GUNS & ROCKETS

dave carver said:

+10 on the Birchwood Casey gun stock oil. Use it by itself. Don't Minwax stain, seal, fill. modify in any way. The TruOil brings out the colors of the wood like no other product. You really rub it in with your fingers, your fingers can feel if you've missed a spot and make sure the coating is uniformly applied. We actually had woodshops in our schools when my dad work there. He would collect abandoned boxes student's had made, most of the times there were flaws. I'd fix then use many coats, 8 or more. When dry between coats you buff it all down with 0000 steel wool, every time. The final finish will look so custom many will believe you had a stock made.

I know of a good stripper for old gunstocks, Spray On EasyOff Oven Cleaner. It water neutralizes and is much less caustic than a paint stripper. Test it in a inconspicuous spot just in case. Like Top said, let it dry. Let it dry every time it gets wet with water or oil. Time consuming but the results are gorgeous

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You know that of which you Speak! :wink:

timbucktoo said:

Personally, I would leave it at it is. It gives it character and maintains its value.

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TopRamen said:

I've refinished a number of Stocks with Birchwood Casey Tru-oil. It's like a Beeswax Linseed Oil Mixture, and can be worked in by hand rubbing to a satin sheen or built up to a high luster.
Muaser Stocks often are well worn with deep Oil Stains or sometimes even soaked through with Cosmolene, so getting the Stock cleaned/dried out first is important. That took me nearly a Month on my Swedish.
Mister Clean in warm Water is good for lifting all that old Oil out.
If there are any Cartouches or Stamps/Markings in the Wood that you would like to keep, it's best to do it by cleaning it and drying it a few times instead of going at it with Sandpaper. The Wood would still be oily underneath anyway, and the Finish won't adhere and absorb properly.
I see you are in Arizona, so lucky you, Drying out the Stock should be easy.
Forgot to mention, a Hair Dryer is good to have too, because you can warm the Wood when it is Dry and it will leak the old Oil out. Do that first to get out as much as possible prior to beginning Cleaning.

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dave carver said:

+10 on the Birchwood Casey gun stock oil. Use it by itself. Don't Minwax stain, seal, fill. modify in any way. The TruOil brings out the colors of the wood like no other product. You really rub it in with your fingers, your fingers can feel if you've missed a spot and make sure the coating is uniformly applied. We actually had woodshops in our schools when my dad work there. He would collect abandoned boxes student's had made, most of the times there were flaws. I'd fix then use many coats, 8 or more. When dry between coats you buff it all down with 0000 steel wool, every time. The final finish will look so custom many will believe you had a stock made.

I know of a good stripper for old gunstocks, Spray On EasyOff Oven Cleaner. It water neutralizes and is much less caustic than a paint stripper. Test it in a inconspicuous spot just in case. Like Top said, let it dry. Let it dry every time it gets wet with water or oil. Time consuming but the results are gorgeous

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Thank you for your suggestions!

Please understand I have no intentions of ruining the history of this gun. I just want to make it shine like it once did. I want to leave the dark spots on the stock that was put their by the sweat of whoever was carrying it. I just want to give the gun respect and give it the respect it deserves. The metal butt stock cover needs to be cleaned and I want to bring a little more shine to it. Also someone re-blued the bolt after it was captured and then re-stamped by Yugoslavia. So I am trying to bring as much of the originality out as I possible can.

Thank you for your suggestions on refinishing the stock! I am doing everything I can to get rid of the cosmoline out of the stock. I am using mineral spirits and wiping it on liberally and then rubbing it off. Then I will let it sit in the sun for a few days and go back to the mineral spirits.

Today I took it apart and checked the clearance of the barrel. All but one step of the barrel is free floating, the step nearest the bayonet lug is in contact with the wood. However, after researching free floating a Mauser it is highly recommended to keep that step in contact with the wood. So I am really happy with that!

In 10 days I will be taking the gun to the range with 80 rounds and see what it can do. I am most worried about the barrel, so we will see how she does.

BLKKROW said:

I got my K98k back and the gunsmith said it has the best head spacing on a Mauser he has ever seen. So I feel a lot better about putting some rounds down range. On Nov 11th me and my wife are going shooting for her birthday so I bought 80 rounds that I will send downrange.

If anyone needs more pictures or would like more pictures lets me know.

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Need? We WANT! more pics of your rifle...

BLKKROW said:

Anyone have any advice on polishing my K98? The butt plate is in desperate need and I may take off the blue from the bolt and bolt handle.

I also want to lightly sand the stock to get rid of some minor scratches. After I do that what should I finish it with?

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Polishing? No, as the Mauser only shined in performance, not in appearance. By that I mean, they were clean, but not "pretty" Clean with mineral spirits (metals and wood), and oil down the action with an oil of your choice.

BLKKROW said:

Thank you for your suggestions!

Please understand I have no intentions of ruining the history of this gun. I just want to make it shine like it once did. I want to leave the dark spots on the stock that was put their by the sweat of whoever was carrying it. I just want to give the gun respect and give it the respect it deserves. The metal butt stock cover needs to be cleaned and I want to bring a little more shine to it. Also someone re-blued the bolt after it was captured and then re-stamped by Yugoslavia. So I am trying to bring as much of the originality out as I possible can.

Thank you for your suggestions on refinishing the stock! I am doing everything I can to get rid of the cosmoline out of the stock. I am using mineral spirits and wiping it on liberally and then rubbing it off. Then I will let it sit in the sun for a few days and go back to the mineral spirits.

Today I took it apart and checked the clearance of the barrel. All but one step of the barrel is free floating, the step nearest the bayonet lug is in contact with the wood. However, after researching free floating a Mauser it is highly recommended to keep that step in contact with the wood. So I am really happy with that!

In 10 days I will be taking the gun to the range with 80 rounds and see what it can do. I am most worried about the barrel, so we will see how she does.

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Note here, that anything you do to change the current appearance of the rifle will change and or remove the history of the rifle. If you are okay with that, then here is what I do to some of my older rifles:

All metal is cleaned with mineral spirits, and oiled down with Rem Oil. The stock is also cleaned with mineral spirits. In your case we will need more images to better give advice on how to re-finish the stock... is yours a laminate stock? If so, clean it well with the mineral spirits, and the oil with boiled linseed oil or something similar. Laminates are pretty good about supplying their own color and character, and oiling them will help to preserve it. There are many different ways to oil a stock, here is what I do, which may not be the norm:

Apply oil by hand and rub into stock. Let oil sit for 30-minutes and then wipe the excess off. Wait a minimum of 24-hours before applying the second coat... repeat as needed or until the stock takes on no more oil (does not look dry). Note here, if go with any linseed oil, you MUST! remove any excess, otherwise the stock surface will get "gummy" from the excess oil and that is yucky... If this happens, wipe down with mineral spirits and start over.

My one and only K98 had an awesome stock. I cleaned it and oiled the stock once...



The metal I just cleaned and oiled as desribed... the finish was 0% and looked awesome...



As I mentioned before, I felt the rifle was haunted, so I sold it...

Here is what I am working with.

Nice looking Mauser. If I owned the rifle, I would clean all metal with mineral spirits and oil down with a gun oil of your choice. That beautiful hardwood stock would get the same treatment; clean good with mineral spirits, and then oiled with a boiled linseed oil. Remember, this is what I would do if it were mine... many a collector have cringed at what I have done to preserve the beauty in my old rifles... that's because I do what I like to make them mine.

I will pick my rifle up this afternoon. I will fully disassemble her and give her the oil treatment etc. The guy I bought the rifle from stated to me that the rifle has been a safe queen for 15-years. He said that the recoil was always too much for his aging shoulder...

Put a NcStar RedDot on the air rifle. Taking the big scope off and installing the Red Dot sure changes the feel a lot. Now to got through a few cartridges of CO2 to get used to it

DRAGON64 said:

Nice looking Mauser. If I owned the rifle, I would clean all metal with mineral spirits and oil down with a gun oil of your choice. That beautiful hardwood stock would get the same treatment; clean good with mineral spirits, and then oiled with a boiled linseed oil. Remember, this is what I would do if it were mine... many a collector have cringed at what I have done to preserve the beauty in my old rifles... that's because I do what I like to make them mine.

I will pick my rifle up this afternoon. I will fully disassemble her and give her the oil treatment etc. The guy I bought the rifle from stated to me that the rifle has been a safe queen for 15-years. He said that the recoil was always too much for his aging shoulder...

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[video=youtube;M-AT8Yh80vE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-AT8Yh80vE[/video]

Had some time to go shoot it today. I am still trying to figure out groupings and trying to get it to 1-3 MOA at 100 yards. Today I was shooting just to shoot, I put 40 rounds down the pipe and the gun warmed up so much more cosmoline was bleeding out. So I have a lot of work to get this thing clean.

My daughter and I paid short visit to the local gun show. It's advertised as The Big One and is held at the State Fairgrounds.

My purpose in attending was to find some .22LR CCI AR Tactical. Turns out the same group I purchased from earlier in the year was the only one stocking it. I paid $50/box of 300 and bought two. While the price was a bit higher than the online price, it was right there in front of me and there were no internet shipping issues to be dealt with.

I also found a nice T-shirt carrying a variation of the "Keep Calm" meme: "Keep Calm And Return Fire".

Another vendor was selling factory Glock cleaning mats for $12 so I bought one. It's one of the 1/4" thick neoprene variety rather than the cheap imports from the Orient.

We snapped a photo of the customary sign outside the gun show that says "No firearms sales may be conducted on Cal Expo property unless processed through a licensed firearms dealer."

So much for the mythical "Gun Show Loophole" the grabbers are always yammering about.

BLKKROW said:

Had some time to go shoot it today. I am still trying to figure out groupings and trying to get it to 1-3 MOA at 100 yards. Today I was shooting just to shoot, I put 40 rounds down the pipe and the gun warmed up so much more cosmoline was bleeding out. So I have a lot of work to get this thing clean.

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Vsry nice... I have not picked up any 8mm for my Mauser yet... trying to avoid getting any of the corrosive surplus... looks like I will have to reload for my bolt gun if I want to save some coin on the venerable round.

Here is a trip my son and I took to the CMP SOuth Store this past Easter holiday (good Friday)... I have a number of these CMP trips on my channel, this was just the latest.

[video=youtube;UrH7R1ihueI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrH7R1ihueI&list=UUjkf1sRCKz_E2JkdlX3xxng[/video]

I took the M1 out to the range (my back yard) during Memorial day weekend...

[video=youtube;vrvUbnj5Kn0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrvUbnj5Kn0&list=UUjkf1sRCKz_E2JkdlX3xxng[/video]

I guess there is something to be said about the senses when you love the smell of burning gunpowder, LOL.

As a military guy, I have both a love of rockets and shooting. Not only do I build my own rockets, but have built my own AR-15 rifles as well. Now you got me thinking of creating a matching set. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks for posting that video of your trip through the CMP store.

There's nothing like that out on the Left Coast.

o1d_dude said:

Thanks for posting that video of your trip through the CMP store.

There's nothing like that out on the Left Coast.

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I have made 4-trips to the South Store, as it resides right here in Alabama... I need to make another, as every trip rewards with a piece of U.S. history.

I had a real good evening at the range this week.
Obviously breaking my own record. 15 rounds at 100 meters.
15x in the 10.
13x within 1 inch....

Who said AR15s are not accurate? This was made with my Bavarian Oberland Arms OA-15 M1 with a .223 Lothar Walther Bull Barrell 20", a Steiner Military Scope and Sellier & Bellot munition from the shelf...I was nearly shocked as the target came back to me. The range officer stamped and signed it. I could not believe... such a day...
Wishing all my shooter friends a nice weekend at the range...

Nice shooting, Denis!

Sold a Mellonair Adjustable Power Hammer Spring that I had extra from my Crossman 2400 KT. I had mentioned that I probably would be selling it in the air gun forum I frequent and I hardly had that posted when I got a PM asking how much Mellon can make people wait...sometimes for a lot longer than you think he should but when the product arrives it's jewel-like quality, his stainless steel is gorgeous. I got the last 9" barrel shroud he made and Muzzle Mike, one of the very best air gun tuners in the US, lives about 1/4 mile away. I'm having him convert the shroud into a....[whisper]..silencer...which in Idaho is legal and do a fine tune. I already replaced the chump slot screws with all hex drive. They are of a much higher quality steel than stock. New taller and better quality rings for the Leopold scope, I like them much more with the 4 bolts instead of 2. There are rings that have 6 hold down screws but I just didn't see the need to pay $35 more for two screws.

Plans for the Mosin-Nagant proceeds a piece at a time. I got a laser bore bullet and, boy, is it bright. Plan is to buy the small stuff then get the rifle then the Archangel stock. Been kicking around a few ideas for a muzzle brake, I'll have to talk to the guy that does my machining and see what he thinks.

dave carver said:

Plans for the Mosin-Nagant proceeds a piece at a time. I got a laser bore bullet and, boy, is it bright. Plan is to buy the small stuff then get the rifle then the Archangel stock. Been kicking around a few ideas for a muzzle brake, I'll have to talk to the guy that does my machining and see what he thinks.

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Are you going to shorten the long barrel? From what I hear you can improve the accuracy of the long barrel Mosins by shorting the barrel down to 22-24" range.

o1d_dude said:

Are you going to shorten the long barrel? From what I hear you can improve the accuracy of the long barrel Mosins by shorting the barrel down to 22-24" range.

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I would also free float the barrel and glass bed it. My surplus Mauser which is free floating, can easily hit 2-3 MOA at 100 yards with erosion in the barrel.

This is close to what I'm up to:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...esmaWOKi9cAoRK3FYZNFXRZJF4jK9xs1KVtZMAIIEi1aA

I want to leave the length on it at first, plan is to only shoot sabot 65 grain .223 boattail hollow points rounds at about 3900-4000 fps area to blow up rock chuck, ground squirrels, jack rabbits, and with any real luck maybe an antelope. Coyote, too. We only have one area identified as to having any feral pig but I'd like to see if I can find any, I kinda know the area they reported to be in.

legranddudu said:

I had a real good evening at the range this week.
Obviously breaking my own record. 15 rounds at 100 meters.
15x in the 10.
13x within 1 inch....

Who said AR15s are not accurate? This was made with my Bavarian Oberland Arms OA-15 M1 with a .223 Lothar Walther Bull Barrell 20", a Steiner Military Scope and Sellier & Bellot munition from the shelf...I was nearly shocked as the target came back to me. The range officer stamped and signed it. I could not believe... such a day...
Wishing all my shooter friends a nice weekend at the range...

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Denis - Have you posted a pic of your rifle yet? Nice shooting.

dave carver said:

This is close to what I'm up to:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...esmaWOKi9cAoRK3FYZNFXRZJF4jK9xs1KVtZMAIIEi1aA

I want to leave the length on it at first, plan is to only shoot sabot 65 grain .223 boattail hollow points rounds at about 3900-4000 fps area to blow up rock chuck, ground squirrels, jack rabbits, and with any real luck maybe an antelope. Coyote, too. We only have one area identified as to having any feral pig but I'd like to see if I can find any, I kinda know the area they reported to be in.

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This is a Mosin Nagant right? Are you swapping the barrel and bolt to make a .223 shooter out of her... Maybe you could clarify this for me, as I am little confused here.

Not changing the barrel, using sabot rounds. But the bolt does have to be modified. It sticks straight out to the side and raising the bolt puts is square in the middle of the rifle. If a bolt modification isn't done then the scope has to be massively raised or offset to the side which is what the Russians did with the sniper rifles. There are two versions of new bolts, cut off the old, tap for a longer more slender bolt and bend it to clear. The bolt I will be using the original bolt is removed and the spot machined flat. A hole is drilled and tapped for a bolt that is...bolted on. Even then I really don't like that they use 1 bolt, I have seen how it works loose. One guy added a mismatched bolt to stop it rotation, mine will match.

That Archangel stock is adjustable in length of the butt as well as an adjustable cheek piece. All polymer it's very stable and tough. with a little looking around Mosin-Nagant's can be found for under $100. I have found the stock for $139 and the bolt for $30. There is a precision trigger assembly that runs another $100 all by itself but the reports are it's worth it. A hundred dollar trigger on a hundred dollar gun..... The stock has a little piece that is removed to fit the trigger already built in.

Scopes can be...problematical. Most take advantage of the 11mm dovetail that the rear sight fits on but this leads to needing long eye relief pistol scopes or weird contraptions to move the scope back on a cantilevered scope mount. The best mount uses a steel band that runs under the receiver the clamps around the whole rifle. This positions the scope in the right place with a very solid mount.

A little tip I read about is it to open the bolt and look for two screw ends on the left side wall of the receiver. This signifies that the rifle was a sniper rifle. When the rifles were turned in the scopes were removed and the holes fill with screws that the heads were filed off after welding. The difference between a regular and sniper version is accuracy. When the factory proofed the rifle the most accurate were modified to be sniper rifles. Many were given into a corp of women snipers. Can you imagine, a sniper core of pissed off women...? *shudders*

DRAGON64 said:

How about a 1943 PU sniper rifle from the Tula factory in 7.62X54R... The biggest taboo here is I dared restore the rifle back to some kind of simulated glory without adding back that nasty red shellac finnish...

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I really just saw this, very nice Did you have the bolt done or did you do it? Or is it a factory modification? The scope setup is what I'm interested in. This is what I most likely will go with:

https://www.jmeckscopemounts.com/Home_Page.php

Photos 4 & 5 are very much how mine will end up. I got no love for the history, I'll be selling off the non-used parts and keeping what I need. It's like a ratrodder buys a Cadillac just for the 500 cubic inch engine and has no interest in the rest of the Coupe' DeVille. Or computers for that matter. I paid $100 for the HP DC7900, every that can be upgraded is to the max. Dual Core to Quad, 8 gigs mem, Win7 64 bit. Because of the low profile the best vid card is a 750 GTX that I still need to get but you catch my drift and Top gets it, too. Building a custom gun like no other is a satisfying feeling and if it shoots good then that's a bonus

I had to sell, basically pawn, my 45-70 today. But I'll get it back as soon as I sell my Bostich Framing Nailer.
Good friend of mine runs the gun shop here. Marine, same as my Dad was. Except he was VN, not WWII.
He led the Honor Guard at my Dad's funeral. Handed my mom his flag and 21 empty casings.
Once a Marine, Always a Marine.
He also his basically runs the range here. He refuses to be president. Avid skeet shooter.
He did ask me why I wanted so little for the gun, cause I'll be back as soon as I can to buy it back.
He agreed not to sell it until Feb. 1 of next year. So I should be good. Just the fee sucks, but what can one do?
Didn't mean to interupt the the way this thread was going, but I had to post this.
It was x-mas present from my brother. Knight KP-1 SS/Black Composite 45-70 Gov.
And I didn't even get to shoot her this past summer. :cry:

dave carver said:

I really just saw this, very nice Did you have the bolt done or did you do it? Or is it a factory modification? The scope setup is what I'm interested in. This is what I most likely will go with:

https://www.jmeckscopemounts.com/Home_Page.php

Photos 4 & 5 are very much how mine will end up. I got no love for the history, I'll be selling off the non-used parts and keeping what I need. It's like a ratrodder buys a Cadillac just for the 500 cubic inch engine and has no interest in the rest of the Coupe' DeVille. Or computers for that matter. I paid $100 for the HP DC7900, every that can be upgraded is to the max. Dual Core to Quad, 8 gigs mem, Win7 64 bit. Because of the low profile the best vid card is a 750 GTX that I still need to get but you catch my drift and Top gets it, too. Building a custom gun like no other is a satisfying feeling and if it shoots good then that's a bonus

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This is a legit PU sniper rifle from WWII that I picked up from JG Sales earlier this year. I believe AIM Surplus has some right now for $549

I love guns, but I'm staying away from them regardless of its legalities.

Bummer... Ah well, more for me!

gdjsky01 said:

Let say you've never owned a weapon. Lets say you have no convictions of anything worse than a parking ticket. Lets say you are in your 50's and have no known mental health issues etc.

How do you start the process of safely owning a decent handgun and keep proficient for fun and recreation?

Theoretically. Oh and lets say for the sake of argument you live in Los Angeles County, California. Theoretically.

Just askin...

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Buy and read this book: https://www.calgunlawsbook.com/shop/

We host monthly fun shoots in the East Fork area above Azusa. Let me know if you are interested in attending. We start n00bs with .22s and by the end of the day they are usually blasting away with 12 gauge shotguns, AR-15s, the M1 Garand . . .


Private range by simonov, on Flickr


The Gun Crew by simonov, on Flickr