RC K98: bad idea to fix up?

[Caribouriver]

That's all helpful input. I appreciate your taking the time to help me reason this out. The bolt on my Yugo Mauser is "in the white" and Mitchell's Mausers shows them in the white. I thought the black bolts were purely Russian doing and the Germans did not "blue" the bolts. Again, thanks.

[Syntax Error]

I'm actually on the same boat as the OP and I've decided that I wanted to somewhat restore my RC K98k (1941 bcd) that I got from SOG a few weeks ago. I've already stripped the flaking shellac and have lightly removed a lot of the dirt and grit that's built over the years in the stock, as that's what I primarily want to "restore". The action and bolt have been reblued by the Russians most likely (there are some weird "spots" on the receiver ring, I'm not sure what it is but I would prefer if the action were somewhat more "polished", but still blued).

I'm probably going to restain the stock or use something like boiled linseed oil, but I'm wondering what people's input are in terms of using certain stains and finishes for their particular stocks, especially if they've "revitalized" their RC K98s that way. Pictures would be very helpful, too.

[Milsurp Collector]

A "middle of the road" position between leaving flaking-off shellac untouched to continue flaking off, or stripping it all off, is to touch up the shellac finish with more shellac. Shellac is very easy to use and the new shellac will literally blend in with the old. See http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...54&postcount=2

That's all helpful input. I appreciate your taking the time to help me reason this out. The bolt on my Yugo Mauser is "in the white" and Mitchell's Mausers shows them in the white. I thought the black bolts were purely Russian doing and the Germans did not "blue" the bolts. Again, thanks.

If you are going to "clean-up" a RC you should do some research and familiarize yourself with the original appearance so you don't become another Mitchell's Mausers.

Go to this thread http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread....eference-Index and you can see pictures of original rifles sorted by manufacturer.

[rojocorsa]

If you are going to "clean-up" a RC you should do some research and familiarize yourself with the original appearance so you don't become another Mitchell's Mausers.

At least the OP would probably not be intentionally dishonest and for profit...

[Cato]

It all depends on your barrel, I'd say.

[caldude]

I was in the same boat. Personally, I'd rather have a better looking gun than worry about the 'collectible' value. I added a sight hood, and stripped the shellac and redid the stock. Mine came with the cleaning rod so I didn't need one of those. I also installed a scout scope setup (reversible), but otherwise left the gun alone.

[Caribouriver]

Quite correct. I would not Mitchellize it for profit. Probably just add a hood, capture screws, cleaning rod and sling. Certainly not sporterize it. Being an old cabinet maker, it's hard to resist cleaning up the stock!

[timdps]

1. missing capture screws
Add screws

2. no front sight hood
Add hood if the receiver has hood slots

3. bad shellac finish
Remove with acetone, finish with BLO or Howards Feed and wax

4. bad "bluing" job (actually black) on the bolt
As others have said, German Mauser bolts were blue

5. force matched with electro-pencil
Clean and then cold blue

6. Black butt plate (probably blued), black takedown disk (probably paint).
German buttplates were in the white. Remove butt plate and soak in vinegar overnight of use naval jelly to remove blue. There is usually rust under the buttplate so removal is recommended. Remove paint from takedown disk with acetone and toothbrush.

This will give you a k98 that looks loosely like it did before the Russians refurbed it. The electro-pencil numbers will still be visible as will the Russian serial number on the left butt, so there is little chance anyone will mistake it for anything but an RC.

Tim
Who has done this to quite a few RCs...

[Caribouriver]

Good suggestions all. Thanks. I now have a plan. I think, as timdps suggests, that removing the bad Russian bluing job (more black - maybe paint?) and cold bluing anew may be a good option. The electro-pencilling the Russians did on the bolt and elsewhere was after their "bluing". If I strip it and re-blue, the electro-pencilling will still be there but likely not nearly as visible.

[Jarhead]

you might even enjoy finding the proper parts ( trade / purchase - sell ) to match the receiver Code, good way to learn the variations ( buy Backbone of the Wehrmacht / Law ). I bought half a dozen Late War models from Cole's years ago ................ now their just mis-matched by S/N only Of course that led to other "fun" projects, making up fake High Turret, Long Slide and Short Slide Snipers ( using Pre-War Zielviers ). But definitely get that shellac off ......... my opinion.

[Jarhead]

some examples of Late War http://www.latewar.com/html/weapons.html

[Milsurp Collector]

Good suggestions all. Thanks. I now have a plan. I think, as timdps suggests, that removing the bad Russian bluing job (more black - maybe paint?) and cold bluing anew may be a good option.

Rebluing the whole rifle with the most commonly available cold blue products will probably produce a finish that looks worse and is less durable than the current finish. Do the other things you want to do first before thinking about refinishing all of the metal.

[mauser98k]

i wouldn't recommend re-bluing. it won't look right unless it's done the way the Germans did it.

[Caribouriver]

I only meant the bolt which looks pretty rough and black. I was going to leave the rest of the steel as is. But you make a good point of: what's the sense of doing the work to fix something and actually make it worse? I was basically thinking cold rebluing (Birchwood Casey's kit) would make the bad Russian electro pencilling job less noticeable. Sounds like that you guys know from experience (the best teacher) that it's not a good idea. Thanks for helping me dodge the bullet of regret!

[Milsurp Collector]

I only meant the bolt which looks pretty rough and black. I was going to leave the rest of the steel as is. But you make a good point of: what's the sense of doing the work to fix something and actually make it worse? I was basically thinking cold rebluing (Birchwood Casey's kit) would make the bad Russian electro pencilling job less noticeable. Sounds like that you guys know from experience (the best teacher) that it's not a good idea. Thanks for helping me dodge the bullet of regret!

If you are going to do just the bolt - remember, if you refinish just the bolt then it will look different that the rest of the metal and then you'll start thinking you need to do the rest of the metal. Things can snowball out of control - I don't recommend the Birchwood Casey cold blue. I have used it and also Brownell's Oxpho-Blue, Blue Wonder Gun Blue, and Shooter Solutions Rugged Gun Blue. They are OK for touching up a scratch or rubbed-off area, but all are inferior to real bluing. If you are going to reblue a bolt, triggerguard, bands, etc. then it is much better to use rust blue. It is a traditional and genuine bluing process that was used on Lugers and other quality firearms. See http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=376334

But rather than jumping right to refinishing, shoot the rifle and get familiar with it as it is. In time you might decide that it is fine just the way it is. Right now it is an authentic Russian Capture K98k. Once you start refinishing things that will never be true again.