Most of the guns I have seen that came from Leo Hamel were worn out, rode hard and put away wet. Not all but most.

This one does not appear to be in that bad of condition. When I first saw it I thought it might be a Plezier Mauser but then noticed it looks like a 98. As far as I can tell from the boook Boer Rifles the Plezier Mausers were 95 patterns. I wonder if others are looking at it in that sense.

What is interesting is the book mentions several shipments of Plezier Mauser in 1899, 400 rifles in one shipment. It doesn't say if these rifle were 95 or 98's...at a quick glance I did not notice the serial number in the book.

If you get it let me know and I'll look deeper for you. I even have a contact who might be able to tell us more.