Well, sometimes chicken and sometimes feathers. See the image of the lot that I purchased from the last Rock Island Auction. The general description was pasted below. I felt like it was purposely vague and misleading. When I called them, they were nice and wanted to know what kind of compensation I was looking for. I told them I was looking for accurate descriptions on items so I could make an informed decision. I don't know if they would refund any money or not, that was not the issue. The problem was with the "John Dickson and Son" Mauser. Their appraiser is more knowledgeable than I. However, it had a John Dickson and Son marked barrel that was screwed into a WWII surplus action - so how could it be "custom built before WWII". The marking in question is beautifully done with the address and is located under the wood line and almost on the bottom - almost - just where it fell when the barrel was re-used. None of the parts match. It does have a small Otto Bock marking on the stock. Problem is that it does not have any German or English proof marks. This rifle was assembled in the US from parts which is obvious to any person who is even remotely interested in Mausers, much less their appraiser who has likely looked at thousands. Are they exempt from any blame because the Consignor note says it was custom made before WWII? If the note said it belonged to Adolf Hitler himself and they knew it was untrue, should they say that? Anyway, I felt cheated by the experience. I have had some favorable experiences in the past which are off-set completely by this one. I bear part of the responsibility for not making them send me a better photo of the left side - one that I could enlarge for I would have seen the MOD 98 on the left receiver rail. Lesson learned.

John Dickson & Son Marked Mauser Model 98 Sporting Rifle
Otto Bock marked stock. Consignor notes: Custom built just before WWII.