K98 Question
- Thread starter antipop
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And define "worn out barrel". Is it just dirty, pitted, or is there actually little to no rifling left? The first one will, of course, clean up fine. The second could actually shoot a lot better than you might guess, unless you've tried it and found it to be inaccurate. The last, well...
Mike
Mike
Fingolfin
Member
Well, you do have a few options, i guess it depends on what you want the rifle for, and how much you're willing to spend.
1) leave it as is and see if you can find a way to load ratshot in 8mm
2) leave it as is and keep it as both a family heirloom and novelty of war
3) put a new barrel on it and make it a shooter
4) put a used surplus barrel on it and make it a shooter
I've never seen a barrel liner for anything but .22 and .17 so kinda doubt relining the original barrel is even an option. Myself I would probably relegate it to a showpiece as rebarreling would probably cost you a large chunk of what the entire rifle is worth.
1) leave it as is and see if you can find a way to load ratshot in 8mm
2) leave it as is and keep it as both a family heirloom and novelty of war
3) put a new barrel on it and make it a shooter
4) put a used surplus barrel on it and make it a shooter
I've never seen a barrel liner for anything but .22 and .17 so kinda doubt relining the original barrel is even an option. Myself I would probably relegate it to a showpiece as rebarreling would probably cost you a large chunk of what the entire rifle is worth.
davera
Member
Clean the barrel!
It never hurts to apply a really good cleaning to the bore, even if it looks like a sewer pipe. A friend of mine recently bought a Long Branch Enfield whose barrel looked like it was growing fungus inside it. Brown, fuzzy, crusty and no apparent rifling.
An hour or so of cleaning, including 15 minutes with the foaming bore cleaner and he now has a bright bore with distinct rifling. A bit of technique with the bore light does show some light pitting (frosting?) in the bore but I bet it will still shoot minute of pie plate.
It never hurts to apply a really good cleaning to the bore, even if it looks like a sewer pipe. A friend of mine recently bought a Long Branch Enfield whose barrel looked like it was growing fungus inside it. Brown, fuzzy, crusty and no apparent rifling.
An hour or so of cleaning, including 15 minutes with the foaming bore cleaner and he now has a bright bore with distinct rifling. A bit of technique with the bore light does show some light pitting (frosting?) in the bore but I bet it will still shoot minute of pie plate.
S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
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There's a good chance that the reason the rifling is gone is that it was never rearsenaled...hence the matching numbers. I agree with the other comments: clean up the barrel as much as possible and shoot a few rounds to see what the accuracy is like. Otherwise just keep it as a safe queen / historical conversation piece.
I guess it's okay if you don't throw away the old barrel. There may be some proof marks that collectors are interested in. However, refinishing can reduce the collector value.
If all you want is a 8mm Mauser shooter, I'd suggest getting a Yugo M24/47 or M48 in VG or better condition. It should cost less than rebarreling unless you're getting the labor for free.
If all you want is a 8mm Mauser shooter, I'd suggest getting a Yugo M24/47 or M48 in VG or better condition. It should cost less than rebarreling unless you're getting the labor for free.
Essex County
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With no opoligies...I have no room for safe queens..
Every gun I have is a shooter. It doesn't have to be a tack driver, but it should shoot within accepted parameters and that goes for Mil-Surps as well. A 98 rebarrel ic not cheap. I'd be inclined to sell it to a collector and purchase a proven shooter and pocket the diffrence. On the other hand Brownell's offers military step contured barrells in .308 or 30-06. Here you're looking at metal refinishing which is an added expense. If I went that far I'd toss in an aftermarket trigger. I'm glad you have to make the choice, not me. Essex
Every gun I have is a shooter. It doesn't have to be a tack driver, but it should shoot within accepted parameters and that goes for Mil-Surps as well. A 98 rebarrel ic not cheap. I'd be inclined to sell it to a collector and purchase a proven shooter and pocket the diffrence. On the other hand Brownell's offers military step contured barrells in .308 or 30-06. Here you're looking at metal refinishing which is an added expense. If I went that far I'd toss in an aftermarket trigger. I'm glad you have to make the choice, not me. Essex
You keep asking questions like this, but you don't know that it's not shootable now.
That is, unless you have tried it and not told us. But AFAIK from reading this thread, you haven't even tried. If that's the case, you have the cart in front of the horse. Go shoot the darned thing before worrying about what to do if it won't shoot. Or, tell us that you have, so we can stop browbeating you.
Mike
Fair enough then. I take it that it also has been thoroughly cleaned, and it still does this? If so, yeah. It's either a wallhanger, safe queen, or a candidate for a rebarrel.
I would see what sort of offers you get from collectors and evaluate whether you want to rebarrel or not. As someone above suggested, you might be able to sell it, buy a shooter, and pocket some scratch.
if you want to hang onto it for sentimental reasons, I'd rebarrel it. Keep the old one.
Mike
PS Of course, I can't abide an unshootable gun.
I would see what sort of offers you get from collectors and evaluate whether you want to rebarrel or not. As someone above suggested, you might be able to sell it, buy a shooter, and pocket some scratch.
if you want to hang onto it for sentimental reasons, I'd rebarrel it. Keep the old one.
Mike
PS Of course, I can't abide an unshootable gun.
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