Restoreing a Mauser Standard action with an Israeli 308 K98 barrel and beech stock?

[Chuckindenver]

look into the Jewelry repair suppliers, they might have high temp. not likely on flats , but wire might be available.

[Patrick Chadwick]

look into the Jewelry repair suppliers,

A good suggestion, I will follow it up!

[gew8805]

soft solder flows at less the 300Dg, so your statement that they were installed with soft plumbers solder is bogus, if you dunk that rifle in a blue tank the rear sight base will float off, as hot salts blue runs at 290 to 300Dg.

Plumbers solder? Huh?

......attached is the type of material used in gunsmithing to attach sights ect...NOT PLUMBERS SOLDER. i dont play a gunsmith on TV i am one.

Well Chuckles, I will step out of the discussion, obviously you have missed something in your gunsmith training and it is not my place to point you in the right direction. My sincerest apologies, I have no doubt you know what you are talking about, but remember - there are other ways to skin a cat.

[Chuckindenver]

lets back up and look at his project...
a reciever VZ 24...no issue.. he wants to install repoduction sniper bases and a scope...
Barrel? new in the white .308 Izzy.. never had sights or installed and is short chambered.
sight bases? reproduction in the white, not sure if they will fit, and have never had solder or any other form of attachment.
so...
he wants it all done, and blued... so.
if you use soft solder{plumber solder} yes,,,thats the term...then as soon as you drop this barreled action in my blue tank...the base will come off..and the same reason you cant hot salts blue a side by side shotgun...if you do,,,youll have 2 single barrels..
so he asked about epoxy??ok...well, yes, there is some good epoxies on the market...in the auto body world they use them to attach fenders and body panels...however most are heat deactivated, over 300 Dg. and they come loose as well.
he wants the bases, drilled and epoxy or soldered on as well,..same issue...if you want it blued...wont work..
in the past when iv swapped out barrels on K98s, and had to change out the sight base,..you can usaully use the old base,,heat it with a torch and it slides off, and usaully you have enough left in the base, to reatach it on the new barrel...but thats not the case here..
so...to install this right...high temp solder and flux past must be used...if its done right...yes, you can use soft solder and flux paste and it will install on just fine,, but no hot blue can be done.
and yes,..epoxy would get the job done as well...same issue...no hot blue..
as for the scope bases...to do them correctly...again...hightemp must be used...or..under recoil they will come loose..iv been down that road..
epoxy???maybe.
drill and tap? yes, it would work..and if done right..should work well, high temp, and drill and tap? sure...that works even better.
the OP is trying to skin this cat without spending money...likely he will get it done...and in the long run, spend more time and more money then if he would have just had it done right the first time..
anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time...or do it 3 more times wrong and then finally have someone do it right the 4th time.
the solder you can buy at most hardwear stores ect, is a lower temp type, used with propane or butane type torches, they work great for assembling copper pipes, and even installing a front sight on a firearm, i use it now and then to repair seperated vent ribs on shotguns.. and its cheap, less the 20.00 a roll wth flux ect...
however,..hightemp its very expensive, and hard to get other then gunsmith supply places or Jeweler supplies... and flows at much higher temps, a heat sink should be used as well on firearms to prevent warping.
the silver flux itself costs 50.00 and up.. not many gunsmiths use or can use hightemp its very hard to work with and a real torch has to be used, as a propane type wont get the work hot enough fast enough to work the flux.
i use hightemp when installing barrel extentions, and sight base installs. they wont come loose, and can be hot salts blued... a few years ago, many of the Siaga shotguns imported were to short to be legal in the US, and by law they had to be destroyed or barrels made longer then 18 inches...the addapter i made by law had to be welded or hightemp soldered on to make the barrel legal.
iv had several K98 mausers come to my shop with the owner trying to get the base off with a propane torch,,they cant get it hot enough to flow the solder, with a couple seconds of a real torch set, the slide right off... likely they used a medium hightemp that flows around 450 to 500Dg. i dont see any military using a low temp solder on a battle rifle.
so what will most likely happen. he will use a low temp solder or JB weld, and have someone screw the barrel on install the scope bases, and he will paint the rifle or cold blue the rifle rather then spend the money and have it done right. nothing wrong with that, its his project and his wallet..
but my policy on any job...do it right or not at all.. we can give all the advise we want, and try help , but in the end its all up to him..

[gew8805]

Chuck, a good and reasonable reply and I well understand what you are saying, including the solder not holding up to hot tank bluing. But there are other bluing options. Mine is rust bluing and that works fine with soft solders. While it is more time consuming (and, in your case as a full time professional more expensive), the results are very fine and durable. Is it for everyone? No. Unless he is willing to do the work himself it is much less cumbersome to have the polishing and preparation done by a professional with the hot tank bluing option. The first time I did the rust bluing I cursed myself for the foolishness of making the attempt but when finished it was well worth the work. It's been years since I last did any rust bluing and I am not sure that I would want to take it on again but who knows...... In short, I should have offered up the option, it was at one time used to finish German military arms, but I didn't make myself clear and for that I apologize. Your option of hot tank bluing is the way to go to deal with the job in the fastest and most efficient manner. You are correct - "do it right or not at all". Excellent advice.

Oh, and I agree, avoid the epoxy....... don't ask me how I know.