Help w/ Possible Purchase of VZ24

[IUHoosier429]

Hi folks. I've got a few questions about a VZ24 rifle I am interesting in buying from a local gun classified posting, and would greatly appreciate any information and/or advice.

It's listed as a non-numbers matching rifle with a good stock and metal. No cracks, rust, or pitting. The bore has decent rifling but has some small dark spots that the owner claims don't affect accuracy. He has invited me shoot it before buying to see for myself. The crest has been scrubbed, and the serial number is SR10XXX, which makes this a Romanian build, correct? The thing that stands out to me is that there is a Waffen stamp on the bolt, so is this a German K98 bolt? Are the two even interchangeable? He's asking $300 but is flexible on the price. I have not yet submitted an offer. I've spent the evening so far researching some information, which seems largely contradictory from site to site. Since I have learned a great deal about Mosin Nagants here, I hoped some of you members might have similar expertise with these rifles.

Any thoughts on whether this is a decent deal or one I should say thanks but no thanks?

Apologies for the lack of details - anything else I can add here or ask the seller to help you, please do let me know.

Thanks for everyone's time today. Cheers.

[millman]

It could be a K98 bolt. They are interchangeable, but I would definitely have the headspace checked. I am not up on current prices for these. My lion crested one was $225 about 5 years ago. Check recent gunbroker auctions for an idea of the prices these are bringing these days.

[desdem12]

Serial number belies it to be a Romanian contract vz24. As said before bolts are interchangeable. Made in Czech for the Romanians. These run in the 200 range in my neck of the woods and the Romanian contract rifles are plentiful.

[IUHoosier429]

Many thanks for the quick feedback. I will post pics if we can reach a deal but I have a feeling he won't go as low as I'm willing to offer at this point.

[docbob]

300 sounds high to me.

[Jumperwire]

W/O the crest $300 sounds high to me. Love that Lion. Czech Made Mausers has the smoothest action. You can easily pick them out in the dark. They are like butter. As Millman said the bolts are interchangable. I'm not sure if the action would be as smooth tho.

[WeldonHunter]

Here's a few for comparison sake. Range from about $250 to $300 from online vendors. http://gun-deals.com/index.php?dealtype ... 3&subcat=5

[millman]

In light of the advice that $300 is high for a scrubbed Romanian, let me suggest holding out for a Lion marked example. IMHO they just look cool.Mine has a bit of Czech and Romanian.Best speculation is that it was pulled from a Czech run to fill a Romanian order. It has a MC mark from Cugir arsenal on the bottom, and no Czech acceptance mark.

[sapishka]

id also look for a Czech vz-24 ,germans had there own version of it after Czech was captured by german forces and had there own exactly the same basically vz-24 s built ,forget their nomenclature for it . bolt ...who knows on that .different vz-24 Czech rifles with different crests .the common ones have the BRNO crest .mine has the very early vz-23 crest and is a 4 digit matching rifle ,very early vz-24 production ,nice ones to see out there .300.00 is a lot for a dark bore (common) but scrubbed .


sapishka

[Longcolt44]

WARNING...I traded a .22 Marlin for Czech VZ24 and a Romanian SKS. That started me on the road to collecting milsurps. I am currently buying Finn Mosins in the $400.00 to $500.00 range. THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

[rayjd2]

It has already happened to me!!