Dang! You shot a Czech made rifle and now need one for yourself. Bad move, since you'll probably end up buying more than one once you see the kind of quality you get for pocket change.

Here's what I know of Czech made Mauser 98's:

-Vz-24's: These are carbine length Rifles with what I beleive is a 23 1/2" barrel. They were accepted as the main rifle used by Czechloslovakia beginning around 1924, and were stilll being produced when the Germans invaded the country in WWII. The quality of these rifles was as good as if not superior to the quality of early K98k's.
These can be found for sale in some sporting goods stores that sell surplus rifles, They can also be ordered online from a few importers.
Most of these rifles have seen alot of use and wear. Pretty much every example I've seen have some pitting on the metal, and either a worn or counterbored muzzle. They going price is between $75 and $125 depending on condition and the seller. If one turns out to be a poor shooter, it at least has a superb action to build a custom rifle on. Its rear leaf sight is calibrated to be zeroed at 300 meters at its lowest setting.





VZ-98/22 These rifles were only made for only a few years from approximately 1922-1925. They are the forebearer to the Vz-24 and share the same action but have a longer barrel which measures approximately 29 1/2". These rifles were originally made from leftover parts from German WWI Gewehr 98's and evolved into a Czech design as parts ran out. Most seem to have been sold to other countries after the adoption of the Vz-24, as the sight graduation marks are commonly marked in Farsi and the bolts often have Turkish or Middle eastern markings on them. The barrels on most specimens I've looked at generally looked very shiny and free of wear and corrosion, though I've seen a few that had poor barrels. They tend to be very accurate shooters as long as their barrel isn't damaged. The only drawbacks that I can think of about these rifles is that they have a thin, fragile handguard and the lowest setting for the rear sight is zeroed at 400 meters- so you can expect these to shoot about 1.5 feet high at 100 yards using the original sights. These rifles generally sell for around $100.

98/29 Persian contract rifles- These rifles are the finest Mauser 98 rifles you will find anywhere. They were made for persia between 1929 and 1939 and have had very little if any usage. They are very similar to the 98/22 except with a better handguard and an extra bonus- sights that are regulated for 100 meters. There is also a carbine version known as the Camel Carbine with a 23 1/2" barrel, but these are pretty rare, and I've only seen one of these before. Most examples of these I've seen have metal that looks like new, perfect bores, but the stocks look somewhat worn, but still completely functionable. I shoot one of these rifles in high power matches as the one I own will easily outshoot garands and standard grade M1a's, though with a disadvantage because its slower to reload and cycle the action. The prices run anywhere from $200 to $600. They are more expensive than other Czech made rifles because of their condition.
You can see a picture of one of these and order one from http://www.samcoglobal.com/rifles.html#m9829 Mine doesn't look as good as the one they have pictured, but is a thing of beauty no less.

AS far as 8mm hunting ammo goes, there really isn't much to choose from for American made ammo. I've tried 170 grain remingtons and can tell you to not even bother with them unless you are buying them for the brass. I reload for all of my 8mm's using Remington brass, and IMR 4064 and IMR 3031. I've tried 150 gr Hornady spire points, 170 gr Hornady RN bullets, and 200 gr Sierra sp's in all of my rifles and find that suprisingly the 170 gr Rn bullets give me the best accuracy.
For practice I shoot the plentiful Turk surplus, which puts a huge hurt on my shoulder long before it puts any hurt on my pocketbook.


Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?