Of the scores of rifles that I have owned in the past 50 years, one stands out, and it was a k98 carbine in 8x57mm, vint 1943. I had the ladder sight removed from the barrel, along with the upper handguard which rattled and shook, and I had a Lyman aperture receiver sight mounted. It was the only rifle I owned where once I took it out, usually on the afternoon side, thirty minutes later, I would be field dressing a deer. The flood of 2012, destroyed it. Of the things I did to that rifle, was full bedding with Brownell’s bedding epoxy with steel dust mixed in. I ripped the stock base good, to let the epoxy get a real good bite. The bluing job, from 1943, was in decent condition, so I left it alone. The muzzle I had recrowned. Chamber throated and polished. Action honed. The k98 was ugly as sin, and I worked on that, with 180 grit paper, which gave a “Man’s grip”. Real positive grip. Then I pine tar finished the stock with a propane torch, using a mix of pine tar/Boiled Linseed Oil/Turpentine. I mixed it up and then, started heating up the stock gently by moving the torch. The mix, soaked right in. I was going to stop at two coats but kept going until the wood stopped absorbing. I allowed the stock to dry over the month of June. Then I looked at it. I had made stocks from blanks before, and was going to polish the stock slick with Brownell’s 555 Polishing Compound, as was my norm but, that stock had a feel to it that no other rifle has ever come close to, so I left it alone, and hunted with it, despite many comments of others who said that I should polyurethane it, like theirs. I hunted snow, rain, 40 mph winds, you name it, whatever nature dished out. Hogs were in fear of that rifle and must have packed their bags, because of the decimation of their population and my freezer, a six footer, was full.
I came across this video link I am posting, The guy knows what he is talking about. I have been watching his videos, and he is pretty much on the money about everything he covers. Only one thing he said that I tried to look for his contact information but it was not listed. His M37 in winter. He warms it up and it takes a few miles to warm the transmission. Well, maybe if it’s an automatic transmission. The M37, should have a manual gearbox and a manual transfer case. What I always do with that combination is to start the engine normally, then place the transfer case in neutral, and put the main gearbox into a high gear, such as fourth gear of a five speed box. Then let things come up to normal operating temperatures. You get heat, and that means the transmission is warmed up. Take the main box out of gear, put the transfer case into two wheel high, then drive normally. I dislike automatic transmissions and electronic transfer cases. Unfortunately, my King Ranch, has both. Wish they were manual units. Anyway, enjoy the pin tar video the man made. He just became one of my favorite people.
riflemaniiijournal.wordpress.com 