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Tools I find Useful for the Kar98k

D-K

Senior Member
I had all this out recently and decided to share it here, maybe see what tools people use for their rifles. These are the tools I've found most useful in my time in the hobby with some illustrations of how I use some of them:

1. Tipton Best Gun Vise: This is awesome for the K98k! It has rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from slipping, and the stock clamps fit perfectly on the take down disks so you can secure the stock without having anything touch the wood. The center piece fits perfectly in the thumb relief in the receiver and holds it in place for taking off the floorplate.

2. One piece brass rod: perfect for bore cleaning, doesn't come apart like three piece versions

3. Soft face mallet: great for taking off the floorplate

4. Cotton patches: I buy these by the 1,000.

5. Cheap nylon brush: I use this mainly to dust off really dry slings before I store them or treat them with Pecards. I find cotton patches snag on the sling and can cause damage.

6. Scissors: for cutting patches.

7. Jorgensen clamp: Since it's square, it stands on its on and you can use it to press down on the bandspring so you can tap the upper band off with a brass punch and a mallet.

8. Cheap Brass Punch Set: these work great for taking off bands and presing down the spring for the floorplate. You can also use them to tap screws that are seized.

9. Bronze Wool: for removing rust without damaging bluing. I use 1959-1978 dated pennies for scraping heavy scale first and then clean up remaining surface rust with bronze wool.

10. Q-tips: for those hard to reach areas

11. Non-Sterile Swabs: these are wooden q-tips with hard tips, great for cleaning hard to reach areas also.

12. Nylon brush: for cleaning.

13. Channel Lock Snap Ring Pliers: for getting off sight hoods.

14. Wooden Block: for taking down bolts: I rarely use this now as I just use the take down disk on a rifle.

15. All Brass Brush: for cleaning the bore.

16. Felo Screwdriver: This is much better than a standard screwdriver as it gives you more leverage

17. Brownells 210-3 to 210-5 bits: I have found these are the perfect ranges to fit trigger guard screws. They are also strong: I have not broken one yet. The only downside is they are magnetized and sometimes hold when you don't want them to.

18. Field and Go gauges: for testing headspace

19. Impact Driver: when everything else fails, this will loosen up screws.

I did not label the chemicals, but here is what they are and what I use them for:

Howard Feed and Wax: If the stock is super dry and starting to crack, I will use this conservatively to add some moisture back to the stock and protect it.

Hoppes #9 Powder Solvent: I use this mainly to remove rust. I find a little of this helps and is less likely to take Patina than Kroil.

Ballistol: I use this to oil and protect the metal on my rifles.

Birchwood-Casey RIG: If a rifle has none of the original preservative below the woodline, I use a light coat of RIG in that area.

Pecard Antique Leather Dressing: I use a light coat of this on a sling that is dry and cracked. The trick is to not use too much.

NOT PICTURED: SAFETY GLASSES: I NEVER DEAL WITH ANYTHING WITH SPRING PRESSURE WITHOUT WEARING SAFETY GLASSES!
 

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Interesting

I had all this out recently and decided to share it here, maybe see what tools people use for their rifles. These are the tools I've found most useful in my time in the hobby with some illustrations of how I use some of them:

1. Tipton Best Gun Vise: This is awesome for the K98k! It has rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from slipping, and the stock clamps fit perfectly on the take down disks so you can secure the stock without having anything touch the wood. The center piece fits perfectly in the thumb relief in the receiver and holds it in place for taking off the floorplate.

2. One piece brass rod: perfect for bore cleaning, doesn't come apart like three piece versions

3. Soft face mallet: great for taking off the floorplate

4. Cotton patches: I buy these by the 1,000.

5. Cheap nylon brush: I use this mainly to dust off really dry slings before I store them or treat them with Pecards. I find cotton patches snag on the sling and can cause damage.

6. Scissors: for cutting patches.

7. Jorgensen clamp: Since it's square, it stands on its on and you can use it to press down on the bandspring so you can tap the upper band off with a brass punch and a mallet.

8. Cheap Brass Punch Set: these work great for taking off bands and presing down the spring for the floorplate. You can also use them to tap screws that are seized.

9. Bronze Wool: for removing rust without damaging bluing. I use 1959-1978 dated pennies for scraping heavy scale first and then clean up remaining surface rust with bronze wool.

10. Q-tips: for those hard to reach areas

11. Non-Sterile Swabs: these are wooden q-tips with hard tips, great for cleaning hard to reach areas also.

12. Nylon brush: for cleaning.

13. Channel Lock Snap Ring Pliers: for getting off sight hoods.

14. Wooden Block: for taking down bolts: I rarely use this now as I just use the take down disk on a rifle.

15. All Brass Brush: for cleaning the bore.

16. Felo Screwdriver: This is much better than a standard screwdriver as it gives you more leverage

17. Brownells 210-3 to 210-5 bits: I have found these are the perfect ranges to fit trigger guard screws. They are also strong: I have not broken one yet. The only downside is they are magnetized and sometimes hold when you don't want them to.

18. Field and Go gauges: for testing headspace

19. Impact Driver: when everything else fails, this will loosen up screws.

I did not label the chemicals, but here is what they are and what I use them for:

Howard Feed and Wax: If the stock is super dry and starting to crack, I will use this conservatively to add some moisture back to the stock and protect it.

Hoppes #9 Powder Solvent: I use this mainly to remove rust. I find a little of this helps and is less likely to take Patina than Kroil.

Ballistol: I use this to oil and protect the metal on my rifles.

Birchwood-Casey RIG: If a rifle has none of the original preservative below the woodline, I use a light coat of RIG in that area.

Pecard Antique Leather Dressing: I use a light coat of this on a sling that is dry and cracked. The trick is to not use too much.

NOT PICTURED: SAFETY GLASSES: I NEVER DEAL WITH ANYTHING WITH SPRING PRESSURE WITHOUT WEARING SAFETY GLASSES!

This took a lot of time to put together....we all have our little cache of 98 tools. Makes one wonder what the germans did in the field to do things like remove band springs. My guess is a lot of times they did not have the right tools, and that is why so many bands are nicked and dinged. I have a little v necked tool that fits the two holes perfectly in the recoil lug. I got it when I used to install communication radios in state vehicles. It was used to spin down the base of the antenna. :thumbsup:
 
Keep in mind when they were new, and alot of the bring backs still will push in with your thumb and the front band will fall off the rifle.

Its only the imports or guns that had the wood swell have hard bands that don't want to come off.

The only thing I would suggest is using soft copper 1' tubing to remove the bands. I never liked using wood blocks and brass is harder.

I have two special tools for removing stuck front and rear bands I will post this weekend..
Stuck lower bands should not be removed on bring backs as you can really mess up the wood!!!

..
 
Last edited:
Great post, pic stickied for ref and FAQ. I believe I use everything mentioned, including the Tipton vise ;)
 
Birchwood Casey Barricade is swell for metal that is hidden but still needs protection from corrosion. After evaporation of the carrier it leaves a waxy residue that has some ?? days of salt spray exposure resistance. I like it because it is much less likely to leech into wood than most any oils normally used on guns.
 

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