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Posted: 9/2/2023 8:55:19 PM EDT
[Last Edit: aperdue]
I posted this one a few years back but didn’t get much help then. I inherited this Frontier Six-shooter in pretty rough condition cosmetically. I am wondering what I can and should do to clean it up without ruining it. When I first got it, it was completely seized up, but after soaking it in gun oil a few days, I was able to get it to function. This pistol definitely has some history.
    
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Posted: 9/2/2023 9:44:16 PM EDT
[#1]
Best I can do is $50.00
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Posted: 9/2/2023 10:06:23 PM EDT
[#2]
Contacting the Colt Archives would be a good step.
They can provide information as to the when & the who ordered it, where it shipped to, etc. Another resource would be Turnbull Restorations. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z591ufwh23g And, when in doubt, YouTube has many gun restoration videos worthy of your time and attention. https://www.youtube.com/@TheKinzlerBros |
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Posted: 9/2/2023 10:15:38 PM EDT
[#3]
Personally I wouldn’t do anything else with it. It’s actually in pretty decent shape, looks more like damage from poor storage than anything else. Oil it up, preserve it the best you can.
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IA, USA
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Posted: 9/2/2023 10:16:12 PM EDT
[#4]
https://www.texasranger.org/
You might call the Texas Ranger Museum and ask to speak to the person in charge of historic firearms before altering it. Knowing who you got it from and info from Colt regarding where it was originally shipped will be helpful especially if it's early Texas history. |
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Posted: 9/2/2023 11:20:31 PM EDT
[#5]
Two choices:
1. Don’t touch it, just preserve it as is = it will retain collectible status/value. 2. Anything else and it’s just a cool (but worthless to anyone else) family heirloom. |
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Posted: 9/2/2023 11:22:13 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Urimaginaryfrnd: https://www.texasranger.org/ You might call the Texas Ranger Museum and ask to speak to the person in charge of historic firearms before altering it. Knowing who you got it from and info from Colt regarding where it was originally shipped will be helpful especially if it's early Texas history. |
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Posted: 9/2/2023 11:25:17 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By BM-ARM-DPMS-guns: Personally I wouldn’t do anything else with it. It’s actually in pretty decent shape, looks more like damage from poor storage than anything else. Oil it up, preserve it the best you can. You can do a S/N lookup and determine its year of manufacture and/or to get it lettered. The factory letter isn’t worth what it will cost you unless you intend to sell it. The only thing it will tell you is year of manufacture (which you can look up yourself) and to whom it was shipped. |
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Posted: 9/3/2023 6:12:35 PM EDT
[#8]
Would it be ok to clean it with a brass brush to remove the surface rust or would that be too aggressive? I don’t want to go crazy with cleaning it, I just don’t want the corrosion to get any worse. The pictures are a little deceptive, a lot of the little corrosion dots are actually red rust dots
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Posted: 9/3/2023 7:49:48 PM EDT
[#9]
It sounds like, and if it were mine, it’s more of a family heirloom rather than something you intend to someday sell as a collectible; if that’s the case then I would go ahead and clean it up.
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AZ, USA
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Posted: 9/3/2023 10:40:22 PM EDT
[#10]
Cleaning by soaking in something like Kroil or Ballistol then using something like brass chore boy to get rid of the rust is reasonable.
Once in functional condition go shoot it. Someone like turnbull can do incredible work on these ( I toured his shop years ago - people had guns under microscopes restoring marking and such) and it will cost thousands of dollars, and you will still end up with a gun no more valuable than as it currently sits. Avoid steel wool or heavy cleaning methods, just get the rust off and keep it oiled in the future |
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FL, USA
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Posted: 9/4/2023 7:18:21 PM EDT
[#11]
Over at Coltforum.com there is a Single Action Army sub forum with some really knowledgeable members there .
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OK, USA
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Posted: 9/4/2023 8:07:31 PM EDT
[#12]
Id brush it a bit more, buy a belt and holster, a lot of ammo and shoot it.
Keep it and pass it down to my kids or grandkids |
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Posted: 11/17/2023 6:19:59 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By aperdue: Would it be ok to clean it with a brass brush to remove the surface rust or would that be too aggressive? I don’t want to go crazy with cleaning it, I just don’t want the corrosion to get any worse. The pictures are a little deceptive, a lot of the little corrosion dots are actually red rust dots Soak it in EvapoRust. Check it often, like every 30 minutes. |
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Posted: 11/17/2023 10:20:38 PM EDT
[#14]
I’d find a correct grip/set of grips for it.
If the bore is in decent shape: Send it Bill Fuchs for a tune-up and all new springs. Shoot it. In it’s condition it’s just a shooter. You’d spend at least $5-6K having Turnbull fix it up and it would be worth maybe $3-3500 afterwards. You could make it functional and reliable again for less than a grand. |
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Posted: 11/18/2023 5:03:03 PM EDT
[#15]
If you're around Houston, Alan Horton does very good work on internals and such to make it a reliable shooter. And will do it at a reasonable price with fast turnaround.
Condition, clean it up with oil and brass wool. Broken grip, don't replace it, the 4 notches that line up with the frame are an important part of its history. With the serial number, you can look up the year of manufacture pretty easily online. Frontier six-shooter = 44-40. For some insane reason, Colt didn't want to put 44 WCF on their pistols. I don't understand why, 32 WCF and 38 WCF didn't seem to bother them very much. |
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