Is it true that some late war production German Mauser receivers were not hardened? I have one that my dad liberated that I was thinking of making into a varmint rifle but was not sure if it's worth the time/trouble/money to restock, safety, trigger, barrel, etc. and reheattreat the receiver.
Front of receiver measures 1.425in dia
Markings on front receiver ring top-
Eagle over swastika,WA80?,dou.45
Midway has some stock/barrel combos that look reasonable- anyone have experience with those?
Any help would be appreciated.
Blacktailer

Finish, fit, and quality deteriorated late in the war due to obvious problems and intentional sabotage by slave labor. Your action maybe be perfectly safe but 'rougher' than a prewar.

However I think the rifle would be much more 'valuable' to you as a genuine relic of the great war with a personal history through your dad.

Accurate, strong, modern varmint rifles and cartridges are readily available for a few hundred dollars. A genuine K98 bringback with a history is 'priceless'. Save the old K98 for what it is. It has more 'character' than any one hole shooting 22/250. Plateau Hunter

Yeah I agree, but I didn't mention that it's not in the original stock, although the metal looks original (and as you said rough). So it's not much of a curio.
Blacktailer

There are several key factors that indicate a last ditch rifle that may have not been properly hardened.

As a general rule, if the bottom metal is milled (not stamped) with matching serial numbers, then the rifle should be fine. Also, rifles made in Czechoslovakia, such as the DOU, were all quality made right up till the end. German made rifles made during war have lower quality with each passing year (due to allied bombardment of factories).

Stay away from German made rifles after 1943, with stamped metal parts and non-matching or missing numbers.

Buy a K-98 stock. They are on E-bay all the time. With a little background work, you could even figure out what the proper type of stock should be for that manufacture code / date. The small parts for the stock, like barrel bands etc, are also quite easy to find.

Todd

How about the Gew 98 ? I have a large ring one dating to 1917 made in Danzig. Would that action be safe despite being made in the later phase of WWI ? It looks good and is unpitted.

Regards