Took the duffel cut Mauser K98 to the range

[David LaPell]

I got the duffel cut 1944 dot K98 to the range this morning. I tried out 10 rounds of Federal 170 grain ammo and 5 rounds of Yugoslavian 196 grain surplus ammo out to 50 yards. The first five rounds were Federal, and with these guns having a tendency to shoot high at closer ranges, I held a 6 o'clock hold, and the gun shot low, below the silhouette target I was using. I fired the next five, all Federal, aimed dead center and hit dead center. The last five were the Yugo surplus ammo, all five shot with no issues, no problems with the cases, they all shot perfectly fine. The target shows the groups. The lower shots were the Yugo loads. The gun shoots very well.

The real question, did the duffel cut hold? It did with no issues at all. I took the gun apart to see how it did, no cracks anywhere in the acraglas in the stock channel, and appears to have held up just fine. Needless to say for the first time trying to do this, I was shocked it came out so well. Now to do a little more work and I think I've found a dot marked handguard to go with the gun. I know one thing, since I have some Federal hunting ammo here, I do plan on taking this rifle out in the woods during deer season at least once. It won't be a safe queen, that's for sure.

 

[merl67]

I used to have a 42 marked K98 with yugo 196 grain at 100 yards if I held dead on the center of the chest it would place all shots in the head most could be covered by my hand.

 

[alwslate]

Your Federal loads are likely to be very mild, low pressure and low velocity. The Yugo loads will approximate military 198 gr heavy ball loads that became std issue for the Nazis during WW2 so they could use the same ammo in their rifles and machine guns. And unless they are of very recent mfg for commercial sale the primers are corrosive.

 

[sheepdawg]

I got the duffel cut 1944 dot K98 to the range this morning. I tried out 10 rounds of Federal 170 grain ammo and 5 rounds of Yugoslavian 196 grain surplus ammo out to 50 yards. The first five rounds were Federal, and with these guns having a tendency to shoot high at closer ranges, I held a 6 o'clock hold, and the gun shot low, below the silhouette target I was using. I fired the next five, all Federal, aimed dead center and hit dead center. The last five were the Yugo surplus ammo, all five shot with no issues, no problems with the cases, they all shot perfectly fine. The target shows the groups. The lower shots were the Yugo loads. The gun shoots very well.

The real question, did the duffel cut hold? It did with no issues at all. I took the gun apart to see how it did, no cracks anywhere in the acraglas in the stock channel, and appears to have held up just fine. Needless to say for the first time trying to do this, I was shocked it came out so well. Now to do a little more work and I think I've found a dot marked handguard to go with the gun. I know one thing, since I have some Federal hunting ammo here, I do plan on taking this rifle out in the woods during deer season at least once. It won't be a safe queen, that's for sure.

Hope you remembered the hot water down the barrel.

 

[merl67]

I use Hot water and ammonia to clean corrosive primer residue then follow up with Hoppes #9 never had an issue with a rusted bore. Also don't think about waiting to clean the bore rust will happen very quickly.

 

[David LaPell]

I use Hot water and ammonia to clean corrosive primer residue then follow up with Hoppes #9 never had an issue with a rusted bore. Also don't think about waiting to clean the bore rust will happen very quickly.

I used Thompson Center #13 BP cleaner (has ammonia in it) and then followed it up with #9. I use that #13 BP cleaner on my muzzleloaders and black powder cartridge guns and have never had any issues so far.

 

[mauser9]

Did a good job and pretty impressive group with the Federal. I know the Federal and Remington 8MM carries a steep price at my LGS. Wanted $40 per box of 20 rounds a few years back. Not sure how hot the PPU ammo I bought for $20 at a gun show is but figured it is warmer than the Remington or Federal.

 

[sheepdawg]

I used Thompson Center #13 BP cleaner (has ammonia in it) and then followed it up with #9. I use that #13 BP cleaner on my muzzleloaders and black powder cartridge guns and have never had any issues so far.

Water is the trick with corrosive, That's why hot tap water, Ballistol, window cleaner, household ammonia and Simple Green all work, they all contain water which neutralizes the potassium chloride or sodium perchlorate. Ammonia works on copper fouling but not these salts. I'll follow hot water with a patch or two of WD40. Don't forget the face of the bolt either.

Corrosive Ammunition and How To Clean Your Gun

 

[outta_ammo]

The OP did a great repair. For anyone else contemplating a duffle-cut repair, this is the most detailed video:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPpq4o1XtjY&t=51s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPpq4o1XtjY&t=51s[/ame]

 

[jimbo728]

Great shooting David with the old Mauser1
Jim

 

[diyj98]

Water is really all you need to clean up after corrosive ammo. Swab the bore out with water then dry it and follow up with your current gun oil. Or you can follow the drying part up with your favorite bore cleaner for copper if needed. I'm no chemist, but most everything I've read says that ammonia doesn't really help with corrosive ammo.

 

[DGNY]

To the OP: nice job with the rebuild of the stock. Accuracy seems pretty decent too.

Regarding the ammonia, as it tends to remove copper, I gather it was used so that successive layers of copper (over corrosive salts underneath) could be removed for access by the water to the corrosive salts. Were the copper left in the barrel, the corrosive material could/would work underneath the copper deposits. This so especially if there were Salt filled pits in the barrel from prior inadequate cleaning.