Russian Capture k98

[kar98k]

by 1944 the Germans didn't really have the time to stamp every little part any more. once it was made, it was assembled and on it's way to the battlefield as quickly as possible.

as far as refinishing the stock goes, i'm unsure what may be best to use for that and how to go about it safely.

and if you'd like to try to return it to as close to German issue appearance as you can, then by all means go ahead. if it turns out well congratulations. if not, it doesn't really hurt anything. i've done a lot of part swapping ans stock switching on mine to get them to look period and manufacturer correct. i'm happy with them

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[Aragorn243]

Moving cautiously I tried the iron with wet paper towels. Did not harm the laminate and did lift the wood a bit which is a plus. Layers are pretty thin so not a whole lot of lifting that can be accomplished.

I did some research and found that others have experienced separation with Mauser stocks when they didn't have separation with Nagant stocks when using oven cleaner so that is out. I'm not taking a chance.

It is cleaning up pretty nice. The Russians sanded it down without going with the grain (of course) so I spent the morning with some light sanding to get the sideways scratches off. I'll probably try washing it down with some soapy water later to see if that evens the staining out at all.

[Aragorn243]

Lets see if I can get the photo thingy to work again:


This is the serial, the RC crossed rifles stamp and the eagle over swastika on the barrel. They seem to have put some sort of "putty" in the numbers to make them easier to read. I'll be taking that out at some point.



Top of the Receiver.


The markings on the barrel side and bottom. The crest looks like a shield and has the dot on the top and 13 on the bottom.


The sight, again with that putty substance. Is this the part which is to be white metal or would it be the underside which also has numbers or both?



And a view of the bolt assembly with the electro stenciled serial numbers. I do not like these. They are very fine and would polish out easily enough but I want to keep alterations to a minimum, any advice? I suppose removing them alters it significantly from being a RC.

[Aragorn243]

Here is the semi-finished product after 1 days work of stripping and one coat of BLO:











I plan to use some steel wool between coats and put a few more on. Really soaked this first coat in. I usually just use my finger but had to use a rag to keep up with it.

[kar98k]

that is not a bad looking rifle. the stock is an early war Mauserwerke Oberndorf stock. just an FYI.

as far as removing the electropenciling, i have never done it. i'd imagine it would probably leave a pretty visible spot.

[Aragorn243]

I think I'm going to let the electropenciling alone for now.

Can you tell that about the stock from the two markings or from the style buttplate?

If I'm seeing it right, there is an H above the first eagle and that designates it as going to the German Army? I've been doing a lot of reading on the net about these since I found it on Friday.

There are a few numbers on it here and there. The butt stock bottom just behind the hand grip has a "P". There is a 6 or a 9 on the left side in the stock groove. The right stock groove has a 5 or an S and a small case f and a faint 2 and there is a 5 just in front of the magazine plate on the bottom. There is a 3 in the bolt groove and a 6 or a 9 just in front of that. I imagine most of these if not all are inspectors marks of some sort.

I'm really happy with this purchase. I know I'll never be able to afford an all matching rifle (at least one the wife would accept) and this one looks to be in great shape, especially for the price I paid. I was looking at Yugo's in worse shape than this one for $275.00.

I did some looking around for slings and found new ones for $20. They look new though, probably not too difficult to dirty up I guess. I'm in no rush for a sling.

[kar98k]

I think I'm going to let the electropenciling alone for now.

Can you tell that about the stock from the two markings or from the style buttplate?

If I'm seeing it right, there is an H above the first eagle and that designates it as going to the German Army? I've been doing a lot of reading on the net about these since I found it on Friday.

There are a few numbers on it here and there. The butt stock bottom just behind the hand grip has a "P". There is a 6 or a 9 on the left side in the stock groove. The right stock groove has a 5 or an S and a small case f and a faint 2 and there is a 5 just in front of the magazine plate on the bottom. There is a 3 in the bolt groove and a 6 or a 9 just in front of that. I imagine most of these if not all are inspectors marks of some sort.

I'm really happy with this purchase. I know I'll never be able to afford an all matching rifle (at least one the wife would accept) and this one looks to be in great shape, especially for the price I paid. I was looking at Yugo's in worse shape than this one for $275.00.

I did some looking around for slings and found new ones for $20. They look new though, probably not too difficult to dirty up I guess. I'm in no rush for a sling.

yes, the Waffenamts on the stock (WaA655) indicate it was an Oberndorf made stock. the "H" above them means it was issued to Das Heer (the army)

yeah, those sound like just regular inspection stamps. there are various things stamped all over 98ks. the Germans had an almost psychotic numbering and stamping fetish.

the new ones are pretty new looking. that's one thing i'm wondering about. the Germans made 14 million 98ks. what the hell happened to all the slings? they've probably just deteriorated over time or the leather was reused by the rifles' captors. i have one original sling and it's in pretty rough shape.

[Calif-Steve]

A 1944 dot should have a cupped buttplate stock. You have a nice RC do not try to "remove" anything. It is not going to be "fixed" but more likely ruined. Nice keeper.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

I don't know if they're all alike, but I ordered one of those $20 repro slings for my RC a couple of years ago and it stood out like a turd in a punchbowl no matter what I did to make it look older.

I've had success 'aging' repro 1907 slings by treating them with the oil used for breaking in baseball gloves. It soaks in and makes the leather softer and darker, but the repro sling I bought for my RC had some kind of slick finish and it wouldn't accept the oil at at all. I tried to 'grime it up' and it looked even worse.

I finally found an old sling at a gun show for $5 that was designed just like the repro, crosshatched, etc and had a faint 1952 on it. I don't know where it came from, but it looks good on the old RC.

Just FYI - The three slings here were light colored, stiff leather.
(I have two original 1907 slings, but they're too old to actually use them)

[sbucy]

Hey - I just bought an RC K98 (BNZ '42) with a replacement Yugo stock (very nice, but not original). I paid $290+tax (marked+ "down" from $350) at a gun show in Dayton, Ohio. Has the original barrel and receiver with swastikas intact, and remainder parts from the Russian rebuild parts buckets. Re-numbered with electric pencil. Does have an excellent bore. (Never fired and only dropped once - on the Eastern Front).

Shot it for the first time today - boy does that sucker kick! And I hate the sight picture (I'm too old at 63!). And it shoots high at 100 yds, but believe even I could manage a 4-inch group from a rest. Fun to shoot.

Good luck - looks to me like you got a steal.