Israeli K98 in 7.62x51
.
MJ1 - those are mighty fine FR8's. I've been looking for one
like
those for a while !
This is one of my favorite 7.62x51 chambered rifles.
It is built-up rifle on a Czech action, done by the Israeli's. The Israeli's
used a lot of K98's during their defensive build up post WWII.
Ironically, many were German WWII era K98's. These
were used at first in the original 8x57 chambering. As time
went on and 7.62x51 became standard, these were re-barreled
for that cartridge.
They also built some rifles off of surplus actions, as with this
Czech action. They also used some FN actions. I have one
of each type of action, but this is the only one I have pics of
at this time.
After the "black rifles" became standard in the Israeli Defense Force,
these K98's were relegated to training and reserve. They were
eventually surplused out. This particular rifle must have stayed
in reserve after being built up and sold directly into surplus in the '90's
as it is in mint condition, inside and out.
I was lucky to find it. I found an ad on the internet a few years ago for
an "Israel mauser". There was a pic with it, but you could barely tell
that it was a rifle, much less what it really was. I called the guy
and he was a gunsmith. He had picked this rifle up on a trade some
years back and was going to build a sporter on the action. But he
said he couldn't do it "as some collector might want it". I took him
on faith that it was in nice shape and bought it. I was pretty much dumbfounded
when I opened the box.
dxr
