1941 Swedish Mauser needs a LOT of help

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

That little project is proving to be quite the ispiration and might have me looking at some basket cases in a diffrent light.

[colfi]

I suggest that you get some Oxalic acid (non-toxic), you buy it in crystal form from a chemist. mix it up to a watery, milky consistance and paint it onto the rust stains on the wood work. It acts like a wood bleach and washes the iron rust stains out of the wood. I have just resurrected a Mauser with the same discolouration probs as yours. One stubborn stain took several goes, but in the end I have a really clean, unmarked stock.

Good luck with the rest

Col

[Patrick Chadwick]

You think I should round it off some too or being counter bored is this not going to affect it? There remains one area in the counter bored section that is still slight pitted making it out of round.

I admire your determination! Yes, I think you should try to even up the crown. That is the operation for which I used an end mill in the photo in my last post, with a stub to center it, and turned by hand* - since I could not get the BPCR barrel into the lathe!

The counterboring will make it a secondary effect, but the old crown has a burnt-out section at about 1 o'clock in your photo, and this will cause a slight kick in the opposited direction when the bullet leaves the muzzzle. This effect would have been much, much worse without the counterboring.

The photo does not appear to be square on to the bore line, so I cannot judge it, but it is very important that the counterbore is symmetrical, i.e. precisely along the bore axis. Any asymmetrical gas flow past the bullet in the counterbore channel will cause the bullet to veer off line.

Get it firmly tied down to the sled, and let us know how it performs!

*In case you have not yet tried it, hand milling is very slow !!
Mill in headstock. Headstock rotating at the slowest backgear speed.
Stub in mill with brass sleeve over it to fit bore.
Barrel slipped over sleeved stub and lined up with a travelling steady.
Barrel rotated by hand while pushing it up to the mill. Hence the chattering effect.

Yea, verily, dead slow. But it works.

[Aragorn243]

The spot at 1 o'clock is the one I mentioned. It isn't especially deep anymore but it is still there. A slightly larger bit would remove it but I have no way to guide it at this point. The cut is straight as the bit was held in place by the suppressor. I can't tell if it is exactly centered but it is close and as long as the bore is centered on the barrel threading it should be.

How immediate would any effect of the crown have on the bullet travel? Is there any risk of the bullet striking the sides of the flash suppressor? I can't imagine the bullet being able to veer off course that quickly but thought I'd ask. I plan to shoot it first without and then shoot it with to see if there are any effects on accuracy. I would think the flash suppressor would help minimize any irregularities in the crown by extending the pressure length a bit. But ballistics isn't one of my strong points.

Not sure when I'll get it to the range. It will have to be a quiet day up there. No way I'm going to try to shut down the range so I can go back and yank on a string while everyone's watching. The old stuff I usually take up there draws enough attention without me doing that. I cleared out the range one other day by simply telling them that particular rifle was close to 100 years old. I had half a dozen guys standing about 20 feet from me waiting to see if the 1911 Swiss was going to blow.

[Patrick Chadwick]

How immediate would any effect of the crown have on the bullet travel?

Impossible to calculate.

Is there any risk of the bullet striking the sides of the flash suppressor? I can't imagine the bullet being able to veer off course that quickly

Neither can I.

I would think the flash suppressor would help minimize any irregularities in the crown by extending the pressure length a bit.

Sounds plausible. All these effects are secondary and incalculable. You are stuck with "try it and see". Good luck!

I cleared out the range one other day by simply telling them that particular rifle was close to 100 years old.

Sounds as if I could bring my stuff to your range and clear it out for a week. 100 years - that's a modern rifle!

[Smellysniper]

Hi, What a great project!. In my opinion the only way to remove all that external rust properly is to have it shotblasted . You will never remove it totally by chemical methods and it will take ages and be messy. When all the rust is off you will better be able to evaluate what you have.You will also be able to see every little crack or pit which is vital for re -finishing or decision making.(as to safety)You will need to find a shot blaster who can advise you on the many different processes but I fancy the Mauser will need an initial heavy grit, that rust looks DEEP. Depending on your local laws you may have to stay with the gun while it is being done. .Good Luck,i envy you!

[Smellysniper]

Wow,i have just seen the results of your rust removal! Very impressive ! I wouldn`t have believed it possible to get that amount of rust off with chemicals.Well done!

[Aragorn243]

Wow,i have just seen the results of your rust removal! Very impressive ! I wouldn`t have believed it possible to get that amount of rust off with chemicals.Well done!

It was basically somewhere between 10 and 12 hours in distilled white vinegar with a few wire brushings in between. I couldn't believe it either but it dissolved almost all the rust. There were a few patches of "black" rust that it didn't remove that I had to dig out by hand.

I tried cold bluing it to stabilize it at this point and to see what it looks like. I'm not especially happy with it.

I am getting anxious to test fire it. Warmer weather next week so maybe.......

The old stock is cut down and ready to be remounted. That was/is a real mess. The stock warped, cracked and remains discolored. I guess that's what happens when it is soaked and swelled like a sponge It was 3/8's wider than the butt plate. Not sure what I'll do with it after the test. Shortened as it is, it would have some use I suppose. I figure I'll wrap the barrel in paper. If there is a pin hole in it it will burn the paper. I have to dig out my string too. I have some good stuff I use for marking foundations.

I couldn't stand it any longer and placed orders for the missing accessories. Bayonet arrived today. Sling, flash suppressor, sight hood and cleaning rod on their way. Hopefully it won't blow up or I'll be listing a few Swede accessories on ebay soon.

[Aragorn243]

Today was the day. Last night I swapped out the new stock for the old original one. This morning I wrapped the barrel with paper, sewed up a bag for some lead for the sled, packed it all up and went to the range. Took the Swede, the Enfield and my Type 38 Carcano.

Beautiful day so I figured I'd have trouble shooting it. Today was "Fish Rodeo" day and the lot was packed. But NO ONE was on any of the ranges. I figured that would change pretty quick but I got everything set up with an oversized piece of cardboard behind the target. I set up the lead sled, put the rifle in, strapped it down, aimed it, loaded it, aimed it again and went about 15 feet behind it and a rifle rack and pulled the string. Boom, no flying shards of metal or wood, everything looked good. Checked the paper, no holes, no burns, tore it off, checked to see if it hit the paper, it did without keyholing. Loaded and fired a second time with the string but must have yanked that one as it was way off the paper. Shot 3 more with my finger standing behind it, all were on the paper. Casings looked good, rifle looked good, bore looked good, exterior looked like crap but no different than it did before I started. I quickly swapped rifles with the Enfield, (I did tear it apart again and go over it thoroughly), strapped it in, loaded it and attached the string. Fired nicely with no issues with the casing or the rifle.

I then swapped out the stock, putting the good one on and fired a 5 shot group off the sled while aiming. The first four shots were Ok, the 5th I knew I screwed up as I pulled the trigger but there was no stopping at that point. Target was at 50 yard and is pretty typical for my open sight shooting.

So for reference, it looked like this:





And it now shoots like this, with my poor eyesight anyway (It shoots a lot better than the Carcano does):

[Aragorn243]

Now that I know it is functional, I'm debating what to do with the barrel pitting. I'm thinking I'd like to fill it and smooth it, would prefer not to paint it but if that's what I need to do I guess I will. I'm going to try to find some filler that dries black or can be color matched. Not sure if there is anything out there or not.