Russian Capture K98

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Winchester_guy87

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I have just recently bought a K98 RC. I was wondering if it would be worth trying to restore the rifle (refinish the stock, re-blue the metal). I was hoping that some of you would have some insight on this. Also I am having a really hard time trying to clean the bore (extremely dark but expected with surplus). There is no pitting and its fine for shooting. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance. I will also put up some pics.
 
Outers foul out system works for me,gets out copper fouling well.There are other bore cleaners that after plugging the barrel you fill the bore and let sit overnight that works well also.As far as restoring it probably wouldn't be worth the effort because in the end you would have a refinished non original firearm.I have several of the K98's,Lugers,and P38's that were Russian capture and i think they make interesting side-notes in history.Clean it up and enjoy it as is.
 
Thanks Driver. Yeah I guess if I refinished the rifle I would be left with a Mitchell's mausers rifle and we know all about the great things people have to say about those. :D
 
I have found on mil-surp rifles if you strip the rifle down and heat the barrel slightly (125 degrees) with a hot air gun and use "Sweetshooter" the bore comes clean and stays that way.
Sweetshooter has become my all time favorite solvent.
http://www.sweetshooter.com/


If the bore is real nasty (here comes the flames) take some 0000 steel wool on a jag and soak it in machine oil and swab the bore a few times.
Some of what is in the bore is old powder and cosmoliane and you have to break the top crust off before the solvents do any good.
Keep in mind some of these guns have been stored for decades.
Do not "scrub" the bore just stroke it a few times with lots of oil and follow regular cleaning procedures.
 
As far as restoring it probably wouldn't be worth the effort because in the end you would have a refinished non original firearm...
Click to expand...

It's an RC - it's already "non-original".
 
It's an RC - it's already "non-original".
Click to expand...

JMHO
Being a Russian capture gives it it's own originality. I know there are tons of them out there, but they are still historically unique to me!
I say clean it up, and enjoy it for what it is.
 
There's Russian Capture, and then there's Russian Refinish!

Not all of the Russian capture guns are "not original". True, there are those (and they have been on the market recently) that the Russians "serviced" "cleaned up" and sometimes completely refinished. And there are others that basically just got oiled, and stuck in a warehouse for half a century and more.

I've got a K98 with a winter triggerguard, one of the reddish stocks and generally poor finish on the steel. Russian capture, bought by me around 20 years ago. Parts match, it is "original". Doesn't look new, and never will, unless some future owner has it done. Bore is rough, but it shoots ok.
 
True, but "Russian Capture" implies certain things - non-matching numbers, no cleaning rod or sight hood, dunked in shellac, etc. It seldom means "Condition Improved by the Gracious Efforts and Resources of the Soviet Union".

As far as whether it would be worth the effort (as stated in an earlier post), that's really for the person expending the effort to decide.
 
"Condition Improved by the Gracious Efforts and Resources of the Soviet Union".
Click to expand...
The Russians stripped the captured rifles, threw all the parts in matching parts-specific piles, then rebuilt complete rifles with the most usable parts.
Think of them as "all star" parts guns from the Eastern front. I liked mine; it was solid and shot straight. In the end, it's probably a better functioning service rifle than any one of the original rifles from which the parts were scavenged. But I value use over adoration.

I just used a standard 8mm brass brush and elbow grease to clean out my barrel. Maybe I got lucky.
 
Well I think I am just going to buy a second RC and refinish one and keep the other as is... you can never have too many K98s right?
:D:D:D (We need a thumbs up smilie!!!)
 
Russian capture doesn't imply mismatch or thrown together.I have a all matching Luger that was hot blued by the Russians,if i were to restore it i would have a refinished Luger worth substantially less than an all original one.I have a original finish K98 Russian capture numbers matching,while i have it's mate,re-numbered ,hot-blue,shellacked stock.I even have a G-43 that was marked as having been in Russian hands at one time,with the original finish intact.
I guess i could strip them, sand the stocks ,and beautify them but i wouldn't really gain anything.As one fellow remarked Mitchell already does that.And i think value would be drastically reduced even farther by eliminating more history.Am i opposed to improving Frankenstein weapons,no,i slapped a .308 barrel on a mis-match K98 that had the rifling of a sewer pipe.
As a collector- shooter it pains me to see a matching Swede 38 ,drilled with a Bushnell sitting on it.Or a 03a3 that someone took sandpaper and a buffing wheel to.
 
A numbers-matching RC K98k is far more rare than the mis-matched varieties.

I have no idea whether that holds true for any other weaponry the Russians captured, e.g. Lugers, etc.
 
Russian Captures - dont refinish. Just clean it up.

If you refinish that gun, it loses value. Wash the stock a little bit. Get a bore brush and use standard solvent in the bore, over and over and over again until it comes clean. Dont "shoot the bore clean" of preservative. There are many nuts that throw a shell in the chamber and blast out the bore. Dont do that. Just clean it with Hoppes 9 over and over again until it is clean. You dont need diesel fuel. You dont need special funky solvents. Just clean it up normally. For very heavy soil, non-chlorinated brake cleaner (which is basically dry cleaning solution) will disolve the greasy preservative very quickly, and it will evaporate away in a matter of a minute or two. You can get it in your auto parts store in spray cans.


Many of the Russian capture K98 rifles are marked with an "X" but there were thousands of them that got no markings at all. The Russian government put a combination of prisoners and simths to work on these rifles to prepare them in case they were needed by home-guard troops in National Emergencies. They hot-dipped all the bolts BLACK, patched up the stocks, greased up the weapons and threw them into long-term storage. Some were wrapped, but the majority were simply greased and crated in wood. If you have one with a black, hot dipped bolt, and no "X" then chances are it is a Russian Capture. Almost all of the bolts dont match, because they obviously hot-dipped them in batches andprobably threw them into piles for later re-assembly.

Keep the piece historically intact. Dont refinish it. If you fire it, then clean the weapon very well and store it carefully for future generations to enjoy. There will never be anymore of these rifles. They are full of history.
 
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