Need advice on bluing options for filled in scope mount holes.

[Der wolf35]

Hey, I got some screw holes for a scope mount welded shut. I was wanting to figure out a way to get some bluing on there once the welds are flush with the receiver so they look nice. How would I go about doing that? I have a friend that knows someone who reblues old firearms and is really good at it, that's who I was thinking about bringing it to. Just wanted your guy's opinion on how it could be done and how much I should get reblued. Thanks in advance for any help.

Edited to add a picture I forgot to add.

 

[runner]

what model 98 is this? It appears all markings were buffed off the receiver, if that is correct and you are just building a shooter, i would have the complete barreled action reblued, even with the reblue the holes may be visible as the weld will probably not take the bluing the same as the receiver steel, but i am out of my league here

 

[Zeppelin5000]

what model 98 is this? It appears all markings were buffed off the receiver, if that is correct and you are just building a shooter, i would have the complete barreled action reblued, even with the reblue the holes may be visible as the weld will probably not take the bluing the same as the receiver steel, but i am out of my league here

It's an SS Gew98 to K98k rework. The OP posted in here not too long ago:
Thread 'SS Gew98 turned to a K98k?' https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/ss-gew98-turned-to-a-k98k.50597/

Just for the fact of what it was, I had told the OP a total reblue was a bad idea.

 

[Der wolf35]

what model 98 is this? It appears all markings were buffed off the receiver, if that is correct and you are just building a shooter, i would have the complete barreled action reblued, even with the reblue the holes may be visible as the weld will probably not take the bluing the same as the receiver steel, but i am out of my league here

Zeppelin is right, it's a Gew 98 SS rework. Sadly it was sporterized and looked way worse than it does now, that's why I'm trying to get it looking a bit better. I was thinking about getting the receiver blued and try to wear down the finish a tad so it will look like when it was originally scrubbed down to remove the markings.

 

[Herk1994]

I admire that welder's work, excellent job. I would get the very little excess weld cleaned up and utilize a touch up blue solution to "catch up" the areas as required.

As an SS action I wouldn't reblue it all, still a VERY nice action. It only needs blue where the weld repairs were conducted.

 

[runner]

It's an SS Gew98 to K98k rework. The OP posted in here not too long ago:
Thread 'SS Gew98 turned to a K98k?' https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/ss-gew98-turned-to-a-k98k.50597/

Just for the fact of what it was, I had told the OP a total reblue was a bad idea.

After reading the original thread on this barreled action, I agree that a reblue would not be appropriate. I would be tempted to just have the welds dressed flush to the receiver and call it good. Always hard to judge from photos, but the finish on the rifle looks to be worn thin, as one would expect, any bluing attempt just on the welds would be pretty apparent. I think you would at least have to a blend the surrounding area. Do you have any of the other metal other than just the barreled action. I helped a fellow board member to restore his SS conversion and may have some parts to help with this one.

 

[runner]

It's an SS Gew98 to K98k rework. The OP posted in here not too long ago:
Thread 'SS Gew98 turned to a K98k?' https://www.k98kforum.com/threads/ss-gew98-turned-to-a-k98k.50597/

Just for the fact of what it was, I had told the OP a total reblue was a bad idea.

And your advice was right on.

 

[swjXE]

The guys are of course totally correct. you can't lose by experimenting with rust blue only in the general vicinity of the welds.
The most amazing cold blue I've ever found is Kleen Bore (Brand) Black Magic Bluing from www. safariland.com if you want to play around with it.
In your case, you can always take it off if you don't like it.

 

[Der wolf35]

I admire that welder's work, excellent job. I would get the very little excess weld cleaned up and utilize a touch up blue solution to "catch up" the areas as required.

As an SS action I wouldn't reblue it all, still a VERY nice action. It only needs blue where the weld repairs were conducted.

I waited to bring the weld down till I figured out what I'm going to do for the finish, only thing I'm worried about is going too far and accidentally knicking the receiver finish and have that all messed up. Should I just say (I have a small penis) it, bring it flush and not worry too much about the receiver if I'm going to get it touched up?

 

[Der wolf35]

After reading the original thread on this barreled action, I agree that a reblue would not be appropriate. I would be tempted to just have the welds dressed flush to the receiver and call it good. Always hard to judge from photos, but the finish on the rifle looks to be worn thin, as one would expect, any bluing attempt just on the welds would be pretty apparent. I think you would at least have to a blend the surrounding area. Do you have any of the other metal other than just the barreled action. I helped a fellow board member to restore his SS conversion and may have some parts to help with this one.

After reading the original thread on this barreled action, I agree that a reblue would not be appropriate. I would be tempted to just have the welds dressed flush to the receiver and call it good. Always hard to judge from photos, but the finish on the rifle looks to be worn thin, as one would expect, any bluing attempt just on the welds would be pretty apparent. I think you would at least have to a blend the surrounding area. Do you have any of the other metal other than just the barreled action. I helped a fellow board member to restore his SS conversion and may have some parts to help with this one.

I would bring the welds flush and leave it but I'm worried about hitting the receiver finish and taking that off. How effective do you think blending the finish would be if I accidentally hit the receiver? I won't try any of the bluing myself, I will definitely be bringing it to someone who can do a good job.

The only parts I really need are a stock, band spring and barrel bands. I found a stock that will work but it doesn't have a hand guard or bands to go with it, so I would need to find those.

 

[Herk1994]

This rifle may be worthy of a more expensive stock option if you can find one. Look here and ask around. You may even find a complete set with bands

 

[Der wolf35]

This rifle may be worthy of a more expensive stock option if you can find one. Look here and ask around. You may even find a complete set with bands

I do agree it is worth a good stock set. The one I found locally is somewhat correct for this rifle, it has a totenkof on the bottom of the stock where it would be on a gew 98 conversion. If I end up getting it, I'll ask here to see if anyone has a hand guard that would match it.

 

[Herk1994]

I do agree it is worth a good stock set. The one I found locally is somewhat correct for this rifle, it has a totenkof on the bottom of the stock where it would be on a gew 98 conversion. If I end up getting it, I'll ask here to see if anyone has a hand guard that would match it.

If it’s legit it doesn’t get much better than that. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a good color matched HG

 

[Der wolf35]

If it’s legit it doesn’t get much better than that. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a good color matched

I'm almost certain it's legit. It's not a gew 98 stock but I think its for the 98a conversion since there are waffenamts on the recoil lug, takedown disc and butt plate.

 

[runner]

If the stock is for a Kar98a, that is a small ring action. The Gew 98 receiver of your barreled action would not fit. Can you post pictures of the stock? I have never seen a SS conversion based on the kar98 action.

 

[Der wolf35]

If the stock is for a Kar98a, that is a small ring action. The Gew 98 receiver of your barreled action would not fit. Can you post pictures of the stock? I have never seen a SS conversion based on the kar98 action.

Here ya go. These are the only decent pictures there are. You think there's a good chance it's fake?

 

[Absolut]

Your rifle originally would not have had a laminate stock. So the one you had shown would not be period correct.

Secondly, regarding your question: the trouble I see is the same as others had pointed out - the welding was good, but blueing would not help as it is now. You will always be able to see the round holes. The welder has to do better, and then file it carefully flat until it fully matches the receiver contour. Secondly, why I also concur that reblueing is a bad idea: a friend of mine did high end restorations for a museum. Therefore he mixed the original receipt of blueing solvent he pulled from WWI instructions and had the Chemistry University mix it for him (what btw was a tough job for them too, since many components are no longer easy to get). He then applies it as officially instructed/done at factory (what, mentioned in this context is what we'd call "cold blue" as well; just to have it mentioned). What was most interesting to me (and also the reason why I mention this here), he said when something is welded and then blueing should be applied the steel used for welding needs to be of similar material as the rifle itself. Modern welding wire otherwise will result in completely different colors when being blued. His personal experience was that at least for WWI Austrian guns the wire used to bind bouquets would result in identical blueing color.

So even if you let your rifle be hot blued/dip blued by a professional you are very likely to notice miscolorations on where it was welded, simply if not a material of same steel components as the action was used. Therefore I tend to agree with others in here: if you cannot assure the material is identical, then just have the welding done in that it is excessive material all above the hole, and then extremely carefully hand file and polish it back to contour. Since the area around the holes has very little blueing left, then just try various cold blue mixtures and afterwards just polish them off enough to partially match the rest of the (visible) action. If you will blue the whole action you'll make them better visible than you could match with what I had mentioned.

 

[Der wolf35]

Your rifle originally would not have had a laminate stock. So the one you had shown would not be period correct.

Secondly, regarding your question: the trouble I see is the same as others had pointed out - the welding was good, but blueing would not help as it is now. You will always be able to see the round holes. The welder has to do better, and then file it carefully flat until it fully matches the receiver contour. Secondly, why I also concur that reblueing is a bad idea: a friend of mine did high end restorations for a museum. Therefore he mixed the original receipt of blueing solvent he pulled from WWI instructions and had the Chemistry University mix it for him (what btw was a tough job for them too, since many components are no longer easy to get). He then applies it as officially instructed/done at factory (what, mentioned in this context is what we'd call "cold blue" as well; just to have it mentioned). What was most interesting to me (and also the reason why I mention this here), he said when something is welded and then blueing should be applied the steel used for welding needs to be of similar material as the rifle itself. Modern welding wire otherwise will result in completely different colors when being blued. His personal experience was that at least for WWI Austrian guns the wire used to bind bouquets would result in identical blueing color.

So even if you let your rifle be hot blued/dip blued by a professional you are very likely to notice miscolorations on where it was welded, simply if not a material of same steel components as the action was used. Therefore I tend to agree with others in here: if you cannot assure the material is identical, then just have the welding done in that it is excessive material all above the hole, and then extremely carefully hand file and polish it back to contour. Since the area around the holes has very little blueing left, then just try various cold blue mixtures and afterwards just polish them off enough to partially match the rest of the (visible) action. If you will blue the whole action you'll make them better visible than you could match with what I had mentioned.

I doubt he used a material that matches the original receiver. So I just bring the welds down carefully with a file and blue just the welds and polish so it kinda matches the receiver? Would I be better bringing it to someone that does bluing and explain exactly what I want done?

 

[mrfarb]

If I remember correctly, a stone would be a better option. Basically you file it down as close as possible to flat without hitting the receiver, then use a fine stone to finish it? At least look into that method. Then just touch it up with something like rust blue.

 

[Der wolf35]

If I remember correctly, a stone would be a better option. Basically you file it down as close as possible to flat without hitting the receiver, then use a fine stone to finish it? At least look into that method. Then just touch it up with something like rust blue.

I'll look it up a bit, thanks for the recommendation.