1941 Swedish Mauser needs a LOT of help

[Aragorn243]

I was given a 1941 Swedish Mauser today that has been sitting in a wet environment for months. The action does not look too bad but the trigger does not work and I can't as of yet get it apart.

The wood is swelled and I cannot get the bands off. The front band is rusted solid onto the barrel. The end five inches of the barrel is badly rusted, worst I've ever seen. Very heavy scale. The bore was plugged but I popped right though it with a cleaning rod. Bore looks good with the exception of the last inch.

It is non matching so no big loss there. I currently have it sitting by some heat to dry out the stock.

I think all but the last 5 inches of the rifle are salvageable with a bit of work. Won't know the barrel condition until I can get the wood off. That last five inches looks real bad but if the rust isn't that deep under the scaling, maybe it can be saved. It will probably need counterbored at minimum.

Any suggestions on the rust on the barrel end. I scraped some of it off but it's the barrel band that has me stumped. Anything I can soak it in to get that broken loose?

Surprisingly, I was able to get the cleaning rod out. It is rusted most of the length which does not look good for the barrel but it was in the white vs being blued so some hope there.

















I've always wanted a real challenge, I think I've gotten one with this. Worst case, I assume the barrel could be replaced?

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------

As of now, I have been able to get the bolt out a couple of screws and the cleaning rod out. Most of the rest is still locked up. I have sprayed it with Rem Oil and have it sitting by the heater. The barrel band releases do move and the rear band is loose, it simply will not come off due to the swelled wood. I can see through the crack in the handguard/stock and see some rust in there but mostly blue, some hope. The plug in the barrel end is gone, it was old plaster which had collapsed onto the rifle and is what kept the barrel end wet. Stock is very wet.

There was a 303 with it and it is in pretty decent shape. I have been able to get that nearly all disassembled, not a lot of rust, nothing heavy anyway. Stock is not soaked but is wet and had some mold inside.

The 303 was in the case, the Swede was out on it's own. The interior of the case is soaked too so not an incredible amount of help there. It's a 1942 Long Branch, it's been refurbed and the serial number ground and replaced on the stock band.

















303 is sitting by the heat as well. Mold inside the stock, I should probably go spray that with something but not sure what at this point. The finish on the rifle wasn't bad but it now has black rust staining so I may redo it. I'll see what it looks like once dried. May put some lemon juice on it to see if that removes the black. Looks like Walnut, nicer than the British stocks I have.

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[bigduke6]

For the rust I usually boil the part in boiling distilled water, around 20-30 mins but the barrel may need longer, then remove the broken down rust (now black oxide) with a scouring pad, its basic bluing or browning, although on the original bluing or browning process the rusting was controlled !!!

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I think the Sweede will be a true reserection fro the dead. What a great project on both with none of the what ifs of messing with a sound rifle for fear of devalueing.
I am going to bookmark this thread. Can't wait to see the results!

[Oscarflytyer]

For rust - Kroil. I took some real rust scale out of a barrel. Stuffed it with Kroil soaked patches for about 10 days (longer than originally intended...) and then ran a bronze brush soaked w/ Kroil with a drill. Worked great.

You, OTH, have a GOOD bit more rust than I did. I would try Kroil first. But, assuming you are going to have to reblue anyway, I would look at a product called Evapo-Rust. I have used it to remove rust from dies and works great. I soaked them for about 3 days - again, longer than originally intended... Life can do that sometimes! Be advised, bluing IS a form or rust, and Evapo-Rust WILL remove bluing!

I would also get the wood as far away from heat as possible! My fear is that it will dry way too quickly and the wood will crack/split - and probably be unsalvagable. I would instead put it in a large bag with desicant, or dry out in the sun. Anything that will dry it slowly - the slower the better IMO. Another option would be to dust the stock with corn starch. Not sure where this came from, but popped into my mind right before I posted...

For the mold - I would wipe with a bleach solution. Then rinse in warm water. Towel dry. Then dry out as above. The shape those stocks are in, prob can't much more damage than already done. I have used bleach after stripping before to even out the wood color, or lack there-of.

Me - I would prob just replace the barrel bands. Sadly, may end up only being able to salvage the action for a sporter. Guess you might be able to Frank it and find a replacement barrel.

Best of luck and pls post pics/updates. I am VERY curious how this turns out - for both rifles.

[Aragorn243]

The Enfield is almost completely stripped. I have to locate my large screwdriver to get the butt stock off of it but other than that it's clear. It really isn't in bad shape.

The Swede I just now got the two barrel bands off. I have one screw, the rear one, that I just can't get to break loose so the action is still in the stock. There is some rust in the barrel channel. Not real sure about this barrel, even with cutting it short. The rust on the end of the barrel may have killed it.

I have them sitting near a small heater. They aren't up against it, probably as warm as sitting in the sun. The Enfield doesn't have much water in it, the Swede does, the buttstock is about 3/8's of an inch bigger than the butt plate right now.

I've sprayed the screw with WD-40, see if that and the stock drying a bit will loosen it up. I can't get the floor plate off of it either. The release catch works but the plate won't move.

[Aragorn243]

The Enfield has the New Zealand service mark on the butt stock but no such mark on the metal that I can find. Barrel is stamped 42 and has the Long Branch symbol. It's a 15L serial number, the area directly above the serial number has been filed flat and a very large 2893 has been stamped into it, rack number perhaps? It has a Sarco import stamp on the receiver. Directly behind the bolt on the top of the stock is what appears to be a DP?, can't make out the third letter if is is one, the P could be an A. There is an "N" on the side of the stock and a few numbers here and there. All faint, the stock was refurbished.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Go here:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....ight=Argentino

and read the section on making and using an electrolytic bath. The bright red rust looks horrible, but is usually of more recent origin and easier to remove. You can dunk the whole barrel in an alkaline electrolytic bath, but as soon as the current is switched, remove the barrel and dry it out.

If you take the trouble to read the whole series and apply the methods described, you will be able to make your present wrecks look more like usable rifles again. What you cannot do is replace rifing that has rusted away. So unless you want to shorten the M41 Swede into a "tanker", the only answer is going to be counterboring, or...

... there is an alternative to counterboring. I know someone who had a muzzleloader with a ruined muzzle. He cut off the dud end, turned down the fresh end to make a shoulder, and fitted a piece of another barrel with a much larger bore over the end, turned down to the original barrel profile and with the foresight fitted to the new stub. Sounds brutal, yes? But some modern small-bore target rifles are in effect the same, with a fairly short rifled section inside a tube that is much longer, to provide an adequate sight radius.

---------- Post added at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 AM ----------

I would also get the wood as far away from heat as possible! My fear is that it will dry way too quickly and the wood will crack/split - and probably be unsalvagable. I would instead put it in a large bag with desicant, or dry out in the sun. Anything that will dry it slowly - the slower the better IMO.

Hear, hear, but not in the sun please!

[Aragorn243]

Patrick,

I don't think the interior of the barrel is going to be a major problem. It's the depth of the exterior rust I'm concerned about right now. I looked at the bore again late last night and the rust only goes in about an 8th inch or so, counterboring would probably solve that problem easily. As the tip is going to have to be recrowned, I could possibly just shorten the barrel that much to eliminate the rust. The "plug" seems to have kept the moisture out of the inside of the barrel.

[Oscarflytyer]

great news on the barrel. The kroil method I used might even save the last 1/8". Good luck

[Aragorn243]

Day two of the project. The Swede is still stuck in it's stock. I just can't get the tang screw out. The floorplate is still locked into place. I did get the butt plate off today. The butt is really swelled. The metal is etched on the butt plate. The previous owner said he put bleach on them to get rid of mold. I'm wondering if that caused it or if it was the plaster mess it was in. The stock is starting to feel drier, not so sure if it will be salvageable at this point but it should be.

The good news is the Enfield is completely stripped and cleaned. I was able to get the unsightly stains out of the fore stocks and they are now drying again. The butt stock I left alone, hopefully I'll get a good color match when I start oiling it. No part needs to be replaced on this. The stock bands would look nicer if replaced but they are functional and for now I think I'll let them be. Only drawback is it is missing both of it's sling swivels. The screws are here, just not the swivels. The barrel is a two groove and either needs further cleaning or it has some minor pitting. All I've done with it so far it run a brush through it a couple of times and sprayed oil in it.

Tomorrow I'll try to find some of those rust eating products. The Kroil looks to be out of my reach locally. My son in law recommended something similar I can get so I'll try that out. I'd like to get it out of the stock so I can get at that rust and get the stock dried out.