Can these be made to shoot again?
- Thread starter Dr.Mauser
- Start date
bjarne
Senior Member
Sad too see,,completly destroyed also the barrel is almost split in two!!those rifles will never shoot again
With the understanding that I am not recommending or suggesting that rifles deactivated that way can or should be restored to firing condition, I think it could be done. It looks like the receiver and barrel tang were drilled through and (probably) a steel pin inserted and the head welded in. The weld and pin would have to be drilled or cut out, using a hard drill, then the barrel removed and a new barrel installed. If the lug seats have been damaged, they could be welded up and remachined. A ruined bolt could be replaced. Then the holes in the receiver could be welded up and the welds ground to surface.
Would the result be safe to fire? I think so, at least for a limited amount of firing; the Mauser 98 action, like most guns of that period, is way over-engineered.
Would it be worth it? No, from two angles. First, the cost would be so high as to make it infeasible, even if possible. Second, countries that deactivate guns generally have severe, even draconian, penalties for attempting to reactivate them or for possessing an operable gun. In some countries, gun law violators can face life in prison or even summary execution. Revolutionaries may be willing to accept the danger, but it isn't worth it simply to have an operable gun.
Jim
Would the result be safe to fire? I think so, at least for a limited amount of firing; the Mauser 98 action, like most guns of that period, is way over-engineered.
Would it be worth it? No, from two angles. First, the cost would be so high as to make it infeasible, even if possible. Second, countries that deactivate guns generally have severe, even draconian, penalties for attempting to reactivate them or for possessing an operable gun. In some countries, gun law violators can face life in prison or even summary execution. Revolutionaries may be willing to accept the danger, but it isn't worth it simply to have an operable gun.
Jim
GunKraut
Senior Member
Some governments afraid of armed citizens require the barrels to be drilled with 6 holes the diameter of the bore, require the bolt face to be ground 45 degrees, the firing pin to be clipped and the chamber to be welded up. They also require the barrel to be blocked with at least one welded steel pin. For some strange reason they mostly leave the receivers intact, though.
There is at least one known government requiring WW1 and WW2 FA receivers to be torch cut or hacked up into at least 3 pieces. But they leave the barrels and the bolts alone. Who knows, maybe one day when anti-gun paranoia has subsided, we could gather up the historic pieces that governments didn't manage to completely destroy and resurrect STG44, MG42 or FG42 to their full glory. ...Dope slap...slap...slap... Wake up, I must be dreaming, Obama is already preparing for the U.N. small arms treaty talks.
There is at least one known government requiring WW1 and WW2 FA receivers to be torch cut or hacked up into at least 3 pieces. But they leave the barrels and the bolts alone. Who knows, maybe one day when anti-gun paranoia has subsided, we could gather up the historic pieces that governments didn't manage to completely destroy and resurrect STG44, MG42 or FG42 to their full glory. ...Dope slap...slap...slap... Wake up, I must be dreaming, Obama is already preparing for the U.N. small arms treaty talks.
Actually, I was exaggerating a bit. Most governments that really fear their citizens just seize and destroy all guns except those in government hands, and shoot the owners out of hand; no nonsense about deactivation or even dummy guns. Even non-working guns can be used to provide a show of force and dictators don't like that. Of course, some "liberals" would love to see that rule applied in the U.S.
Jim
Jim
