Counterfeit surplus arms

[Gil Martin]

One disturbing trend that I have encountered has been "put together" surplus arms that are not original. At a local gun shop someone reported seeing a 1909 Argentine Mauser in .30-06. That was never a standard caliber for that rifle. I came across a Kar98k made by Steyr also in .30-06. I asked the shop owner where he got that gem. He assured me that ..."they rebarreled a lot of them with surplus Springfield barrels"... Never found out who "they" were, but passed on the rifle.

Another example was a broomhandle Mauser reworked in China to be a mannlicher carbine. There was obvious pitting under the bluing and that was a candidate to avoid. Anyone else seeing this situation? All the best...
Gil