How do I help this poor old Mauser?

Guy JR

Guy JR

CGN Regular
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sw ont
Good day everyone. A number of months ago a neighbour recieved a number of guns from a relative on his wifes side. Among them is this 1939 German Mauser, non matching but all there. From the way it was explaned to me it was wraped in a towel and stored in a closet for 20 years. Knowing that I'm into old war rifles he brought it over to me and we settled on a price of $150. I have cleaned up rifles with a little surface rust before with good results but I dont even know where to start with this one. Other than the first 1/2" from the muzzle the bore looks ok so maybe it could be a shooter. Anyway here are some pictures and some feedback on what I have and how I can begin to help it would be appreciated.
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Sand blast/strip down to the metal and dura-coat it? This could be a minimal cost DIY project.

Is the bore or chamber rusty?
 
I would sand blasted the rifle with Extra fine silice ( would move the rust but keep the markings) and parkerized flat dark gray, the wood look gorgeous, so i would stripped it and lightly sand it with 400 grite and finish it between coats with 600, i would use Shade Shellac from Minox in the light pecan shade, this is very nice project... JP.
 
NaviDave said:
Sand blast/strip down to the metal and dura-coat it? This could be a minimal cost DIY project.

Is the bore or chamber rusty?
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The last 1/2" of the bore is rusty and I can see a flake or 2 down in the middle somewhere but it might just be dirt. Other than that the boor looks good. I was thinking of counterboaring if there is pitting is bad once the rust comes off.
 
desporterizer said:
Yes you can. Tread lightly, a rusty k98 is worth more than a duracoated k98.
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I have no plans to duracote the rifle. When I said I cant make it worse I ment damage what is under the rust. I hope to find a way to remove the rust without taking the finish off the whole rifle and spot blue the pitted areas. It sounds easy since I have not started yet. I would just like some advice from the experts before I do somthing I cant undo.
 
Strip the metal parts let them soak in diesel oil for a while, then make yourself a brass scraper to scrape off the rest of the rust. After all that is done use 0000 steel or brass wool to polish the affected areas. Go slow and you might bring it back to a surprising level.

P.S. it looks like an East German or Cezck refurbished rifle.
 
It's a caustic-blued czech rework.

As mentioned, the honest answer is to send it to Gunco and just pay the money. It will look as-new, Jason does the best Cuastic blueing in Canada - and no, I'm not exaggerating. He's actually a German trained master-gunsmith.

Anything else will just end up looking half-@ssed.
 
Looks worse than it is. Start with a long soak for the metal parts in Kroil or Breakfree. After soaking I would use a piece of copper to push the big rust off the steel, then bronze wool to get the light rust. The stock can be cleaned with turpentine and wiped repeatedly with clean rags, I think it is mostly just filthy. If it is really oil soaked(the stock) you can place it in a garbage bag and sit it in the hot sun. Oil will continue to ooze out of the wood. Don't sand the stock until you can determine if the original stampings are still in the wood, if they are, be careful, they add value to the stock.
A nice project, the main thing is DON'T RUSH.
BTW the guy who wrapped it in a towel should have been strangled with the towel.

Just read Claven's post. Don't worry too much about originality if it is a rework. He knows K98's pretty well.
It does have a Czech sight protecter on the front sight.
 
As mentionned, oil, brass scrapers, bronze wool. If the brass scrapers leave brass streaks, use bore cleaner.
 
Body shop guys used to have some product that would eat the rust out of the metal and I wonder if a body shop guy would chime in here and tell us if its still made and the name of it.
I used it back in the 70's. We would paint strip complete Chev truck boxes, and used gallons of this stuff on them eating the rust out of the surface and not harming the metal.
 
tigrr said:
Body shop guys used to have some product that would eat the rust out of the metal and I wonder if a body shop guy would chime in here and tell us if its still made and the name of it.
I used it back in the 70's. We would paint strip complete Chev truck boxes, and used gallons of this stuff on them eating the rust out of the surface and not harming the metal.
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You are thinking of Naval jelly, it is phosphoric acid in a jelly form and does a great job of removing rust from old motorcycle tanks and the like. I expect it will also remove all the bluing, too, and wouldn't use it on anything that wasn't going to be refinished.


Mark
 
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