byf 43 Kar98k

[Milsurp Collector]

I saw this on Gunbroker last month. The story was "Uncle Elmer brought rifle back from WW11, after his death Mrs Elmer had boyfriend put gun in garage, been there ever since."






It wasn't very pretty, but I was very happy when I won it for only $460.

Because of bad weather and botched delivery attempts, it took about 3 weeks for UPS to deliver it. The stock was covered with some unknown black, glossy, gloppy finish



and there was a big dent in it



Not only was the upper band corroded, but there was corrosion on other parts as well





Rather than jumping to stripping the stock finish, I tried just cleaning it with solvents. Mineral spirits and denatured alcohol didn't do anything, but the finish wiped right off with lacquer thinner, revealing a walnut stock





There were several dents in the stock.



I decided to try steaming them out. I used my scünci steamer Scunci Steamer As Seen On TV - ScunciSteamer Hand Held Steam Cleaner



and the wood fibers in the large dent plumped up and went back to their original shape



Removing the barreled action from the stock showed how much finish had been lost



My goal was to remove active corrosion while preserving the remaining finish. I used things that I had used in the past:

• Kroil KanoLabs.com
• Bronze wool http://www.steelwool.biz/Bronze_Wool.htm

but I also tried some things for the first time, products recommended here and on another forum:

• Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner
• Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner http://www.bluewonder.us/BlueWonderGunCleaner.html

I found all of the products to be useful, and each had advantages depending on the situation.

I used Eezox Eezox® Gun Care - Eezox Premium Synthetic Lubricants to help prevent future corrosion. For the stock, while I have been using boiled linseed oil (BLO) on top of a 100% pure tung oil base coat for my US military stocks, and I am very happy with that system, for this one I decided to try something new, just plain BLO.






Soon after I took the picture above, the rifle fell off the railing and onto the muddy ground below. Sling side down, of course ops:



The walnut stock has some tiger striping





The rifle was missing a sight hood and cleaning rod. Troy Burkhart at gunboards.com (slingblade61 Gunboard's Forums - View Profile: slingblade61) did a fantastic job providing me with an original sight hood and original unnumbered cleaning rod that closely matched the worn finish on my rifle. He is a good source if you need an original cleaning rod or sight hood.





The lower band is unnumbered, and is welded, so it is probably a replacement. Judging from the patina, it was probably replaced a long time ago




The upper band is pitted but at least it shouldn't get much worse, and I saved the remaining finish on the other side
















Auction page http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=116901406

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[katsimai]

You did a great job cleaning up that Mauser. I can't help but notice that your all matching 98k has the same problem that mine has. It's been renumbered. Check the style of the numbers on your receiver to the the rest of the numbered parts. Compare the look of the 3 and 7.

Here is the site i used to find out mine was a fake.

Untitled Document

I could be completely wrong as I am not an expert. Nonetheless, she looks good and you did a fantastic job restoring that old Mauser.

[louthepou]

Well, Misurp Collector, that seems to be a job well done! My favorite part: good job on the dents...

I know very little about Mausers. Was BLO the original finish used on these rifles?

Thanks especially for the "before and after" pics, much appreciated.

Lou

[howasan]

Lovely job. You obviously saw the beauty beneath that grime and rust.

[katsimai]

Thats a good looking rifle Milsurp Collector. I can't help but notice the markings on your rifle. Examine the numbers 3 and 7 on the receiver and compare them the the rest of your numbered parts. They where made with a different character "style" punch. I am not an expert by any means, perhaps someone else can put light to this.

I have a byf myself with numbers that were noticeably scrubbed and stamped over. It was also missing the front sight hood and cleaning rod. I enjoy shooting the rifle nonetheless.

Good work on the wood too. I should try that someday.

[Milsurp Collector]

Thanks for the comments guys! Sorry I didn't respond sooner, I've been busy playing with some other new toys I've gotten recently.

You did a great job cleaning up that Mauser. I can't help but notice that your all matching 98k has the same problem that mine has. It's been renumbered. Check the style of the numbers on your receiver to the the rest of the numbered parts. Compare the look of the 3 and 7.

Thats a good looking rifle Milsurp Collector. I can't help but notice the markings on your rifle. Examine the numbers 3 and 7 on the receiver and compare them the the rest of your numbered parts. They where made with a different character "style" punch. I am not an expert by any means, perhaps someone else can put light to this.

I have a byf myself with numbers that were noticeably scrubbed and stamped over. It was also missing the front sight hood and cleaning rod. I enjoy shooting the rifle nonetheless.

Thanks for your concern katsimai, but this rifle has not been renumbered. As Claven2 said, the font for the receiver numbers and the other numbers don't match for a byf43, although they might for other makers and years. Certainly there are a lot of fake "matching" Kar98k's out there, and one has to be very careful. I recommend that anyone in the market for a matching Kar98k get the Bob in Ohio photo CD New reference CD-- Volume II - Gunboard's Forums It is full of sharp close-up photos of original Kar98k's, so you can compare a rifle you are considering to the reference pictures in the CD. If you compare the number fonts on my rifle to those in Bob in Ohio's CD you will see that they are correct. Also, the machining marks and finish around the numbers are undisturbed. Some of the newer fakes have more accurate number stamps, but they still can't hide the alterations to the metal and finish that happen when they scrub the old markings.

Also, I suggest that anyone considering purchasing a matching a Kar98k should post pictures of it on the Gunboards.com K98 forum The K98 Mauser & G41-G43 Forum Boards - Gunboard's Forums . Some of the guys there are real experts at spotting fakes, and they can save you a lot of money and heartache. They post "Turd Alerts" Turd Alerts - Gunboard's Forums if they spot faked rifles on online auctions. I posted this same thread over there are there wasn't one peep that the rifle was renumbered, and if there was any suspicion about it being fake they wouldn't have been shy about saying so.

[Claven2]

I doubt that rifle is renumbered. it's not unusual for receiver and bolt fonts to not match completely. The bolt number is consistent with ww2 era German fonts, especially the suffix letter.

In terms of the front band rust, I like to sharpen a chunk of brass rod and "scrape" the rusty areas. The brass will smash off the rust, but won't touch the steel underneath. The brass residue comes off with oiled fine steel wool.

[chucksniper]

a wet towel and an iron works wonders on the wood.

[The Queens Medalist 86,87]

Don't you love it when a plan comes together. That was very well done!

[Milsurp Collector]

Don't you love it when a plan comes together. That was very well done!

Thanks for your comments! At the same time I was working on that Kar98k I was also working on a rusty Type 38 Arisaka using the same methods Latest additions to my collection (many pictures) - Military Surplus Collectors Forums