Does anyone know where I can find a large selection of WWII Mausser rifle to buy?

You will need to get a local Federal Firearms License Dealer in your area to receive the rifles and do the legal transfers.

I have a somewhat sizeable collection of WWI and WWII Rifles (not automatics like SMGs) and pistols. So far, I have all the major players from both sides. Having a truly complete collection may be a pipe dream, as there's some rare and obscure items that were used, but I'm up to nearly 100 historical weapons at this point. US, UK Commonwealths, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Swiss, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Czech, USSR, Japan, some Chinese, Siam, etc.

The best place for you to start is SurplusRifle.com. Read all the articles and join the forums. It's a real friendly place for military surplus collectors and you will learn a tremendous amount just reading the posts.

www.surplusrifle.com

Also, many dealers have stock available. I'll list some of my favorites. Some will not have pricing, send an email if you need a price from someone as I get all the pricelists.

Now, you want to start with a German k98, because right now supplies are big and ewalers are competing for business, so there are deals to be had. Get the nicest condition you can afford.

DO NOT BUY A MITCHELL'S MAUSER!!!!!!!!!

These guys buy poor condition rifles and re finish the metal and put them in nice looking new stocks. They look pretty, but have no collector value and usually shoot horrible. Not worth it for the price they ask.

I just got a k98 from AIM and paid for the 'handpicked' fee, which means they look at 5 rifles and pick you teh best of that 5. I'm very happy, DOU factory code, 1943 date and all the eagles and waffenampts are intact. This is a "Russian Capture" rifle, which means the Russians took them after the war and refinished them and warehoused them. Not as collectable as original, but for $209 a great rifle that has a beautiful bore and shoots 2 inch groups at 100 meters on my first outing to the range.

I like AIM Surplus, but they are a distributor, so no personal service. Classic Arms is a husband-wife team. They go to all the distributors and personally select all guns, so you get the handpicked quality for a little more, plus he's a really nice small businessman who takes care of his customers and makes sure everyone is happy. Worth the extra $20, in my opinion.

www.aimsurplus.com

www'classicarms.com

www.centuryarms.com

www.southernohiogun.com

Stay away from Mitchell's Mausers. They sand down the stocks, polish the bolts to be silver (which the Germans never did) and I have heard claims of them STAMPING their own serial numbers onto the receiver and bolt.

They are just typical russian-capture k98s that they are charging you 3x what they are worth.

Since you do not have a C&R license, find a Mauser that you like off of www.gunbroker.com, or www.auctionarms.com, or www.gunsamerica.com.

These are auction sites; pretty much eBay for guns. There is a huge variety of k98s available from a plethora of manufacturers. Most of them have been captured by the russians and parts have been switched out and rearsenaled. You want to get one with a good bore (the rifling inside of the barrel) and for collector value one that the russians did not ping the waffenamts out (the nazi proof marks).

Before you bid on an auction, you need to call a gunshop in your area and ask them if they are willing to do a firearm transfer from a private person or other gunshop and give the rifle you have purchased to you and how much the transfer would cost. After they agree, go ahead and bid on whatever k98 you want.

When you win the auction, the seller is going to ask you for your FFL (federal firearms license, which in your case would be the gunshops phone number and address) and payment. After the seller receives payment, he will ship it to the gunshop where you can go fill out the paperwork, pay the transfer fee, and pick it up. Depending on what state you live in you might have to go through a waiting period.

All mausers are now old enough to be C&R and all are completely legal to own. They are all basically bolt action rifles. Paul Mauser (google him) ranks with Henry Ford and Bill Gates; they are people who altered the face of history. There have been over one hundred million mauser rifles manufactured and they are currently being produced in various places around the world; in many different calibers. There are a lot of them advertised for sale on the GUNSAMERICA site; check that out. If you want a shooter that is easy to carry get a YUGO 48 or 48A; a carbine model that is easy to carry and a joy to shoot. You can also GOOGLE Mauser and follow the yellow brick road. 8mm ammo is fairly inexpensive and plentiful. I have an extensive collection of mausers; they were manufactured under license in many countries and there are many varieties and calibers. The 8mm in Mauser is about like the US 30/06 in Springfield (which is a copy of the mauser action). In point of fact, every rifle manufactured since 1900 is based on the mauser patented action. It is simply the safest action in the world in its design; I have read that nobody has ever been injured by a mauser action failing; which is what Paul Mauser intended when he invented and patented it.

If you are in a city that has a magazine store, check to see if they have a current copy of Shotgun News. That publication has just about every firearm available. If you can't find a physical copy of the News, you can also see it online. These firearms will probably be for sale in states other than the one you live in, so you will have to obtain the services of a local gun dealer because firearms can only be shipped from licensed dealer to licensed dealer. Take care.

I would go to Mitchell's Mauser's. They have anything from field grade k98's to completely unharmed collector's grade. The field grades are around $200, the collector's are about $600. They are even selling k98's chambered in .243 win. , 308 win. , 270, win. , 30-06 spgfld. , and of course 8mm. I am 14 years old and I have a german 8mm mauser and I love them, and if you get one, you have a piece of history and I will never sell mine.

aimsurplus.com has some of the K98 mausers, probably russian captures. They are descent and well priced for what they are. Mitchell's Mausers just takes the russian captures and refinishes and restamps them. Thus the true collector value is nonexistant.

Mitchell's Mausers

http://www.mauser.org/

I didn't know there were any still around. I had two in the fifties and both were rather poor. Havve seen many and the same. Sears was selling them for $29.95 and later on sale for five bucks less. The two that I had still had the very long parrel and were and probably still are not legal to have.

Later I gave them to relitives.

If you live on the western side of the United States Big 5 sporting goods carries them.

shotgunnews.com, you can find all kinds of WW11 maussers ther. But you have to go through you gun dealer or someone with a FFL to buy it. They will chare you a little to use there license and do the paper work.