GG375
.333 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 347
Loc: Brisbane
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I should know the answer to this question ...........but I don't, and I've always wondered. My gunsmith reckons the old Mannlichers (1903, 1905, 1908, 1910 etc)were just caustic blued but I've always been under the impression they were rust blued. Does anyone know for sure?
I bought an old M1910 from Holts a few years back. Mechanically it's in great nick......has had little use etc but is in need of a refurbish. I plan to have her polished, reblued and the stock freshened up. I'd like to get the old girl back to as close as original condition as I can.
Any info on the original blueing type would be much appreciated.
Cheers.
GG
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Igorrock
.400 member
Reged: 01/03/07
Posts: 1684
Loc: Finland
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IMO the main thing in this case isn´t how to do it but how it looks like. I have owned two Mannlicher Schönauer (there is still one in my corridor) and when looking deep blue color on their metal parts I suppose to use rust bluing method.
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http://promaakari.wordpress.com/
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fsrmg1
.300 member
Reged: 25/07/03
Posts: 158
Loc: Western Australia
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I'm not an expert, but as far as I'm aware, most prewar (WWII) European sporting rifles were rust blued. I would go with that, and besides it looks a lot better than tank blued.
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Cheers,
Rich
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GG375
.333 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 347
Loc: Brisbane
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Yes, I agree that a good rust blue beats a caustic blue any day and that is most probably the way I will go when the time comes.
In my experience you can always tell when a MS has been reblued .............the bolt tension spring invariably gets blued along with everything else, presumably because it is difficult/impossible to remove.
Does anyone know about that spring? Can it be removed? If so, how do you go about it?
Cheers guys.
GG
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2152hq
.300 member
Reged: 20/05/12
Posts: 127
Loc: USA
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The bolt tension spring is held in a place by a dovetail.
The rear end of the spring is dovetailed and slides into the corresponding cut in the frame.
What holds it in place from coming forward and out of the cut and what you have to by-pass to remove it is a small lug or extension on the bottom of the spring towards the front.
That lug sits behind the dead-ended cut in the frame so when the spring is in place or only slightly raised (as in when the bolt snaps past it,,the spring can't come out of the cut.
To remove, you have to carefully pull/pry the front end of the spring outward (to the right),,flexing the spring enough to clear that small lug on it's back-side. Then holding it out there, pull it forward and out of it's dovetail cut.
The Luger pistol uses the same idea in it's one piece spring/ejector and is held in place and removed the same way.
Flex it outward just enough to clear that lug,,no more. You risk breaking the spring if you pull it out too far of course. No need to anyway.
Sometimes it can be pulled part way forward and then it needs to be carefully tapped the rest of the way free from the back end.
Brass punch, polished tip small screwdriver, padded /smooth jaw pliers, ect.
It's not impossible,,they installed thousands of them and removed probably as many.
I've taken many of them out and put them back in w/o any issues. Just respect the part as a spring and don't bend it any farther than you need to to remove or re-install.
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GG375
.333 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 347
Loc: Brisbane
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2152hq
Thanks very much for that excellent description on how to remove the MS bolt tensioning spring. I'm going to give it a go this weekend and see how I go.
What are your thoughts on the original blueing type on these rifles? Caustic/hot blue or rust?
Cheers.
GG
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Sarg
.400 member
Reged: 20/01/07
Posts: 1365
Loc: Nil
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Thank you on a nice bit of info on that part removal, good to know in the future.
I have done some fantastic looking Caustic/hot blue jobs, alot of it is in the perp, just like in Car painting or painting in general I suppose ?
I'm not sure but I think Rust bluing has more longevity ?
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