Ladies and Gentlemen:

A few days ago I asked about the bolt lug set back that you have experienced with your 1898 Mausers. Some of you recommended re-heat treating the receiver and bolt for 1898 Mausers to alleviate the bolt lug set back problem.

Thank you for your input.

My follow up question to the people that have had their Mauser actions re-heat treated is:

How did you arrive at the actual steel analysis for the 1898 Mauser receivers and bolts that you sent to the heat treater? Did you take core samples of the actual parts that you sent to the heat treater and have the steel analyzed? Or did you have a document detailing the generic analysis of the steel for 1898 Mausers, and used that for re-heat treating?

If the latter, where I can I obtain a generic analysis sheet for the steel used in 1898 Mauser actions if I wish to re-heat treat my actions?

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Chris-

You're still laboring under the illusion that Walsh has something to offer.

I.e., his steel analysis.

Yep, it's an arcane art, but outfits like Pacific and Blanchards have done many, many Mausers.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Just send your action to someone that knows.

And avoid at all costs those who don't know.

flaco

I applaud your desire to know more and get into the details of all of this. If you section the action and have it tested, then you will have some very interesting data on that particular action. It would not be wise to assume it safe to transfer the information gathered on the one action to any other Mauser out there.

As for steel used, if you go back to the bottom of the page and read the thread that got this started, you will find some information from Burgess. It is a few posts above yours, but maybe you missed it.

You are not building a nuclear plant here, but rather making a custom rifle. WHile I personally also find things such as you question very interesting, it is very easy to get bogged down in details and lose sight of the big picture.

quote:

Originally posted by flaco:
Chris-

You're still laboring under the illusion that Walsh has something to offer.

I.e., his steel analysis.

Yep, it's an arcane art, but outfits like Pacific and Blanchards have done many, many Mausers.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Just send your action to someone that knows.

And avoid at all costs those who don't know.

flaco

an excellent post!.......in fact most all '98 mausers have very similar matallurgy of low carbon steel......the guys at PacMet can answer this a bit but getting them to email the data is like pulling teeth!

Just get them heat treated!

For my own clarification, when using a military Mauser action for a custom (assuming it is a good action to begin with, i.e. VZ24, 1909, etc.) you

• first have the action annealed
  
• second, do any worked needed, i.e. surface prep, truing, lugs lapped, stone action, enrgrave, etc.,
• then lastly send out to PacMet for heat treating(Tom Burgess process).

Is this correct? What temp must it be heated to for annealing? Can that be done at home or does it need to be sent out for annealing?


Thanks, Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Yale:
How did you arrive at the actual steel analysis for the 1898 Mauser receivers and bolts that you sent to the heat treater? Did you take core samples of the actual parts that you sent to the heat treater and have the steel analyzed?

Good one!

I think rather than resorting to drilling holes and gathering metal shavings, you might be better off to locate a Metallurgical lab that specializes in a process called "Optical Emission Spectroscopy" to have it done. It is non-destructive and pretty slick to watch.

To do the test, a very small area of the receiver is ground flat and placed against some type of spark device that is flooded with argon while a series of rapid sparks play over the area. A sample of the surface is evaporated which emits light (photons) and is recorded by an Optical Spectrometer, which, after calibration, provides an elemental analysis of the sample.

The area that is ground flat is small and can be done on the underside of the action, out of sight. The test area has a slightly frosted appearance that can easily be polished out, or, blended. The average cost for this service around these parts is about $45.00 per piece so you can put down the drill now.

Dear Westpac:

Man, that is one slick idea, thanks. I thought that you had to physically burn the sample to get a spectral analysis. Cool.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

You guys are overthinking this whole heat treating issue. If it's such a huge concern and you have to use a Mauser action, then buy a GMA or Satterlee Arms action and don't worry about. Or you can do like I did and have a knowledgeable metalsmith like Ed Lapour or Tom Burgess handle the work, then you don't have to worry about whether it's done right or not.

quote:

Originally posted by Chisana:
Or you can do like I did and have a knowledgeable metalsmith like Tom Burgess handle the work, then you don't have to worry about whether it's done right or not.

And if you just send the action to Pac-Met you get exactly what Tom Burgess gets.....and you don't have to ask him at all.....just tell them to give it the "Burgess methed"
Metallurgical analysis is not at all necessary here!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
And if you just send the action to Pac-Met you get exactly what Tom Burgess gets.....and you don't have to ask him at all.....just tell them to give it the "Burgess methed"
Metallurgical analysis is not at all necessary here!

That's exactly what Ed Lapour does. Hard to beat the Burgess method. No need to sweat it then.

Do you live near a university? Call their science department and ask if they have a scanning electron microscope with EDS. Using an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer an elemental analysis can be performed quite quickly, with no modification to the area of interest.

They may do it for free as classroom instruction.

Dear Nitroman:

That is a wonderful idea. Only thing that I will still have to do is grind off a small section to get below the case to get to the core steel. Hell, Lehigh University is only 30 minutes away.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

quote:

so you can put down the drill now.

LOL good one Malm ah Westpac