First do no harm… I’ve found that it’s easy and cheap to make a tired gun look a lot better by doing a few simple things.
Stock – I remove the stock and soak it for 12 to 24 hours in acetone, then after I let it dry, I rub it down with 0000 steel wool and start wiping on very thin coats of True Oil. I let it dry between coats and then lightly rub the stock down with steel wool again before I wipe on the next coat of True Oil. I repeat 10-15 times and I always rub the stock down with the 0000 steel wool after the last coat to remove that cheap lacquered-look shine. Be sure you only wipe down the checkered areas 2 or 3 times as the True Oil tends to build up in the valleys.
Metal frame and barrels – I rub it down with light oil and 0000 steel wool to remove rust and grime. I’ve also found that soaking the action overnight in Coleman Lantern fuel will clean out must accumulated grime and goo. After I pull it out of the Coleman fluid I use a bottle of high quality spray lubricant and one of those long red nozzles to spray lubricant into the recessed areas of the action. I let it set overnight in a standing position so the excess oil can drain out, then I use my air hose again to blow out any remaining excess oil. Usually that treatment will get the action working briskly without having to take it apart.
Barrels(assuming black and not browned barrels) – I take the barrels that I’ve cleaned with a 0000 steel wool rub and hose them down with automotive starting fluid to degrease them (don’t be smoking when you do this!), after degreasing I rub the barrels down with a good quality cold blue treatment. Cold blue doesn’t hold up as well as a rust blue, but it’s simple to do (and redo the next season) and won’t hurt the barrels if you want to rust blue them in the future. Overall, while not nearly as good as rust bluing (especially in a side by side comparison) it will typically make the gun look a lot better than it did.
Be sure when you take the gun apart that all your screw drivers tightly fit the screws so you don’t bugger them up.
So that’s my free advice for the day and worth every penny.
Steve
Last edited by Rockdoc; 07/09/10 04:41 PM.
