Good post, Limeyfellow.
As a M98 enthusiast, some things to watch for.
German K98 rifles are identified by a 3 letter code stamped into the receiver. It will be in lower case letters stamped into the front ring. There are books on M98 codes and their meaning.
On pre-war and early wartime production, the finish is quite good and the metal is very high quality. On late wartime production, the finish looks very poor and the metal shows a lot of porosity. Some are so porous I would consider them unsafe for use with modern ammo.
On pre-war rifles, wood and furniture finish was pretty good. On later rifles, the quality of the wood deteriorated and the furniture went from castings and machine parts to stamped sheet metal, then to metal strapping towards the end of the war.
You can find good rifles at gun shows and from collectors. Good ones to find are any of the South American army German-made rifles, pre-war K98s and post-war K98s. keep in mind that the 98 and its variants were still issued to armies well into the late 1950s. Many very fine examples come from Egypt, Israel and Persian army stocks from the post-war era.
To sort through the gun show garbage, make sure serial numbers on all parts match (receiver, bolt, magazine floorplate, bolt stop, stocks). If they don't, it's a parts gun and of suspect quality. Check the bore and the trigger. Check the tang area of the stock for cracks. Check the crossbolt for looseness. If possible, take the action out of the wood and look for dry rot in the wood. Unfortunately, you will have to sort through a lot of so-so rifles to find a good one. Good luck!
