doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com White whale in sight! Rem. M17E

Some of you may recall this gun, it's been posted here a few times. I may have a chance to purchase this once lovely 17E, it has been languishing in a basement for many years and the owner is finally motivated to sell. The wood can be brought back but the metal will require a complete redo and much re-engraving and screw repair. Taking into account the condition issues and what it will take to make this gun right what would you think to be a fair price to pay?



Also, does anyone offer a service for lettering Remington guns?

thanks, Rob

RIGHT CLICK/VIEW IMAGE for larger pics.

Rob,that once was a beautiful gun! good luck! A good engraver could recut the lettering,etc. Bobby

That just doesn't look like a difficult restoration. I would not try to make the metal 100%. Don't miss out on this rare gun. No letters on Remington guns, but go to the RSA post 1900 shotgun forum and maybe someone will give you some further information.

Great gun. Murphy is right. Do not go over board on redoing the engraving.

Pete

As far as the metal goes; I'm not so sure I'd go any farther than cleaning off the surface rust. With a little luck you're not looking at severe pitting here.
The wood? Clean the grunge off and out of the checkering and lets see what's below.
Admittedly I'm sort of a minimalist when it comes to a gun in this condition but It can only have its original finish once!
Jim

Clean the rust off and call it good! As Jim said, "it can only have its original finish once". I'd much rather have a little rough action than one whose history has been destroyed by the buff. Congratulations and BUY that gun!

I'm tending to agree with you all but is 0000 steel wool and Hoppes going to get all the rust off this gun? Especially in the engraving?

Hopefully we'll find out, will report back if he finally decides to go through with the sale.

A bronze brush or maybe a SS brush will get the rust out of the engraving. I agree with those calling for a non-invasive restoration. If you clean the wood and then put some Tru Oil on top, it will look authentic without looking renewed.

Formby's Furniture Refinisher will remove outer layers of grease and so long as you don't sand it, will look original once you oil it. It's not a stripper, and will leave just the right amount of "old".

I'm all for refinishing over most faults and scratches in wood. The wood then looks well-cared for and used rather than raw and new.

I think you'll be surprised how much 0000 and Hoppes will clean this up. It's kind of hard to tell but the rust looks pretty fine grained. I hope some will chime in on this because I have not yet tried it, but I have heard that you can put rusty gun parts in boiling water first and the red rust will convert to black oxide as is done in rust bluing. Then when you card with steel wool, the metal is left a bit darker than when just removing red rust. Sounds logical, but hopefully someone has first hand experience.

Lots' of good advice. I purchased an ultrasonic cleaner last year and it makes inroads into rust, that may help also.

It all depends on whether the seller is going to be reasonable in his monetary expectations.He has changed his mind twice before.


thanks, Rob