Embalmer
04-08-2010, 08:03
I was looking into getting my bolt blued, and have run accross 6 dif topics that are all pretty much saying the same thing....
"Before you do anything, learn the facts on the K98k. Bottom line: You bolt is not faded, it came that way.
The German K98k Mauser used a steel alloy (a stainless inox) that was never blued as issued in WWII. If you want your rifle to be authentic, you will keep the bolt "in the white".
The resons the Mausers issued most of the guns in their history with white bolts are several. First off, in the early days there was no blue process that would work with the stainles alloy metal. The rest of the gun is made from carbon steel which takes blue well, but the alloy steel did not. Another reason is the wear. A blued bolt would get ugly very quickly due to the action cycling. Finally and most important likely, as the bolt was sort of a stainless steel, it really didn't need the protection that the carbon steel did, the white steel was much more rust and corrosion resistant, although not rust proof.
Now, before you start calling me a whacko because you have seen blued bolts on many K98ks read on....
After WWII, the Soviet Union and many of their allied Communist states collected and preserved every German rifle they had. They cleaned the guns, took them apart and blued every metal piece. The Russians used a newer method of blue that was a much darker color than original, almost black, and it did in fact work on the bolts. They were not concerned with originality, they just wanted a couple of million rifle to issue to civilians in case the West invaded them once again.
Most of the K98ks we see for sale today are what we collectors call "RC" for "Russian Captured". Although rarely matching rifles and some with new Russian wood, many of us collectors are actually removing the blue from the bolts so the guns at leastlook close to how they were used by the Germans.
I advise you forget about blue (as it is almost impossible to get the commercial blue products we have anyway) and just polish the bolt a bit with some metal polish. "
Was also reading a book weapons of the world or what ever, and mentions k98 bolts in the white.
anyone know the story?
"Before you do anything, learn the facts on the K98k. Bottom line: You bolt is not faded, it came that way.
The German K98k Mauser used a steel alloy (a stainless inox) that was never blued as issued in WWII. If you want your rifle to be authentic, you will keep the bolt "in the white".
The resons the Mausers issued most of the guns in their history with white bolts are several. First off, in the early days there was no blue process that would work with the stainles alloy metal. The rest of the gun is made from carbon steel which takes blue well, but the alloy steel did not. Another reason is the wear. A blued bolt would get ugly very quickly due to the action cycling. Finally and most important likely, as the bolt was sort of a stainless steel, it really didn't need the protection that the carbon steel did, the white steel was much more rust and corrosion resistant, although not rust proof.
Now, before you start calling me a whacko because you have seen blued bolts on many K98ks read on....
After WWII, the Soviet Union and many of their allied Communist states collected and preserved every German rifle they had. They cleaned the guns, took them apart and blued every metal piece. The Russians used a newer method of blue that was a much darker color than original, almost black, and it did in fact work on the bolts. They were not concerned with originality, they just wanted a couple of million rifle to issue to civilians in case the West invaded them once again.
Most of the K98ks we see for sale today are what we collectors call "RC" for "Russian Captured". Although rarely matching rifles and some with new Russian wood, many of us collectors are actually removing the blue from the bolts so the guns at leastlook close to how they were used by the Germans.
I advise you forget about blue (as it is almost impossible to get the commercial blue products we have anyway) and just polish the bolt a bit with some metal polish. "
Was also reading a book weapons of the world or what ever, and mentions k98 bolts in the white.
anyone know the story?