Mil-Surp Metal Finish -- First Thread

[bdgackle]

Hello all,

I have a Spanish Mauser, made 1955. Caliber 8x57 mauser -- I believe this is a k98 copy. It is in good shape, but I don't think the original finish is on it, and I would like to make an attempt to restore it to its original condition. I know this destroys residual collector value, but I think the damage has already been done, and I would like to give it the respect of returning it to historical authenticity.

I have two questions with regard to this.

The first is about the bluing on the metal. The barrel and reciever are blued, but the bolt is a bright silver color, similar to unfinished steel (actually, I think it IS unfinished steel). Would the bolt on this have originally been blued, and it's worn off, or were these left looking like the original steel on purpose? If it was originally blued, I'd like to attempt to re-blue. If not, then I'd like to leave as is.

The second question is re: the wood finish. How do you identify poly-urethane finishing? I think that a linseed oil finish is the appropriate one for this era, and I THINK I'm looking at a plastic finish -- it's sort of shiny and clear. Any suggestions on ways to make a positive ID?

Thanks in advance, and please feel free to correct me if I've located this post in error, or done anything else considered rude -- I'm new to this, but eager not to make people mad if I can avoid it.

 

[rcmodel]

Are you sure about the "made in 1955" part?

Most likely the bolt was never blued.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/mauser93spanish/index.asp

As for the stock, it would have been an oil finish, but some of those got pretty shiny if the solder spent a lot of time rubbing linseed oil on it.

rcmodel

 

[bdgackle]

Yup, pretty sure about the 1955 part. At least, it's stamped right on the receiver.

I'm fairly certain that what I have is an M43, not one of the older Spanish Mausers. Pretty hard gun to find info about online, compared to a lot of mil-surps.

If it is in fact an oil finish, doesn't that mean the existing finish would be soluble in linseed oil? Is there a way to find an unobtrusive spot on the gun and test for that?

Thanks for the info!

 

[rcmodel]

Not really.
Once linseed oil drys, it becomes a polymer of sorts, and is not really soluable with more linseed oil.

What you might try is acetone or fingernail polish remover on a Q-Tip in an out-of-the-way spot.
But, I'm not even sure that will work once linseed has cured out.

rcmodel

 

[Jim Watson]

Some Mauser bolts were blued, some left bright. If it is uniformly white, it was probably left as bare steel when built.

I am not a woodworker, but there are methods and materials to dull a finish. Get the right approach and you can probably bring the stock back to a dull oil finish appearance without having to sand or strip everything off to bare wood to start over. Which usually looks like crap unless very expertly done.

 

[bdgackle]

It is pretty uniform, so based on what you are saying, I'm guessing that is its original state.

The fact that some of them were left bright is very interesting. Do you know why would they choose not to blue the bolt when manufacturing the rifle? I thought that the bluing of the metal was supposed to be relatively functional, both from the standpoint of preservation and visibility.

I've read that Birch and Walnut are the most common woods on stocks, at least in the context of American rifles. Does anyone know what other woods might be used? I'd be interested in experimenting on some scraps to see what can be achieved before messing around with an actual stock.

 

[rcmodel]

Mauser bolts were not generally blued until they started doing it to speed production during WWII.

Prior to that, most all of them I can think of had polished bolts.

They weren't worried much about visibility back then. They wore colorful uniforms with plums & spikes on polished brass adorned helmets.

Even the bayonets were highly polished & shiny.

Functional?
The polished bolts made for some of the slickest operating bolt guns ever made.

rcmodel

 

[Sunray]

Poly-urethane dissolves in alcohol. Rubbing alcohol will do nicely. A drop on an inconspicous spot will either dissolve the finish or it won't.
'Plan B". If you find an inconspicous spot and scratch it then try to hide the scratch with more oil, poly-urethane will still have a scratch. A real oil finish won't.
"...linseed oil..." Boiled Linseed Oil(BLO), not pure is a good wood finish. Pure linseed oil doesn't dry well. BLO does. A shiny finish can be had using Tung Oil. It's better than BLO, but it takes several days of rubbing in. Gives a hard, virtually waterproof finish. The more coats you rub in, the shinier the finish. Still has the oil finish advantage of just needing a bit more rubbed in to make a scratch go away.
"...what other woods might be used?..." Beech, Stateside. Some Long Branch No. 4 Lee-Enfields had maple stocks. However, there were lots of Mausers made with laminated stocks too.