Should I Re-Blue my K98?

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Dr. Mauser

New member
My K98 just came today, and I went to check it out, (I live in California so I have to wait for 10 days to bring it home) :( Any way, upon my inspection I noticed numerous electropencil marks on it, the floor plate, part of the bolt...etc. What should I do to cover them so it looks nice? I've never done anything like this before and I dont wont to ruin this thing. Any ideas? I will add pics once I can pick the thing up, but to answer questions, Its a 42 marked rifle (later replaced by BYF) on the reciever and 1939 below, so the thing is pretty old and I dont wanna hurt it
 
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What should I do to cover them so it looks nice? I've never done anything like this before and I don't wont to ruin this thing. Any ideas?
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It really depends on how you feel about preserving your rifle. You'll hear everything from "strip and refinish - it's your rifle" to "don't touch it, put it down, it's part of history, leave it alone".

Personally, I would, at a minimum, touch it up would a cold blue solution like Birchwell Casey's Superblue. Dab it on with a Q-tip and buff it with 0000 steel wool. Repeat several times until everything blends together.
 
Brass wool is better to use than steel, isn't it? I thought there was some contention steel wool might embed and increase rusting.

I thought the electro pencil marks had to do with import and had to be left? Maybe I am not thinking of the right thing. My nagants have what I thought were electropencil marks on them from when they were imported.
 
Russian captured (RC) K98ks are basically part guns.
Ivan dissembled the Mausers acid dipped all the parts and dumped them into large bins reassembling them with what ever worked then electro penciling those newly mated parts with the receiver number.
They are not required to remain legally on the gun.

Some feel the gun is now best preserved as a Russian Captured K98k and left alone.

I do not share that feeling.

Remember, brass wool may not remove bluing but it also can not be blued once brass wooled.

I sand, steel wool whatever I need to to remove the elctro pencil.
On the bolt body I use a belt sander.
Right behind the drive wheel and before the flat steel there is a gap (with the sander turned upside down and secured) which one can push the curved bolt body into getting a nice even sanding that removed Ivan's tattoo!!!
Milled floor plates and trigger guards I also belt sand but stamped one I take more time using files/steel wool. emery paper etc.
There are a few cold blue products but Oxpho-blue is by far the best and I wire brush all the metal, action, barrel etc etc and after heating the parts with a small torch I use the Oxpho-blue via an old tooth brush.

I also sand out the number stamped in the stock, remove the Rusky shellac and oil the wood (To off set cleaning solutions, laminate stocks were not oiled per say).

But, because I have bought a number of these and restored them I have accumulated extra parts and I rearrange the parts to correct period for that year and make K98k.

After I reblue the K98k I wire brush it to re-age it giving it a WWII era finish
I do not weld over numbers and try to pass them off as anything but restored Russian captured guns when I have sold them.

Below is a picture of a completed restoration. I broke even with a lot of free work so there is no incentive to do this monetarily.

Wulfmann
1940-code42-R.jpg
 
The best thing to do with electric pencil marks is to just get used to them, maybe swab on some cold blue to cover the shine.

The reason is that an electric pencil of the normal impact type actually pounds the metal down where it hits. So the metal is not just cut into, as it would be with a graver, but is compressed. You can polish it down until it looks good, then when you blue it, the marking shows right through. By the time you get down to undisturbed metal, you have a very visible "gouge" in the area that looks worse than the original mark.

I don't know if the gun was re-blued or not, but if it hasn't been, any tank type reblue will look wrong on that gun, plus the polishing that will be given it by most gunsmiths will make it shiny.

I would leave it alone; it is what it is, and it bears the marks of its history.

Jim
 
Thanks for all your help guys, I'm affraid im not a talented as you haha im mearly 19 and got into collecting because of my grandfather's and their stories from the Eastern Front. So I know nothing about restoring, or what would hurt the metal and what would leave rust marks or scrub marks, I just want to make this thing look like I just picked it up off the battle field...you know minus the electropenciled 850 all over it:D
 
Me...I would BC it and make sure no rust is found anywhere on it. Once you got all the rust problems taken care of, just keep it well oiled. I wouldn't mess with any #s on any gun...that's just me. Those #s mean something to the GOV., ATF...something I just don't won't to mess with. ;)
 
Applying cold blue over the import marks isn't going to obliterate them, just eliminate the bare metal shine caused when they were punched into the metal. They're still there and legible.
 
So I'm taking that I should just leave them alone? This will be my 4th German K98, and the only one with Electropenciling on it, that why I wanted it gone, but if you say leave it alone, I will, unless there is a reasonible alternitive.
 
None of mine are peened, but if you guys want K98s...best page for cheap peened ones is here, I've bought several unpeened from them Thumbs up!

www.classicarms.us


To get to the K98 page scroll to the bottom and select Firearms
 
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