Well earlier I posted some pics of a K98k I restored and thought I'd post this as sort of an "un-restoration." 
I bought this badly sportered M98 that had been burnt to a crisp at some point in its life. Amazingly even though it had been badly burnt and the barrel could be turned off by hand, the owner had been using it for hunting for years. He had simply replaced all the springs and kept shooting it!
I salvaged what parts I could off it and decided to have some fun with the barrel, receiver, and bolt. Since it was chambered in .30-06 I thought the best way to blow it up was to fill a 8mm Mauser casing full of Bullseye and seat a .323 dia, 185gr bullet on top.
Obviously doing this was inherently dangerous and I don't recommend anyone try this at home. It was fired remotely with a string and I was well protected by several inches of steel. The barreled action was behind a large gravel pile. Several fragments of the barrel were never found.
It is interesting that even though there was some pretty serious setback of the reciever locking lug areas, the bolt held. The bullet is lodged in the barrel about half way down.
Here it is mounted in my highly scientific test platform.
Here are a few pics of the aftermath. Notice the piece of the barrel stuck in the tire, the neat "cutaway view" of the chamber and the mostly intact action.
I bought this badly sportered M98 that had been burnt to a crisp at some point in its life. Amazingly even though it had been badly burnt and the barrel could be turned off by hand, the owner had been using it for hunting for years. He had simply replaced all the springs and kept shooting it!
I salvaged what parts I could off it and decided to have some fun with the barrel, receiver, and bolt. Since it was chambered in .30-06 I thought the best way to blow it up was to fill a 8mm Mauser casing full of Bullseye and seat a .323 dia, 185gr bullet on top.
Obviously doing this was inherently dangerous and I don't recommend anyone try this at home. It was fired remotely with a string and I was well protected by several inches of steel. The barreled action was behind a large gravel pile. Several fragments of the barrel were never found.
It is interesting that even though there was some pretty serious setback of the reciever locking lug areas, the bolt held. The bullet is lodged in the barrel about half way down.
Here it is mounted in my highly scientific test platform.
Here are a few pics of the aftermath. Notice the piece of the barrel stuck in the tire, the neat "cutaway view" of the chamber and the mostly intact action.
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