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Need advice on AX 41 K98k Mauser please

RazorBurn

Senior Member
I was referred here for advice by a member of the CMP forums, and would appreciate your advice and help!

The owner of my local gun shop who I've done business with for years pulled me aside yesterday when I went in to ship out a lower I had sold on Gunbroker. He knows I like old battle rifles, and he told me I've got something you'll want to see.

He then hands me an all numbers matching the best I can tell ax 41 K98k Mauser. I don't have a Mauser in my collection yet, and he knows I've been looking for one. Upon seeing the rifle, I immediately made a trade offer. Which if I trade will be a new in the box brushed stainless Colt Commander. I didn't know anything about the ax 41 code until I got home last night and did a Google search. I called the owner of the shop today and talked to him more about the Mauser, and he agreed to let me come over and bring it home with me so I could "verify" it. We've done business together a long time, and I trust him. He obviously trusts me as my Colt is still sitting in my safe.

I would really appreciate it if you all would look over the pictures, and advise me if this is a legit K98k. Darryl told me that numbers matching Mausers are forged pretty danged often and done so well to the point that you need experts to catch it. I know I for one have never seen a numbers matching one, and I look at every one I see even though I don't come across that many in my neck of the woods. I've taken 40 pictures, and if I need to do anything else to get the information I need I'll do it. I have the rifle for a few days so it's not like I have to take it right back tomorrow. I do plan on taking it back to him this Saturday. As you can see it is missing the sling, cleaning rod and front sight cover. The bore is in good shape other than it needs cleaned, but the lands are strong, bore is fairly shiny and I don't really see any pitting.

Here is a link to a slide show on Photobucket of the rifle. There are 40 pictures in total.

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/Razor24/AX41 K98k Mauser/?albumview=slideshow

Again, I would really be grateful for advice on this rifle.

Thanks,
Ray
 
Agreed. Very worn, but its original aside from the varnished stock (which I assume matches internally). ax41 is a hard code to find.
 
I offered up a new in the box brushed stainless Colt Commander 1911 I have (cash value $1,000.00) for it immediately when I saw it a couple of days ago. At first I was asking for $300.00 boot because I didn't know that the "ax" code was a rarer bird. The gun shop owner and I have a pretty long history, and he let me bring it home yesterday so I could verify it. Once I realized that it was a harder to find rifle, I offered up the Colt for even trade. I wanted to make sure it was a legitimate numbers matching K98k before I pulled the trigger on the deal. Basically, my dealer told me once I was convinced it was as he described to bring the Colt and we would finish the deal.
 
I think we have figured it out to be shellac friends. Denatured alcohol and Q Tip test. Should he have the stock restored by someone competent enough to do it or leave it as is? That's where RazorBurn stands right now.

Where's mrfarb, hambone, Turbo Archie and Vulch when you need them? :hail:

What a find!
 
I have trouble viewing photobucket sometimes. Anyway I've been PM'ing him on Gunboards where he posted it. Nice find, and well worth that trade in my opinion even if the stock is shellacked.
 
I'm on the road and viewing on an IPhone but trust and agree with the opinions given. I would take the stock off, buy a can of acetone and get an old towel and toothbrush and remove that varnish. I'd than come back with a light wipe of Howard's or even ballistol. Should the acetone not work, Id go with an antique furniture varnish stripper like Blix and follow the instructions. You did good on the trade, but I'm not a fan of stainless auto pistols :happy0180:
 
Thank you all very much for the advice! I'll be leaving shortly during my lunch break to finalize the deal. I'm really happy to be getting this rifle as it gives me at least one rifle from all the major players of World War 2. I just love old battle rifles, and this one is going to be one of the jewels of my small collection.

Thanks again!
Ray
 
Congrats Ray and welcome. K98ks are addicting. When I bought my first one it was only as a "representative example" ;)
 
The deal is done and it's officially mine. Couldn't stand it and took and "early" lunch. Cost me a Colt 1911, but I'll find another one down the road. Still have another Colt 1911 in the safe so it's not that bad. Now I get to go home and clean her up after work and Valentines festivities are over!
 
Again a very nice find. Maybe a member here who has done it before would be willing to strip the shellack for you if that's what you wanted. Or at least walk you through it. If not, just enjoy it for what it is! Worse things could have been done to it. You have a rifle that many advanced 98 collectors have not been lucky enough to find!:thumbsup:
 
Acetone and paper towels will lift that shellac right off. You can get a million opinions on what to do next, but I wouldn't use anything but a few drops of hand-rubbed BLO.

They're still making Colts, so don't worry about that!
 
I wouldn't use anything but a few drops of hand-rubbed BLO.

Some may disagree, but BLO is a bad idea IMO. Modern BLO has many driers and other chemical additives and will cure into a very hard polymer that cannot be removed. After removing the shellac, I would wipe it down with Howard's first and go from there. I've been wanting to try some Natural (not Modern!) Danish oil, but have not had a chance.

Doing nothing to the stock is also an option. The wood is the most important part of the rifle, so screw that up and a lot of the value is gone.
 
The only reason I would want to remove the shellac is to see if I could see enough of the serial number on the heel to see if it matches the rifle. Then again, I also wouldn't mind for it to look as it should. I'm not in a big rush to do anything right now. Down the road I can see me either trying my hand at it, or having someone reputable gain some of my money and remove the shellac for me.
 
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Some may disagree, but BLO is a bad idea IMO. Modern BLO has many driers and other chemical additives and will cure into a very hard polymer that cannot be removed. After removing the shellac, I would wipe it down with Howard's first and go from there. I've been wanting to try some Natural (not Modern!) Danish oil, but have not had a chance.

Doing nothing to the stock is also an option. The wood is the most important part of the rifle, so screw that up and a lot of the value is gone.

Normally when I wipe down my other milsurp rifles I just use plain old lemon oil. I've been using it for years on my guitar fretboards. There's an ongoing debate that never ends on the guitar forums about which is best: lemon oil, tung oil or BLO. I'm sure it's the same with rifles too. :biggrin1:
 
Did a detail strip and thorough cleaning tonight. The wood definitely has shellac or some kind of varnish on it. Once I got down to cleaning it, and taking my time I noticed there were quite a few spots and small trails of shellac here and there on the receiver, in the trigger housing, and on some of the other metal parts. I cleaned the shellac off the area on the heel of the stock where the serial number is stamped, and I can definitely make out the last two digits of 7 and 8 so I'm pretty sure the stock is matching. Stripped down the bolt and man was it filthy. I honestly think I cleaned some residue of Europe out of it. :biggrin: Firing pin number matches too.

I guess it's time for me to figure out the best way to remove that shellac without harming the finish and wood underneath. I've had pointers from several people. Looks like I'm going to start with bronze wool. I may use a mild stripper like Citristrip. One of the people I've been speaking to has always given me solid advice. Several people on Gunboards and this forum have said the finish isn't original and to strip it too. Most recommended acetone. I kinda leery to use acetone as I don't want to screw the pooch right now, so I'm going to start small.
 
Razor, NO ABRASIVES! No abrasives what so ever. Shellac will peel off, varnish will strip off but use no abrasives on the stock. You've listened to me since this all started at the Mosin site, trust me here, no abrasives.
 
The stock should have a serial number stamped internally in the barrel channel. Same goes for the handguard.

I would stick to acetone to soften the shellac. Chemical strippers like citristrip can affect the wood in a very negative way. If the acetone fails you, members will have some other suggestions. DO NOT use bronze wool on the wood. A soft toothbrush and cloth towel is enough to do the job.
 
Absolutely NO abrasives, bronze wool, etc... Let the solvent or stripper do the work. A soft toothbrush and some old towels is all you need.
 

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