Many years ago, I took 13 Mauser 98's of various origins to a heat treater in Salt Lake City to have them carburized. All but one of them came out great. The other one was warped bad enough that I can't get a bolt in without "persuading" it with a leather mallet. Is there anyway to get this thing to "relax" without drawing the temper?

Sorry friend.....my personal experience with heat treating says that the process of annealing and reheat treating is folly.......It's not something I'd recommend.

Scrap it and move foreward......

The darn things are not that expensive at all.....

I've got one that was done at the same company (or at least in the same town), but it is not warped as much as Masterifleman's. The bolt will go in and close, but you can't get a receiver mandrel's threads to start.

It will cost more than its worth,don,t worry about your bakers dozen and forget it i would.Unless you have nothling else to do. van

Where is it warped? And how much?

I know this isn't the "artiste's" answer, but depending on where it is warped, you may be able to stone or otherwise abrade or cut the interior enough larger to where the bolt will freely operate.

That won't make it "square" again, and will not make it something I'd want to sell at retail with my name on it. But, if you just want to use it yourself for a plinker or a minute-of-deer-woods gun, and don't mind a bit more bolt slop, it can sometimes work.

Most of the action is, after all, relatively unimportant for other than holding/feeding cartridges, and keeping the trigger & sear in correct position relative to the cocking piece. The first really important part is the receiver ring/locking lug seats, and barrel-holding front threads. If that receiver ring is okay and not warped itself, once you have the bolt freely operating, you may be able to lap the lugs and their recesses to a moderately sound fit (usually), and have something that will function safely. Not what any of us would WANT, if we had our "druthers", but MAY be useful in a strictly utilitarian sense.

Of course, it may be too badly warped for even that bit of work to be worthwhile or useful. That's a decision you have to repeatedly make as you see how the work is going. I can't tell from here.

One of the other things I'd be asking myself is, "Is the front receiver ring actually properly hardened and tempered? If I was taking a crap-shoot chance on the warping, what kind of chance was I taking on the hardening/tempering?"

My answer to that would determine whether I was willing to chamber it to anything exerting more pressure than a .32-40 with black-powder loads for my own use.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
Where is it warped? And how much?

I know this isn't the "artiste's" answer, but depending on where it is warped, you may be able to stone or otherwise abrade the interior enough larger to where the bolt will freely operate.

That won't make it "square" again, and will not make it something I'd want to sell at retail with my name on it. But, if you just want to use it yourself for a plinker or a minute-of-deer-woods gun, and don't mind a bit more bolt slop, it can sometimes work.

Most of the action is, after all, relatively unimportant for other than holding/feeding cartridges, and keeping the sear in correct position relative to the cocking piece. The first really important part is the receiver ring/locking lug seats, and barrel-holding front threads. If that receiver ring is okay and not warped itself, once you have the bolt freely operting, you can lap the lugs and their recesses to a moderately sound fit (usually), and have something that will function safely. Not what any of us would WANT, if we had our "druthers", but MAY be useful in a strictly utilitarian sense.

Of course, it may be too badly warped for evcewn that bit of work to be worthwhile or useful. that's a decision you have to make as you see how the work is going. I can't tell from here.

One of the other things I'd be asking myself is, "Is the front receiver ring actually properly hardened and tempered? If I was taking a crap-shoot chance on the warping, what kind of chance was I taking on the hardening/tempering? My answer to that would determine whether I was willing to chamber it to anything exerting more pressure than a .32-40 with black-powder loads for my own use.

Many properly hardened recievers have warped. It was the nature of the methods used. Careful development & refinement of the process along with technological advancements have all but eliminated warped receivers. The key is to know who to have heat treat your receiver and which process to use.

None of the two dozen or so carburized receivers & bolts that I've had done have warped.

I did see a fellow student whose receiver displayed some warpage but he used a different facility. He tried to straighten it without first annealing it and broke it. He learned how to weld a receiver back together as a result. He used my facility to have it recarburize and it did not warp the second time.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by z1r:

Many properly hardened recievers have warped. It was the nature of the methods used. Careful development & refinement of the process along with technological advancements have all but eliminated warped receivers. The key is to know who to have heat treat your receiver and which process to use.[QUOTE]



I absolutely agree. But, if I had only used a firm once or twice and I got a badly warped action back from them, I'd do a bit of hardness checking myself, and a re-evaluation of their heat-treating experience with GUNS, before deciding to put in more work on the action or to shoot the thing.

There are a few firms out there who are experienced and competent to re-heat-treat actions. But, there are a heck of a lot of them which will undertake the work, who are NOT.

It's one area where metallurgical/mechanical/equipment operating competence really IS important, and knowledge is vital. Different parts of the action require different hardness/tempering, and where and how much that applies, and how to get it done, is something that can save or cost some fingers or some eyesight.

A really badly warped receiver would be a warning sign to me that I should make sure all really IS well, before proceeding farther.

I was teetering toward using it as a display model and after talking with you guys, I'm pretty much convinced I should do that. It's too bad, it was a 1909 Argentine.

There are two heat treating companies doing receivers here in Salt Lake City. One is Industrial Heat treating in North Salt Lake and the other is Blanchards. I've used both over the years but find Blanchards to be a little more professional in the way they handle the work...

Back in the day, before I knew better, I took a receiver to a local heat treat facility that didn't know what in the hell they were doing (actually they did know what they were doing, but I gave them the wrong information on what kind of steel the receiver was made out of (). I got back a warped receiver. Then I learned from a local gunsmith that one way to minimize warp was to anneal first before doing anything to the receiver, and then retreat, adding carbon, because Mauser steel didn't have a whole lot of carbon in it until later years. the receiver that warped on me was taken back, annealed, bent a little bit (not by me) and retreated properly. It now works fine.

Bottom line, I wouldn't try doing much to that 1909 Argie in its hardened state. But I wouldn't give up on it either, and especially if I had a lot of work already done to it.

quote:

Originally posted by malm:
There are two heat treating companies doing receivers here in Salt Lake City. One is Industrial Heat treating in North Salt Lake and the other is Blanchards. I've used both over the years but find Blanchards to be a little more professional in the way they handle the work...

Blanchards has been mentioned on this forum before as a good place to have this done.

No intention to knock Blanchards, but that was where my 1908 Brazilian got warped.

I hope your not one of those guys who looks for his "expensive" ejected nickel plated416rigby case,at the expense of his life, instead of focusing on the follow-up shot on a charging buff. (just a fun analogy)
At the price we pay for these recievers compared to what a fine new one costs,one in 13 aint bad odds,you are way ahead.Throw the damn thing into the fire(to be melted down into something else) I dont think mr.Mauser would be offended.They were built in great numbers well knowing they would be scattered in the field anyway.As long as we have that great design we can build as many as we want!

What the heck; keep it around and use it for a paperweight on your desk. Would probably make for an interesting conversation starter.