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Reloading Information | Reloading Manual Excerpts

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General Operation of the Kar98k Rifle & Owners Manual
Conversion of .30-06 to 7,92x57 Brass
Dummy Round Tips
General Clean Up Tips
How to Clean a K98k Wooden Stock
Mauser Collecting Tips
Headspace Concerns
K98k Scope Bases
Making Sight Adjustments
Turkish Mauser Barrels

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Operation: The K98k operates by means of a manual turnbolt action. Lift the bolt handle upward to open and in most cases cock the rifle. Draw it rearward until it reaches the end of its travel. If a round in present in the magazine push the bolt forward and rotate the bolt to the down position. The rifle is now ready to fire by depressing the trigger.
(Note: If there is no round in the magazine the bolt will not go forward.)

Safety: The K98k has a simple three position safety. Turn it to the left for fire. Turn it to the vertical position to lock the striker but you may work the bolt. This is useful if you wish to eject live rounds safely. Turn it to the right to safe position which locks both the bolt and the striker.

Cleaning: Try and clean the K98k from the breech and not the barrel end. This is the best way to clean your rifle without risking damage.

Read the M48 Owners Manual!

Right click and 'save target as' to download it. Note this is an excellent manual for the K98k owner too.

Keith Boell

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NOTE: It is a wise idea to measure the neck diameter. If it exceeds the diameter given in the spec.'s the neck must be turned to get the neck diameter under the maximum. If this is not done, excessive pressure will result and the rifle can explode!

Procedure
1. Lube up the 30-06 case.
2. Force it through a 8mm Mauser full length resizing die.
3. Trim it back to 2.240. A Lee trim tool works well but it takes time. You could also use a sharp pipe cutter to cut it and then use the trim tool to get the proper length. Be careful when doing this!
4. Wipe down the case to be sure it is lube free and you are in business.

Keith Boell

Another method is to use a 7,92x57mm "trim die" rather than the full length sizer die. Simply run a lubed 30-06 case all the way into the trim die and cut off the part of the case that protrudes from the top of the die with one good swipe from a 32-tooth hacksaw. Then, use a mill bastard file to file the case down flush with the top of the die (the top of the die is hard and the file won't cut it). After chaffering and deburring the case mouth, it can then be run through the full length die for final sizing. Neck diameter isn't usually a problem, but if it is, it is much easier to inside-ream the neck rather than turn the outside. The neck diameter should be checked after the case has been run through the FL die and the expander ball has done its job.

R.W. Parker

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1. Take the eraser off a common pencil and insert it into the empty primer pocket of a piece of 8mm brass. Trim it so it will fit and use a little glue to be sure it stays in place. Now seat a bullet on the case and MARK it so you know it is a dummy and not a live round. That's it. Now "dry" fire all you want without worry.

Keith Boell

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General Clean Up Tips:
To clean up a well used rifle without affecting the historic value follow these steps:
1. Use a good quality car wax to clean all blue parts on gun apply. Then let dry then wipe off and buff till nice finish comes up.
2. For cleaning and shining up the wood use a good quality furniture wax (preferably Cabinet Makers Wax) clean and buff wood to desired sheen.
3. For the bore use a metal polish and apply liberally to the bore and pass through clean patches until bore is shinny (J-B bore compound is in most cases preferable to metal polish for use inside the bore).

Another good way to clean up an old millitary stock, even on the Russian refinished stocks is to:
1. Use about 1/4 cup TSP wallpaper remover in 1 to 1 1/2 quart hot water. Use household type rubber gloves and Scotch Brite style scouring pads to clean the stock.
2. Rince with warm water and let completely dry.
3. Touch up the stock with fine sand paper as needed and finish (i.e. stain) however you wish.

R.W. Parker

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Another consideration is the stocks that are imported attached to the K-98s currently entering this country. There are some really nice jewels out there and just take a minimal effort to restore them to pristine shape (note: Historical Parts sells stocks that have not been cleaned or altered, leaving up to the buyers discretion). And yes, even the Russian arsenal re-finished stocks with the deep, left butt serial numbers can be brought back to vibrant life.

But before we continue a word about originality. I don''t personally embrace the idea that cleaning a stock of 50+ years of grease, grime, and sweat affects originality in any way. There are those that do…… let personal preference and the value/overall condition of the piece be your guide. If you are putting a stock onto another rifle, originality is out the window anyhow (and you shouldn''t try to misrepresent the piece as original if you do switch stocks). In regard to the Russian re-works, they have been heavily "dicked" with (I like that verb- Call it poetic license) already, so who cares what you do in order to bring it closer to originality? Enough said.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is what kind of wood do you have, Laminate or Hardwood (usually walnut)? Second is what type of glue was used in the lamination process, white or red? Thirdly, ask yourself, what markings are you trying to preserve? And lastly, what was the original finish, stained or unstained, finished or semi-finished? Ok, so now you''re in the garage with a 50+-year-old piece of wood.

The first thing I like to do is strip all of the metal off the piece. You will need a spanner wrench for the stock reinforcing cross-lug as well as a set of punches to remove the bayonet lug, and if desired (sometimes I do, sometimes I don''t), the bolt take down disk. The reasons for stripping the piece of metal should be obvious: metal rusts and you will be using a little water.

Once stripped, take a look at the wood. The laminates during most of the war were made with a red hydrophilic (water-repellent) epoxy resin. These can be cleaned easily with water or water-based cleaners or solvents. However, later in the war, white wood glue, similar to Elmers carpenters glue, was used. You should never get these stocks wet! The laminations may fall apart as the glue softens with prolonged exposure to water.

If attempting to clean the white glue laminates, I remove as much of the grease and grime that I can with a tiny spatula or other instrument. Then I liberally apply acetone (this can be bought in any hardware store). After letting it sit for about 5 minutes, I wipe it off with a non-abrasive cloth. Acetone will not hurt the glue. I repeat this process 3 or 4 times or until I get the depth of cleanliness I am looking for. When satisfied, I wipe the piece of wood down with a good, high concentrate, denatured alcohol. This neutralizes and removes all traces of the acetone. Neither the acetone nor alcohol will affect stock markings or Waffenamts. This is about all that can be done to these types of laminates. In so far as the red glue type, I begin by stripping off the larger deposits of grease and grime with a dry rag and some flat instrument. Once most of this is off, I spray the piece liberally with Dow Basin Tub and Tile Cleaner, the "scrubbing bubbles" stuff. There isn''t a better cleaner to get rid of 50+ years of grime, grease, and human sweat (I mean after all, it''s used to clean showers in truck stops!). Once applied I let it the bubbles sit there and do their job for about 10 minutes, and then quickly rinse it off with a light spray of hot water. I repeat this several times. You won''t believe how much crud will come off. A word to the wise though: Once stripped of oils and grease, the markings and waffenamts will be vulnerable to the water, the wood will swell and the markings will be blurred or lost. I keep the markings liberally greased to protect them during the cleaning. If you have some very persistent areas, a dab of common dish detergent and a sponge will usually solve them. When finished, rinse the piece well with hot water and allow it to dry. I usually let them stand at room temperature for a couple of days.

A couple of notes before I continue: You are not soaking the stock in water, just rinsing it. If done properly, the stock will not warp. I never use oven cleaner as some collectors do, as this leaves a greenish hue to the wood. A good collector can spot that a mile away. Also, none of this cleaning will remove the original stain, if present, as oven cleaner and other harsher petroleum distillate solvents tend to do.

At this point you have some options:
(a) If you desire to stain or re-stain the piece, do so now.
(b) If removing dents, do so now (see below).
(c) If removing those pesky Russian serial numbers, do so now (see below).

By now you should have reached the original finish, which I leave alone. The piece will look dry and nasty at this point, and you will be saying to yourself, "Oh hell……what have I done". Don''t despair, were not done yet.

Russian re-works: Before you do anything, you have to strip the stain off. I use any of the common paste paint strippers. Brush it on, let it sit and then wipe off the stain and lacquer. Make sure you do this repeatedly over the serial number. When this is done, you should be able to see most of the waffenamts that were covered up by the finish. I have been surprised many times! Now, what to do is grease the area all around the SN, leaving the number area as unfinished bare wood. Then I soak the hell out of that area with drops of hot water. I repeat this process many times. The numbers will rebound about 1/2 of their original depth. I then take a wet cloth and run a hot iron repeatedly over the same area forcing the steam from the cloth into the numbers. Now, I let the area dry and see what I have left. If still present, I sometimes……gulp! ……elect to sand that part of the stock and try to match the finish to the rest of the stock. This is best done when you remove the bolt take down disk. When happy finish as below.

The same holds true for dents: remove all traces of finish, clean with the "scrubbing bubbles", soak with hot water, and steam out the remaining depth. I rarely have ever had a dent I couldn''t do something with without sanding. However, this process is a great deal more difficult with the hardwoods.

I clean the stock take down disk with naval jelly and a bit of steel wool. Works perfect every time. You do not need to remove it from the stock to do this. They were originally left "in the white". Just remember to use gloves and oil it well when you are finished.

Now is the time to finish the stock. Whatever you use, the secret is to rub it in, over and over again. And then rub in some more. At the end, buff it with a soft cloth to a nice sheen. I like bees wax or common axle grease tinted with iodine (to accentuate the red of the glue). Some folks like boiled linseed oil, silicon oil, lemon oil, etc. The bottom line is use whatever you like best. I am against modern finishes, such as polyurethane or shellac, as the originals were not done this way. They were sanded, maybe stained, and issued to the troops. Whatever oil or grease finish they acquired, was by accident or use. German soldiers, I have learned, were very apt to protect their rifles/stocks with whatever lubricant they had access to: primarily sunflower oil or common motor oil.

I do not have any advice on stains, as I leave the original finish intact in most cases. The bottom line is that we all want originality. It is quite nice to acquire a 100% original gun with a perfect stock. But sometimes you must restore a firearm the best you can. Or sometimes a quality gun and stock just needs a good cleaning. In either case, this is how to go about it. I hope this helps.

Darrin Weaver

R.W. Parker

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I've been tempted post a collector IMHO piece about Mausers for some time, given the number of questions that keep appearing on this board (K98k Forum). So here it is. If you don't want advice, just pass over this post and keep on going. I don't want to offend anyone.
Just for the record, I've been a Mauser collector for almost 30 years, and have owned at one time or another most of the variations of Mauser that you see these days. I was a founding member of the now defunct Karabiner Collector's Association, which was a great source of information about German Mausers. If you can find a set of their newsletters, pick them up.
Again, IMHO, condition is the most important factor in buying Mausers. With the exception of some rare pieces like snipers, buy the best condition piece you can find, the closer to mint, the better. I'd generally rather have a mint more common piece than a slightly rarer poor condition piece.
Matching numbers, particularly the bolt, is crucial. Mismatches are generally not considered collectable, unless they are a very rare variation. Much the same is true with restorations (faked numbers), and guns with import marks. There are a few legit rebuilds out there, and a very few reworks, but they are usually clearly evident to the collector. Something that is mismatched, and is sold as a rework probably isn't. German armorers had chests of un-numbered parts, and dies to mark parts they used for repairs with the rifle's number. Full rebuilds were marked by the Germans with matching numbers, and new firing proofs. Everyone has monetary limitations, but I'd rather have a near mint, matching common Arg. 1891, than a poor condition, mismatched G29-O. Most dealers will only consider mismatches as shooter grade rifles, not collector grade. That can make it tough to get your money out of a piece in the near term, or get any return on your investment in the long term.
Do your homework before you buy. If you have to ask, "did I pay too much", you probably did. Invest in a copy of Ball's book on Mausers, Law's two books on 98K's and a copy of Smith's classic Small Arms of the World so you can identify Mausers. Buy a Blue book every year or two to keep up on prices. Subscribe to Gunlist or Shotgun News to see what things are going for. Your library will pay for itself many times over when you find that rare piece that nobody else can correctly identify. Ask questions at gun shows, as most people are willing to share what they know. Pick up Mausers and look at them, to get a feel for what's right and what's not.
Some rifles are shooters, some aren't. I felt sorry for a friend who blew up a matching G43 one afternoon, and I don't shoot my high turret sniper, or G41. Some rifles are an investment. But I do have a few shooter grade rifles that are fun to use on weekends.
I have probably owned over 250 collectable Mausers in my lifetime. Each one is wonderfully different and unique. But I still have that BCD-41 that my parents gave me for my 16th Christmas that began my collecting career.
Again, that's just IMHO. Take it for what it's worth to you. Good luck and good collecting.

David Penny

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To correctly measure headspace, one should have a "no-go" and "field" gage. A "go" gage is usually used only when chambering/fitting a new barrel to an action, or setting a barrel back to correct an over-length chamber by reaming a new chamber that is within specification. The gages should be cared for carefully. Don't let them bang against each other, wipe them down, oil them, and store them in separate containers. Treat them like Jo-blocks, they are precision tools. NEVER use a gage that's been dropped until it's been recalibrated and certified.

Disassemble the bolt down to the body, and remove the magazine follower, spring, and floor plate from the rifle. Remove the extractor from the bolt! Wipe the bolt face clean, and check for burrs -particularly around the firing pin hole. Clean the chamber thoroughly, and make certain it is dry and no foreign matter remains. Now, take your no-go gage and wipe it with a tissue soaked with alcohol. Wipe it dry with a clean tissue. Put the rifle in a padded vise with the bore horizontal, and put the gage into the chamber. Make sure your hands are clean for this!

Start the bolt into the receiver, and watch for the extractor collar - position it at 3 o'clock so it won't hang up. Take the bolt knob with your thumb and index finger ONLY, and move it forward. Then, slowly begin to turn it down into battery. You are trying to FEEL the gage, as you would when trying to feel the spindle and anvil of a micrometer caliper contact a workpiece. DO NOT USE ANY FORCE! If the bolt has not been disassembled and the extractor removed, then what you are doing is absolutely meaningless, and could damage the gage.

You should have felt the bolt contact the no-go gage at some point before the bolt was closed into battery. If you didn't, lift the bolt handle, begin to turn it down again, and let it fall. Did it fall to FULL battery position under the force of gravity? If so, then proceed to the "field" (or maximum) gage. If it did not fall COMPLETELY to battery, it probably stopped on the gage. You may have used too much force closing the bolt. Try again to feel the gage, use a "feather touch!"

Assuming that the rifle DID accept the no-go gage, remove the bolt from the receiver. Guide a wooden, brass, or aluminum dowel or cleaning rod down the bore from the muzzle, and hold your hand under the magazine box. Gently push the gage into your hand. Wipe it dry, oil it, and put it into its container. Now, prepare your "field" gage as you did your no-go gage, so it is clean, dry, and oil-free. Repeat the procedure using this gage.

If the rifle also accepts this gage, it's not the end of the world. Worst case, the barrel can be set back and the chamber can be corrected by reaming. There are also options with regard to neck sizing or using a special FL resizing die made to replicate the rifle's oversize chamber. If you know one, have a REAL gunsmith or rifle-maker explain your options to you. If he "corrects" the rifle's headspace for you, run these tests again as soon as you get the rifle back. If it still sucks up the no-go gage, let him know - his go-gage might be damaged or out of specification. You KNOW that yours are OK and you take proper care of them. NEVER lend them out.

R.W. Parker

Clamp On systems

Clamp on bases are available from S&K, and Federal Arms, to name two sources. They cost close to $100 and cause the scope to sit high to allow for bolt handle clearance past the rear scope bell. These bases require that you inlet the stock in four places. My experience was that the base did not hold as tightly as advertised. The base did not perfectly conform to the 98 receiver contours and requires modification to do so. In addition, the high stance of the base adds complexity to the process of zeroing the scope and reduces the amount of adjustment available on the scope using the elevation knob.

For those interested in seeing one installed, the following website has a photo: http://www.gunaccessories.com/scopemounts/misc.asp#Mauser

Scout Scope Base System

B-Square mounts are aluminum and mount to the K98's rear sight shroud. There is no modification required to the rifle although the front leveling screw will imprint on the front ring of the shroud. This base is for use with a long eye relief pistol or scout scope generally available in 4x32. The base has been available from Midway USA costing around $40-$50, or direct from B-Square for around $69 + shipping. A scope will run an additional $99-$109 (US).

The aluminum base does not fit tightly enough into the sight shroud and over-tightening of the set screws into the base will strip the screw threads and the threads in the base itself. I've experienced movement in the base as it is originally sold. One user has shimmed the mounting system. I've tapped the sight base holes and used an 8/32 machine screw and nut to tightly secure the base.

One can use low rings to improve cheek and eye position. If the Weaver style 1" rings which accompany the base are used, then some type of cheek pad will be necessary in order for the shooter to gain the proper field of view and sight picture through the scope.

From my perspective, the end results do not justify the cost if one is seeking to shoot tight groups. The scope will however enable the shooter to achieve some improvement in accuracy. Use for hunting is questionable because of a rather awkward head position during target acquisition.

The Display Page contains a few pictures of the base, and a K98 with base and scope installed.

Standard Scope Base

In order to install a standard rifle scope, it is necessary to drill and tap the receiver. A gunsmith's services are needed since the process requires a special jig, the barrel has to be removed, and a number of special tools are required.

The expense to drill and tap, forge the bolt handle, rasp the stock, plus barrel removal and installation could exceed $150.

It is possible, on a non collector K98 with a good barrel, to drill-tap and install a scope on Weaver ultra-high 1" rings and not forge the bolt. However, the bolt handle (bent type) will have to be filed in order to clear the rear bell and this approach limits the size of the rear bell.

Rudy Rau

Simply measure the distance from the rear sight to the back of the front sight. Divide this distance by 28 inches and then multiply the result by .004. This will give you the amount in inches required to adjust the front sight to give a 1 inch point of impact change at 100 yards. This applies to either an elevation or windage adjustment. If you need more than a 1 inch adjustment simply multiply your number from above by the amount you need to move the point of impact.

As an example, a K98 has a sight radius, rear sight to the back of the front sight, of 20 inches. 20/28 = .714. Multiply this by .004, .714 X .004 = .0028 inches. This is approximately how much you need to move the front sight to move the point of impact at 100 yards 1 inch. Say you need to move 2.5 inches in elevation or windage at 100 yards. Multiply .003" X 2.5 = .0075". You would need to adjust the front sight height approximately .008" or drift the sight .008".

Hope this helps somebody.

Dave Emary

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Be sure to check the caliber markings on Turkish Mauser barrels.

I bought a 1903 Turk, and fired it using surplus Turkish 8x57 ammo (sold by the bandolier, mounted on stripper clips).  The bolt was very, very difficult to open - indicating extremely high pressure.  Turns out that the barrel was stamped 7.91 caliber - not 7.92 caliber !! This caliber stamp was located on the underside of the barrel - it was not visible above the stockline.

Supposedly, the rifle had been arsenal reworked for the 7.92 caliber as witnessed by the the extension cutout on the front end of the receiver (this was done to accept the longer cartridge).  In addition, the importer (Century International Arms) had stamped the barrel near the muzzel as 8mm Mauser... 

However, in spite of all obvious indications, the barrel was in the original 7.91 caliber.  When fired using the 7.92  ( 8x57JS) cartridge, it resulted in extremely high pressure.

Fortunately, the action was not damaged.  Both lugs had been lapped in for full contact, and headspace gaged OK. The full contact on the lugs may have prevented failure of the action.  After some barrel re-work, the gun is shooting fine.

Ed Ruff

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