I just purchased a Mauser 71/84 which on the outside seemed like it was in great shape. The only issue was some pitting in the last 2" of the bore, but before that the bore was spotless. Yesterday I went to do a full disassembly to clean and inspect everything. My trouble began when I tried to remove the magazine tube. In most videos I found, the tube is supposed to slide right out. Mine however was stuck. Eventually I was able to slowly nudge it out using a rubber maillot and the end of a screwdriver. I could see why it was stuck. Although the inside of the tube was in good shape the outside of the tube was covered with rust which was kind of "gluing" it to the stock/receiver. I went at this rust with some steel wool so not I can slide the tube in and out with a bit of force but no hammer. Next I wanted to remove the stock. I went to unscrew the screw which holds the trigger guard to receiver. It would not budge and I did not want to apply too much force that I strip the screw (especially since all parts on this gun are matching and even the screws have serial numbers.) I then tried applying some penetrating lube to the screw head and letting it soak for an hour. This did not help. I then went out and got some liquid wrench and let that soak into the screw for an hour. This did not help either. Finally I brought it to the gunsmith at the store I bought it from and he worked on it for a half hour, brought it back, and said the screw was really stuck and corroded. He said he could drill it out and replace it, but since I have an all matching rifle I don't really want to do that. When I got back home I took the magazine tube out again and found that the screw ends right under one of the most corroded parts of the tube. I sprayed some liquid wrench there and let it soak but this still did not help.
I think what might have happened to this rifle is that someone had it out in the rain. They cleaned all the parts they could without removing the receiver/mag tube from the stock. This let water seep between the tight fitting metal parts and caused the corrosion. I am unsure what to do about this. I don't necessary need to get that screw out. I could just never remove the receiver from the stock. I plan on shooting black powder cartridges so I hope there is no fowling which gets under the part which lifts the cartridges from the mag tube to the bolt (not sure the correct term for this part.) I would also really like to clean out some the rust which is probably under there already.
Do any of you have suggestions or another approach for removing the screw?
This is an image from this page (http://www.militaryrifles.com/germany/71-84disassembly/71-84disassembly.htm) of the screw I am having the problem with.
I think what might have happened to this rifle is that someone had it out in the rain. They cleaned all the parts they could without removing the receiver/mag tube from the stock. This let water seep between the tight fitting metal parts and caused the corrosion. I am unsure what to do about this. I don't necessary need to get that screw out. I could just never remove the receiver from the stock. I plan on shooting black powder cartridges so I hope there is no fowling which gets under the part which lifts the cartridges from the mag tube to the bolt (not sure the correct term for this part.) I would also really like to clean out some the rust which is probably under there already.
Do any of you have suggestions or another approach for removing the screw?
This is an image from this page (http://www.militaryrifles.com/germany/71-84disassembly/71-84disassembly.htm) of the screw I am having the problem with.