A NMA apart

[Racing]

Seeing how the thread on that P-53 evolved i thought you guys might appreciate this too.

Background here is that i work on these guns. Due legislation where i live the old originals are often kept running, and that´s where i come in. When i do work i always try and do so with an imperative respect for the guns integrity.

..n see on occasion, as i´ve touched on previously, i see the occasional "special" gun in the door.

So. This new member shows up at the club and this while good friend Stefan is there airing his old NMA´s (yeah, he´s got a few). So the guy bursts out that "Hey! I´ve got one of them there at home, but it´s a replica that´s no firing!"
So Stefan tells him to call me up n show it to me, which he does and we agree on him showing at the shop the same day. In the door he comes. With this.
Yep.
Took all of like 10 secs to realize this is an old original, and of course there´s a story to that.

Yeah... on that.
Anywhoo... Where i live, it´s a coastal town right. So just slightly off downtown there´s a smaller suburb called Torslanda and see this mans great great great grandad was the captain of a ship right, so he brought this one home from New York back in the day (approx turn of the century) whereafter it lived its majority life in a sock drawer!
Used by the kids to play cowboy n indians when they were young!

So in essence as we speak it´s starting to dawn on Michael what it is he brought me. That "non firing" replica, well.. barrels need a cleaning from time to time right.. so shoving a bronze brush through it, sure enough. Clean as you won´t believe (see further down).

As this is a "collectors grade" NMA you don´t touch it right?
Wrong.
What i came to recommend Michael, and what was pulled, was a "conservation" of the piece. Real simple, i pick it entirely apart and boil it. Yes. In regular water.

FWIW the steel of the Remingtons take better to boiling than the Colts for instance. So an hour in the pot usually does it and done deal.
After that hour has come n gone i just rinse under the faucet whereafter i place the parts in in my case kerosene, but truth be told any petroleum based product will work.
The idea is to have the petroleum product put a halt to continued rusting. Point then that the boiling will turn the red rust into black oxide, while at the same time make more red rust appear (which comes off, all of it, very easily).
So. This is put to a halt by soaking the parts in kerosene for about an hr.

Then.. i CARD the parts. Yes. It looks like a rotary wire brush but the strands are WAY WAY WAY thinner which hands that a CARDING WHEEL is anything but aggressive. On the contrary. A carding wheel you can stick your fingers into as it´s running without any risks, that tells how anything BUT stiff it is.
I recap, we NEVER NEVER EVER come close to an antique gun with a rotary brush. EVER. This is an absolute cardinal sin!!
A carding wheel is anything but cheap but.. it is needed, and that´s just the way it is. Brownells stock them for those in need..

Then.. Worth it?

Make your own call.

So. No chemicals, not aggressive approach what so ever. Just regular water set to a boil, followed by dunking in kerosene followed by carding the piece. What you see is what was underneath all them small rust specs, and as long as Michael treats and oils this piece up we´ve "conserved" this piece for generations coming for another 150yrs.

This is a VERY valid approach for a gun like this. In essence what we do is a in depth clean, and that´s it.

For the sake of argument, a rifle reacts the same to the job in case. I´ve had rifles through the door that looked like a million bux, the collector in case truly taking care of it, but as i lift the barrel out of the stock.. rust mayhem.
So yes.
Even collectors grade guns that are NOT intended for further use STILL needs attention on a regular basis, and no it does NOT suffice just "wiping it down with an oiled up rag". It does NOT.

So the winners here are first up the gun and second of all.. Michael of course. He shoots it these days, albeit sparingly. Since that visit to the shop, he´s a hunter as well and knows his way around firearms per se, the old Remington sees the maintenance needed too.

So.. yep. Another one saved for the after world...

 

[CowCavalry]

Haven't I read about you working on and shooting originals somewhere before? Was it here on CWT?

 

[Racing]

Might very well be.
To us it´s more the rule than exception. I for one keep a stock pile of the "old ´uns" and sure let them breathe all i can.

 

[Old Soldier]

It does depend on the state of the weapon when you get it. I can't afford the good ones, so I have to put up with the 'not so good' ones - usually pitted or badly 'restored' and still bearing the marks of that 'restoration' or, even worse - both together! In this place, far over the sea, many of these older weapons are now off-ticket IF they are for display only and having seen the state of some, that ALL they are useful for. Any like this one, will sell for THOUSANDS - waaay beyond my pocket.

The sort of gun we will get is usually a muzzle loader/percussion revolver or 'obsolete caliber' (a firearm chambered for cartridges that are no longer produced) that has been dumped in an attic, garden shed or cupboard and has been subject to 'environmental damage' - rather like the ones fished out of rivers, but not quite (!) as bad. Still makes you cry to see what a 'restorer' can do to a gun!

Interesting read though and another set of procedures to try - and I will. Thanks!

 

[Racing]

Yes.
Agreed.
I´ve had way way way to many "restored" guns through the shop over the yrs. I can´t for the LIFE of me grasp what makes the judgement call a hard one?

Have i restored guns too? Sure! Where the ship has sailed.. pull all pins and go at it, any collectors value is die hard gone since ages.

I´ll give you an idea...
As stated it´s the originals that are exempt and they DO show up not only in a condition that shouldn´t be considered, but also.. NOT to be restored to fool someone.
Well. I was on the hunt for a second NMA to use for CAS.

Ran across this NMA that someone had "modified for target use". In this case it brought that they had FILED the entire front of the barrel down to install a band based front sight. In turn the hackjob at the rear of the frame where they had dovetailed an early 1911 rear wasn´t much better.
At that.. rusted all over, but the RIFLING was still good.

In short the thing looked like a trainwreck. Period.

So i turned the barrel down on the lathe to get uniform dimensions, and then turned to the mill to make this...

Which i in the end TIG welded in place. Neat thing about the Remington guns (and a few of the others) is that they´re made of perfectly weldable material.
That said, this gun sure wasn´t original anymore and to NOT be able to fool anyone down the line i made the barrel all in all 2mm shorter at the muzzle.
I´d really HATE see someone misuse my work that way...

Now. This is a RESTORED gun. Smith stocks just cause i had them laying around (originals were long gone, replaced by a set of beech wood ones) and the intent here is CAS after all. Can always be replaced by walnut original look alikes should the day come.
But yeah. That there was originally made in 1864. Loads/heaps of work.. true, but as is it fits the bill for what I use it for.
That very beautiful "deep sea blue" is from blueing in salts only. The "old way". If one pays attention when welding up pittings and level the surfaces again... this is the net result. A gun looking like it did the day it left the factory, yeah well.. the stocks aside of course.

 

[Old Soldier]

Mmmmm. How about a Colt pocket .31 frame and cylinder with a cut-down (3.75") Colt Navy barrel!

I had what I thought was a good buy - an issue Snider-Enfield (MkIII) Artillery carbine ("Musketoon"), for display, which looked like it could be improved on - only to find a barrel ground down to remove pitting and a completely 'new' lock - with a date of 1860 on it - a similar age London Armoury Company one - high quality, but not 'issue' at all - and very well engraved! The new Sniders did not start production until 1869! You don't find these things out until you take it to pieces!

Why 1860? The lockplate was also stamped and and trademarked to John Rigby (London) in the old Brown Bess/P1832 fashion - highly unusual for an issue weapon. There was an old trade stamp on the barrel too - perhaps the gunmakers that bought it after it was sold out of service. John Rigby hailed from Dublin and designed and patented a brass cartridge in 1860 - the same sort as one Colonel Boxer sneakily introduced in 1866 after failures for the first cartridge for this system. I suspect the culprit was a more recent apprentice at the London Gunmakers which still bears the same name & mark.

High quality engraving, but you will also see why I mean 'badly restored' - the hammer was a modern repro - now replaced by an original MkIII hammer and hammer screw! It looks MUCH better. (I suspect the original lock was too badly corroded so was replaced, the rest was issue and traceable)