K98k Pictures Page 2 Here are some pictures of my new K98k while it was getting a good scrub to get the cosmoline out of the action and stock. The action turned out beautifully, except for a slightly gritty trigger that most mostly cured with the help of some lithium grease applied liberally on the area where the sear rubs against the bottom of the receiver. I'm still considering getting either a Huber Concepts double-stage Service Match trigger or a Timney single-stage trigger. The Timney offers the better value, but the Huber trigger possesses the double-stage design that I've really grown fond of since shooting all these Mausers. We'll see what happens... :) Here's the process that I used to clean the rifle: First I completely disassembled the rifle, right down to the pins and springs so that all the cosmoline could be removed. Next, I gave all the metal parts a bath in paint thinner to remove the cosmoline from the inside and outside. I used an assortment of old toothbrushes, dental picks and towels and rags to get them completely clean. Once the metal parts were completely clean and the paint thinner had dried off, I wiped the parts down with a light coat of 5-56 oil to prevent oxidation. To get the cosmoline out of the stock I used a pair of heat lamps aimed at the wood (about 12" away, depending on how powerful they are) and as the cosmoline seeped out of the hot wood, I wiped it off with a rag soaked with mineral spirits. Do not use any harsh chemical cleaners on the laminated stocks...it has been known to cause damage to both the laminate wood and the laminate glue. I kept heating spots on the stock and wiping them down until the cosmoline stopped seeping out. Once one spot was done, I would move the heat lamp down and start another spot. I also used this method to clean the cosmoline out of the inside of the stock. Once the stock was de-cosmoed, I used a regular clothes iron and a wet rag to steam some of the dents out of the wood. Be sure to keep the rag wet and keep moving it around so that it doesn't dry out and possibly scorch the wood. Once you've steamed the dents were steamed out to my satisfaction, I gave the wood a couple of hours to dry and then I lightly sanded it with 320-grit sandpaper first, then finished up with 400-grit. This helped to greatly smooth out snags and rough spots in the wood. Next up came the stock finish. I used some boiled linseed oil (BLO) thinned a little with some mineral spirits and began vigorously rubbing it into the stock. The wood was so dry that it readily absorbed the BLO, so I kept rubbing it in until the wood had darkened some. I then wiped off the excess and waited 24 hours and rubbed the stock down with #0000 steel wool, followed by a light wiping with mineral spirits. Then I applied another coat of BLO and waited 24 hours again. I repeated this process until there were 7 or 8 coats of BLO in the wood. This is the most nerve-wracking part of the job because by this point I was getting very anxious to get the rifle back together! After the stock was finished, I reassembled the rifle and began cleaning the barrel of the decades of fouling. I used a .338 bore brush so that the fit of the brush was tight in the barrel and would get into the grooves. After days of cleaning, the patches still come out charcoal grey after I use the bore brush on the barrel. I guess I'll keep on cleaning until the patches start coming out clean! A clean barrel is a key part of accuracy...the cleaner the better! Below are some pictures of my K98k during the cleaning process. Click the thumbnails for a larger image.