K98 Black or Stainless

[JaimeH]

I've been going over my latest purchase and noticed that some of the metal has been painted black. I steel wooled the metal ring on the stock and it cleaned up nice (stainless).

Is the butt plate supposed to be black or stainless? or were there both? I dont want to start sanding the black off to find out it should have remained. Thanks

[Kai-Steffen M.]

everything that isnt anodized (brüniert) on a k98 should be stainless- i dont think anything was ever painted...

Gruß,
KSM

[Brian M]

actually no wartime metal parts would be stainless. the bolt takedown disc you refer to would have remained "in the white" from the factory, i.e. never blued. they will rust if gotten wet and left unoiled. the buttplate was another item left in the white. all of the other parts (with the exception of some extractor claws on late war guns) would have been blued. in mid-1944 some of the manufacturers switched to a grey or greenish phosphate wash. this is most common on Oberndorff, Gustloff Werke, and Steyr guns from 1944-45.

[Kai-Steffen M.]

thats what i meant with stainless- not stainless steel (V2A, NIROSTA or the like) but just the plain metal- definitely nothing was painted.
I'm not so common on the late war development of these rifles- the one i own is a 1936 S42- but the extractor clow has a reddish brownish color i saw on a lot of those rifles- what would that be?

Gruß,
KSM

[Brian M]

the reddish color is common on extractor claws. it is sometimes found on other parts. it has to do with the composition of the steel. sometimes the steel contains too much or too little of certain elements, or is hardened to varying degrees, causing it to turn "plum" when blued. the plum color can be very eye catching.

[Kai-Steffen M.]

yes, i like the color too because its brown matches exactly the color of the nussbaum stock on my rifle

Gruß,
KSM

[Matt Weber]

Brian is correct. Nothing was stainless on a K98. The parts you refer to (buttplate, and bolt disassembly disk) are plain steel, and sometimes referred to as "in the white".

As for the plum color that you are referring to, I have heard several different stories on that. One, as Brian stated, was related to metal content. This theory is odd, since you see this plum color on early war stuff (like you 1936 K98), but you also see it a lot on late war stuff too. (like my "dot 1944" k98, and my AC44 P38, with plum frame!)

The other story I heard, is that is was caused by salts used during the bluing process. To me this idea makes more sense, but perhaps it is a combination of both?

Does anyone know for sure about this "plum" colored bluing?

Matt

[Brian M]

the plum color does come from improper hardening or impurities in the steel. the color is only found on certain parts. Extractors on Lugars, Broomhandles, and K98k's, barrels on G43's, bolt carriers on Svt-40's (rearsenalled) certain hardening processes or steel contents would not take the bluing properly. some frames on P-38's show this in '44. this was not deemed an "unacceptable" part at the factory, and thus expedited for assembly onto the weapon. certain parts, like those mentioned, are the ones most commonly seen plum, and thus most commonly improperly hardened or too much Nickle or Chromium in the steel content from a lot or subcontractor. I have owned several varied date 98k's with plum extractors, and several Ac code G43's in the 44 c-g letter blocks with plum barrels. I have also seen many 44 p-38's with plum frames. all rearsenalled svt's will have plum carriers. originally they were in the white.