Electrolysis – cleaning finds.
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Required Material:

- Power supply (or car battery charger) 12V, best one to have is with a voltage control.
- And at least the capability of producing at least 1 to a maximum of 7 amps.
- Two power cords (the best types are the alligator clips.)
A piece of iron to act as an electrode (do not use anything other that scrap due to the  fact it will be destroyed during the process!),
- Salt or NaOH,
- Some plastic vessel (not metal) and large enough to fit the item you are cleaning
- Thing you want to clean (see the photo)

Electrolysis doesn’t removes original oxide, but removes paint!

 CAUTION: This process produces HYDROGEN, so you must insure your work space has adequate ventilation!

Procedure:

Connect cables to your power supply.  Connect the positive (+) to your electrode (keeping in mind again that it will be consumed during the process). The best electrode is some active metal such as iron or zinc. Now connect the negative terminal (-) to the object you are attempting to clean. It’s very important to provide good contact point so be sure to scrape away some of the rust to allow a good point of contact.

Now you have to prepare electrolyte. The easiest is water. Pour into it some table salt (NaCl) or NaOH. You have to dissolve so much salt as you can. Table salt is safer, because it is not caustic. Whereas, NaOH is extremely caustic, as to cause serious bodily injury, so remember YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL!!

Once you have prepared the electrolyte, place the electrode (+) and your item you want to clean with the electrode (-) connected. They cannot be in direct contact with each other!

Turn on the power. From the item you are cleaning, you should see a flow of bubbles. If they are flowing only from clip, you must check the point of contact. If bubbles are flowing from the entire object you are cleaning, everything is OK. If they are flowing from electrode, you must quickly change the polarity (+ and -). If  use NaOH, bubbles will flow from electrode and the item you are attempting to clean, so you must be sure that you made your connections properly, and polarity is correct. This process gives off oxygen (that which accelerates rusting); on item you are cleaning it will give off hydrogen, so it’s really important to insure that your workspace is properly ventilated.  (Hydrogen and oxygen is very explosive).

Now, on the subject the intensity of the current that you are applying.  If intensity is low (~1 A), this process will take a long time. If intensity is higher (>4 A), it will be quicker. Past experience has shown that the optimal intensity is 7 A per 100 cm² of area.  The entire process will take anywhere from a few hours up to few days, depending of rust intensity and current you are using. You have to be careful to not blow out your power supply. It’s good to clean you’re your item with a metal brush from time to time to help speed along the process. It is also recommended to replace the electrolyte from time to time. Again experience will be the judge.

It’s probably all for this subject… If you have any questions, please mail me.

How do you remove rusted screw from the magazine in Mauser 98k?

Tools required: hammer, pliers, screwdriver.

Procedure: turn the rifle over, with the magazine facing upwards. Using the hammer, hit close to the rear screw until rear screw won’t be loose. By the way should break small guard screw. Now remove the screw cover – its thin sheet metal. Next, grasp the screw with pliers (between magazine and bolt chamber) and unscrew it. To unscrew the front screw, you must bend the magazine (close to screw). Do it like the magazine won’t accost the trigger and turn it few times (unscrew). After you bend it back you knock out the front screw with a hammer (using this procedure you shall break the second guard screw). By utilizing this procedure you will save original screws, and most importantly you minimize the chances of damaging your rifle. This, in my opinion is better option, than sawing and drilling screws off.