A K98 Mauser with a very interesting story

[Pete123]

The K98 Mauser I written about has now shared her story:

 

A US soldier on the western front came into possession of a K98.  I’m guessing the GI got it close to the end of the war.  The reason being that the norm was to separate the bolt from the gun so that it couldn’t be used as a weapon.

 

This is why it’s so hard to find K98s where the serial numbers on the bolt match the rest of the gun.

 

Unfortunately, the K98 stocks were just a little too long to fit in a GI duffle, so they often cut about three inches off the end so it would fit, which happened to this gun.

 

So, the GI comes home and starts a family.  He has a son who we’ll call “Dummy”.  Bubba isn’t the right term as we have a Bubba on TGO that is smarter than all of the rest of us put together - Yes, he really is a rocket scientist. 

 

Back to the story.  Dummy decides this gun needs some work.  The end of the stock was cut off, so he gets a turkish band and hand guard as well as a big tub of some kind of skanky glue and a drill with a wire brush attachment.  Oh, he also gets a can of the cheapest wood stain/finish that money can buy.

 

He applies the wood finish to the gun, actually thinking it looked better.

 

Of course the metal needs a good cleaning.  That’s where the drill with a wire brush attachment comes in.

 

He uses about two gallons of glue on the gun and somehow gets the Turkish hand guard and band onto the the gun.

 

So, you may ask, why do I think the original GI had a son named Dummy.  The reason is that any GI that was able to survive on the western front couldn’t possibly be dense enough to abuse such a nice weapon.

 

So, time goes on and somehow I get lucky and found the gun. I got the bolt taken apart and saw that all numbers match except the safety lever.  Based on the limited history of the gun I suspected that it was fully matching, though Dummy had covered the serial number with the Turkish hand guard.

 

I was able to carefully use a Dremel to get the hand guard off and saw that the numbers matched.

 

I have a friend who is a great guy that has done right by me.  His father collected WW2 Mausers and my friend inherited his passion.  He’s late 50s and has collected Mausers all his life, but never had one where the bolt matched the gun.

 

I knew that I wanted him to have the gun.  I had already planned to go to his house the next day.

 

It turned out that the glue was soluble with acetone.  It took a lot of work with bronze wool, but we got it off.  Gratefully, the bore of the gun is perfect.  The cheap wood finish used also came off with acetone.

 

Now to the exciting part.  Dummy hadn’t done nearly as much damage as would have been expected based on how the gun looked before.  We were able to see all the stamps, proof marks, etc…  to confirm that the gun, including stock, is a completely matching Early edition BCD 4.  

 

The only parts that don’t match are the safety lever.  I don’t think the hand guard or band at the end have marks, though we know they aren’t original.  As mentioned earlier, the GI had to cut a few inches off the end to get it in his duffle bag.

 

So, my friend and I made a trade that we both feel good about.  

 

The K98 will probably need some counseling due to the abuse, though we have a happy ending.  She now has a Dad who will love and care for her forever.

 

The End.

 

Now for pics.  The first one shows Dummy's finesse with glue and how well he polished the barrel with the rotating wire brush:

 

 

Below you can see what the stock would have looked like, following by a pic of Dummy's work.  Note that you can see the beautiful read through Dummy's work.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2015 by Pete123

[Sunfish]

It will take sometime before it's presentable again. Perhaps Pete will post some after shots. The stock is pretty much firewood but I may take a donor end from another stock and attach it to the duffle cut just for a spare. Time has not been my friend of late. Once the metal is prepped I will mix up a batch of salts from lye and 34-34-34. Stinky job but the rifle would not look rite rust blued and commercial salts are to blue in color. Before anyone gets any ideas I do not do this for hire. Sunfish