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Some time ago I managed to sweet talk myself into the store room of a gun shop east of Helsinki. I headed for the corner of "unsellables", "not-worth-an-ad" and generally sad old firearms looking for a possible project rifle. Among all the usual sportered Mosins, Arisakas, Swede 96s and single shot Baikals (sprinkled with the odd Neuhausen and MP38) were some 98s.

One particulary caught my eye, labeled simply "8x57 Mauser 98". It had the signs of a Sako late 1940'ies sporter, military action, typical Sako birch stock without recoil cross bolt (and badly cracked, too) and the Sako civilian front and rear sights (btw, I was actually wrong about the rear sight).




I picked it up, noticed that the stock was very slim, a leftie and that whole rifle didn't feel right, too light... Then I saw the marks on the the receiver...




I paid the barely three digit price and now it's in my home. Now I start having second toughts. What should I do with it? I know this is a luxury problem, but I don't want or need a 8x57 sporter, "restauration" to mil config would give me, at best, something closer to a repro than a collectible. On the other hand, the action, bolt, mag and rear sight all seems to be in an unaltered condition.

While I think this over, and regret my lack of impulse control, here are some pics:

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