tjg79 is right - the Kar98k was hot caustic blued, as a barreled action. Mauser Oberndorf were the first to use the hot caustic blue method (about 1939 it seems - earlier guns were rust blued).
Kar98k actions CAN turn plum red, but only if HIGHLY polished first, and the wrong temperature of caustic bath used - any competant gunsmith should know this. The extractors, as already noted, are another kettle of fish, but again it depends on the temperature of the hot bath - when "expedited", yes, they turn plum too - see mid to late war Kar98k's for this.
I have only ever seen ONE reblue where the 'smith knew what he was doing and it looked IDENTICAL to original - his name was Klaus Petzl, and was a gunsmith here in Australia, of Austrian lineage (he JUST saw WW2 in Austria, along with his brother, also a gunsmith but in Sydney). They learnt the RIGHT way - if I am not mistaken, Klaus did his apprenticeship at Steyr. I could honestly NOT tell the difference between his properly prepared reblue 98k and a near new original Portuguese contract M941 that was for comparison. Most hack-smiths polish the metal (WRONG!), and don't even bother pickling in acid (which it should be) - and they wonder why it comes out looking like Sloop Doggy-Dog's pimped out bling bling Pontiac... or if they do no proper prep at all, the rifle comes out as matte and grotesque as an RC hot dip reblue where the caustic pH wasn't even monitored...
I digress...
Yeah, he's blowing smoke in your pie-hole re corrosive barrel thread treatment.
Kar98k actions CAN turn plum red, but only if HIGHLY polished first, and the wrong temperature of caustic bath used - any competant gunsmith should know this. The extractors, as already noted, are another kettle of fish, but again it depends on the temperature of the hot bath - when "expedited", yes, they turn plum too - see mid to late war Kar98k's for this.
I have only ever seen ONE reblue where the 'smith knew what he was doing and it looked IDENTICAL to original - his name was Klaus Petzl, and was a gunsmith here in Australia, of Austrian lineage (he JUST saw WW2 in Austria, along with his brother, also a gunsmith but in Sydney). They learnt the RIGHT way - if I am not mistaken, Klaus did his apprenticeship at Steyr. I could honestly NOT tell the difference between his properly prepared reblue 98k and a near new original Portuguese contract M941 that was for comparison. Most hack-smiths polish the metal (WRONG!), and don't even bother pickling in acid (which it should be) - and they wonder why it comes out looking like Sloop Doggy-Dog's pimped out bling bling Pontiac... or if they do no proper prep at all, the rifle comes out as matte and grotesque as an RC hot dip reblue where the caustic pH wasn't even monitored...
I digress...
Yeah, he's blowing smoke in your pie-hole re corrosive barrel thread treatment.
