than how it looks (there was a long rail sniper built on a Russian-capture rifle at the recent SAR show that would be an ideal trade, if its owner is interested). Any type of sniper setup is fine (the single claw mount is one of the rarest), and details like mismatching numbers would also be fine, as long as the rifle shoots 2 MOA or better.
Interested? Send me an email at admin@forgottenweapons.com, and I will put you in touch with Karl. Thanks!
If You’re Still Reading This
…you are probably reasonably interested in German sniper rifles. So I will take a moment to point out a pretty neat book I recently picked up: German Sniper Rifles: Propaganda Photo Series Volume VII by S.I. Publicaties BV. It’s one from a series of books based heavily on German wartime photos of specific weapons in the field (in this case, obviously, sniper rifles). The book is about 1/3 history of the German sniping program from the early Jaeger rifles through WWII, and then 2/3 photos, with detailed captions.
Unlike most coffee-table type photo book, I was impressed by the detail and depth of the historical section of this book. It’s not a full treatise on and particular type of rifle, like a Collector Grade book, but in 50 pages of history it’s not supposed to be. It gives a really good overview of the material, and does a good job of addressing the different types of scoped rifles used by Germany, including the G98. K98a, K98b, K98k, G43, MP43/44, captured Russian M91/30 and SVT rifles, and more. The photos include both WWI and WWII, although the WWII ones and more numerous. The photo captions are also much better than the typical photo book, as the editor (Guus de Vries) is actually serious history and firearms enthusiast, and takes the time to point out the interesting elements in each picture, and also provides details on when and where they were taken.
If you have any interest in the history of German sniping through the end of WWII, this would be an excellent addition to your library. Even if you already know everything covered in the history section, the photos are a great way to see how things were actually done in the field – which is not always in line with what books and manuals describe. the books are published in the Netherlands, but you can get a copy from the US retailer (Casemate Publishers) or from Amazon:
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