Rust/dirt problem: Gewehr 88, 98, and Mauser C96

Hey guys, another issue that has come up is my Kar98k's stock. The original finish was stripped off and a layer of varnish, poorly coated, was put on. I want to re-finish the stock and make it look as close as it did back in 1940 (when the receiver is dated). She is completely mis-matched by the Russians but I was hoping to replace the two locking screws for the trigger assembly that were lost and get ahold of a blued cleaning rod that would fit. I managed to strip the varnish that covered the receiver and other parts but the stock is the next thing.

Also, some of the parts are missing alot of their bluing. The bolt take down disc on the butt of the stock is missing quite a bit (about 60-70%) and I was hoping to re-blue it along with some other parts that have big scratches in the bluing.

My father is quite adept in wood working so he has offered his expertise in fixing the stock but I want to be sure I do not take any major historical value out of the stock but she isn't worth a whole lot in her current condition. Any suggestions for re-finishing the stock and re-bluing some parts ?

Thank you.
 
Just my personal opinion, but leave the worn bluing be. The gun is old, worn bluing doesn't hurt anyone, and it shows its history.

If you really want to blu, be aware that it'll look more mismatched because some bits will be uniformly dark grey/black (cold blu won't necessarily turn everything a super dark blu). Also, I found cold bluing isn't nearly as resistant to wear.

Depending on the damage to the stock, do whatever you like I guess. From what I know most armies would either pin or remove damaged bits and if necessary, splice in new wood then pin and glue it in place. I know linseed oil was favoured by the allies, but not sure what the germans liked to use.

A good trick your dad might know is pre-drilling a whole that runs through both sides of a crack, gluing the whole deal, clamping it, and screwing a brass screw through the pre-drilled hole. When everything's dry, cut the brass screw off flush with the wood.
I've seen it done a fair bit on enfields, again not sure if that was common with Ze Germans.

The guys with the higher post counts will have a better idea of what to do.
 
There is no physical damage to the stock except a small part missing from right near the bottom of the butt plate.

Here is an old picture of my Kar98k's buttstock but it shows the layer of varnish that I wish to remove. Not to forget you can feel the layer when you hold the rifle and it is still sticky.

Photo 16

I also had the thought that new bluing would not have the same appearance of the original bluing. If it is not possible to match the appearance, I'll abandon that idea and just work on the stock.
 
I have these brass-pinnings on my Japanese Type 38 carbine, where it seems someone carefully inserted a brass pin on either side of the front extreme of the forestock, and cut it off, brushing it flat and smooth to the wood. I'm told this was a re-inforcing measure for thin-wooded rifles and was done at aresenal, thus not devaluing the rifles at all.
 
You are right about the brass pinnings as the handguard for my Kar98k has one right in the middle but not completely flush with the wood (if your not careful, you will cut your hand of fingers on it).
 
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