Mctrigger
.224 member
Reged: 08/12/20
Posts: 5
Loc: Alberta Canada
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Was there any popularity to having white or polished sporting Mauser bolts and handles? Or are they commonly always blued?
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Huvius
.416 member
Reged: 04/11/07
Posts: 3614
Loc: Colorado
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All of the original Oberdorf sporters had blued bolts.
I believe on military actions they were left in the white.
On a custom sporter build you'll often see the bolt handle blued and the bolt body left polished. I guess that keeps the bolt looking new as you cannot see the drag marks on a polished bolt the way you can on a blued one.
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He who lives in the past is doomed to enjoy it.
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justcurious
.333 member
Reged: 17/03/10
Posts: 285
Loc: Germany
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You will find it on many FN 98 sporters.
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rpeck
Reged: 06/12/13
Posts: 435
Loc: Canada
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I have always preferred bright bolts, including the bolt knob. You see bright bolts on many Husqvarna sporting rifles, and even on their military M-38 Swedish Mauser. It helps that the high grade Swedish steel is very corrosion resistant. (This from "The Swedish Mauser" by Kehaya and Poyer:"The steel is a special alloy developed in Sweden, it's use specified over German steels in the manufacture of Swedish Mausers being made in Germany between 1894 and 1900. It is a copper bearing, high strength, low alloy steel. The copper imparts anti-rust properties to the final product.")
Edited by rpeck (21/12/20 09:39 AM)
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Mctrigger
.224 member
Reged: 08/12/20
Posts: 5
Loc: Alberta Canada
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Quote:
I have always preferred bright bolts, including the bolt knob. You see bright bolts on many Husqvarna sporting rifles, and even on their military M-38 Swedish Mauser. It helps that the high grade Swedish steel is very corrosion resistant. (This from "The Swedish Mauser" by Kehaya and Poyer:"The steel is a special alloy developed in Sweden, it's use specified over German steels in the manufacture of Swedish Mausers being made in Germany between 1894 and 1900. It is a copper bearing, high strength, low alloy steel. The copper imparts anti-rust properties to the final product.")
That’s very interesting. It’s actually a husqavarna m98
Sporter that I intend to polish.
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Marrakai
.416 member
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3706
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
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Bill Ruger (and his son!) must have thought the bright bolt handle was a pretty good idea too, as they banked on it for decades! 
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Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
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www.marrakai-adventure.com.au
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Woldan
.224 member
Reged: 17/03/16
Posts: 32
Loc: Austria
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I've always liked the bolts all in the white because when blued bolts eventually start to scratch it does not look too good I think. Bolts should be a little lubed anyway so corrosion should not be an issue.
Mauser k98K's all had blued bolts, the Gewehr 98 bolt was all in the white (including the receiver!)
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Wedgetail
.275 member
Reged: 22/07/20
Posts: 99
Loc: Australia- NSW
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Good thread. I’m debating what way to go in my build, I’m thinking maybe blued handle white body.... what was the thinking behind a fully blues bolt? It’s clearly going to look off once it gets a few shots down it?
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“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” - Rudyard Kipling
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Woldan
.224 member
Reged: 17/03/16
Posts: 32
Loc: Austria
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Quote:
Good thread. I’m debating what way to go in my build, I’m thinking maybe blued handle white body.... what was the thinking behind a fully blues bolt? It’s clearly going to look off once it gets a few shots down it?
I have a German K98k, the bluing they used is pretty good, nearly 80 years later and only a few scratches show that it had been used extensively. I tried cold & hot bluing myself but never got even close to the quality of said bluing, it would always scratch terribly, so I always leave the bolts of my builds in the white.
The thinking behind it was mostly corrosion resistance. The German WW1 Gewehr 98 had actions and bolts in the white, but even at the very end of their production they started bluing bolt and receiver. Later in the 1920's the G98 rifles were converted to the Reichswehr Gewehr pattern, they got new sights and all blued bolt and receiver.
Having said that my builds have bolts in the white, I always give them a satin finish to remove glare. I take the rough side of a dish sponge and carefully run it in circles over the bolt and Mauser extractor, that will remove glare and make it look like satin stainless. It does not mess with the smoothness of the bolt travel at all and looks quite good. ( - I also did that to the brass receiver of my 44-40 Uberti lever action rifle, it looks so much better now than with that factory mirror-like finish.)
Here the original blued K98k bolt next to a CZ 602 bolt:
Edited by Woldan (23/12/20 08:42 AM)
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3DogMike
.400 member
Reged: 29/01/15
Posts: 1487
Loc: Western Slope, Colorado USA
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It is interesting, when you look at period 1890's British catalogs from the beginning of the "bolt action sporting rifle" era, a a lot of them offer the option of the bolts to be blacked to lessen bright reflection in the field, not just Mausers...... This leads me to believe that possibly many of the "standard" offerings (likely military origin barreled actions) were bright polished bolts.
- Mike
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"Will Rogers never met a fighter pilot"
- Anon
“Always carry a flask of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake."
-- W. C. Fields
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