8MM Mauser
New member
Hello all, I recently received as a gift a 1934 vintage Czech Mauser, VZ 24.
It is still drenched in cosmoline, and the wood is a little shoddy in some places; but it is all told a fine rifle! The front sight is actually pretty decent although the rear sight is...not much. The bore is really good for a gun this old! Of course I also have the bayonet. I want to keep the gun in as original condition as I possibly can; but I also want to have a functional shooter on my hands too. So I am wondering what I can do to:
1) Remove the cosmoline
2) Keep the gun, especially the wood protected
3) Carefully remove some spots of rust on the Bolt and around the muzzle
So what advice can you offer me? I love old guns, but I don't usually buy them. I had a Mosin before; but it came cleaned up from a distributor and I only purchased it because at the time it was all I could afford. I never liked it as a Shooter. I have shot stock Mausers before though and I like them; my hunting rifle is a sporterized Mauser actually. I love the balance of a stock rifle though, and I like the way the bolt works. I never did get used to the Mosin bolt.
It is still drenched in cosmoline, and the wood is a little shoddy in some places; but it is all told a fine rifle! The front sight is actually pretty decent although the rear sight is...not much. The bore is really good for a gun this old! Of course I also have the bayonet. I want to keep the gun in as original condition as I possibly can; but I also want to have a functional shooter on my hands too. So I am wondering what I can do to:
1) Remove the cosmoline
2) Keep the gun, especially the wood protected
3) Carefully remove some spots of rust on the Bolt and around the muzzle
So what advice can you offer me? I love old guns, but I don't usually buy them. I had a Mosin before; but it came cleaned up from a distributor and I only purchased it because at the time it was all I could afford. I never liked it as a Shooter. I have shot stock Mausers before though and I like them; my hunting rifle is a sporterized Mauser actually. I love the balance of a stock rifle though, and I like the way the bolt works. I never did get used to the Mosin bolt.