1952 Corona 98 mauser hardness

[flounderman]

I recently ground the clip slot off and drilled and tapped a Spanish 98 Mauser marked corona, 1952. This was by far the hardest receiver I ever worked on. The back bridge was as hard or harder than the receiver ring. It dulled bits and broke taps and wore the teeth down in the taps. I ran a propane torch in the holes to anneal it, but didn't help much. Has anybody else worked on one of these and was it this hard?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I worked on one about 15 years ago---can't recall anything unusual.

[Texas by God]

Does the La Corona have an EA prefix to the serial number?
The hardest I've d&t'd was a Type 38 Arisaka and a Russian SKS.

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[flounderman]

It looks like it says cal 7.92. Is that the Nato designation for the 30-06?

[Texas by God]

It looks like it says cal 7.92. Is that the Nato designation for the 30-06?No, 7.92 is the 8mm Mauser. It may be a smudged 7.62 mark; meaning it is converted to 7.62 Nato. Should be easy to check.

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[flounderman]

receiver has had a lot of polishing and the markings are hard to read. I wouldn't think Spain would be using an 8mm in 1952. I just have the action, so the caliber is not important. It is going to be a 22-250 when I find a reamer. I was thinking the 30-06 was a Nato caliber for a while. There was some 30-06 mausers available a long time ago, as I remember

[FLINTNFIRE]

I have a coruna model 98 mauser and it is 7.92 or as we call it 8mm and it is 1948 or 1949 date , Good rifle and in great shape . Paid very little as people think if it is a mauser and its spanish it is not as good , nothing wrong with it at all and it stays in its original condition .

[Doug Humbarger]

Were you useing carbon or high speed tooling.
HSS tooling is the only was to go.

[eck0313]

That’s funny. I recall hearing as a kid to stay away from the Coronas, because they were soft!!!

[Texas by God]

That’s funny. I recall hearing as a kid to stay away from the Coronas, because they were soft!!!Ditto.

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[DCM]

That’s funny. I recall hearing as a kid to stay away from the Coronas, because they were soft!!!

I was told that their must be something wrong with it because one needs to add fruit to it to taste good.

[TNsailorman]

Back in the “good ol days” , the gun rag writers mostly recommended staying away from Spanish mausers. In the mid 70’s l worked with a guy that had an old Corona Mauser in 8mm Mauser (98 action) and he wanted it “refinished” for his son. He brought it to me. It had been sitting in the corner of his barn, as he used it to ward off wild dog packs that were pulling down his calf’s. It was in pretty good shape(metal) but the stock was water soaked and even smelled of horse manure. After soaking and cleaning, and refinishing with BlO, I sighted it in for him at 200 yards with the Winchester 170 grain RN ammo. It took only 3 shots to get it “on”. This rifle would rattle when shook pretty hard but otherwise it was very well made. So much for “expert” gun writers.
James

[KCSO]

Spanish guns are not consistant, and there is the rub, some soft, some hard even form the same makers and models. I personally would rather have a softer receiver than a hard as glass one as soft will bulge and hard will shatter.

[Texas by God]

I was told that their must be something wrong with it because one needs to add fruit to it to taste good.Open the bottle and sniff. We call it skunk beer for a reason. Notes of Pepe Le Pew.
"Cerveza por Turistas"[emoji6]

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[Hardcast416taylor]

Back in the late `80`s I bought 2 wood ammo boxes of 4 sealed metal ammo cans in them. They were Spanish 8mm and were `60`s headstamp and non corrosive. Still have 1 sealed metal can left, the ammo was packed on strippers in grey cardboard boxes tied with string.Robert

[Texas by God]

Back in the late `80`s I bought 2 wood ammo boxes of 4 sealed metal ammo cans in them. They were Spanish 8mm and were `60`s headstamp and non corrosive. Still have 1 sealed metal can left, the ammo was packed on strippers in grey cardboard boxes tied with string.RobertRobert that sounds like Portuguese ball ammo produced by F NM in the 1970s. If it is, then you know it is very fine ammo.

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[geezer56]

That action was 8mm. I took the barrel off. It looked worse than any sewer pipe you ever looked through.

[PaulG67]

I have d&t'd a couple that were quite hard also. What I did was drill with a 3 flute carbide drill then I placed a 10-32 nut over the hole and used my acetylene torch with a small tip running a hot flame directed through the nut into the hole and heated until red then let it cool, tapping was a breeze afterwards.