My girlfriend has an old .22 single shot, that I "stole" from her and am going to refinish it.  It was one of her grandpa's and the barrel has quite a bit of rust on it, and something is obstructing the bore.  Wood is in good shape with just a few small cracks around where the screws attatch.  I'd like to figure out if there's a squib or just cobwebs in the bore, clean it out and refinish and reblue the gun to 'wallhanger' condition.  Probably would never be shot but I'd like to clean it up for her and suprise her with a like new little .22.

So what I'm looking for is a website or simple set of how to's, to show me how to refinish an older gun.

Thanks!

What about the Hoppes or Birchwood rebluing kits?

First off, what is the make and model of the rifle?

Don't do anything to the finish until you know what you have - you may reduce the value of a collectable to junk.

Take the action and barrel out of the stock, if there is a bolt remove that.  The obstruction might be a dirt dauber nest if the gun left on the porch or barn, so to start, just pour some oil down the bore from both ends to soften the obstruction.  After awhile, use a cleaning rod with a jag and patch to push the obstruction out.  Clean the bore with solvent and patches, use a bronze brush if you have one.

After the bore is clean, wipe the entire gun down with light oil - 3 in 1, gun oil, aobut any petroleum product and let it sit for just a while.  Then, take some 0000 steel wool wet with oil and gently rub the surface to remove the rust that stands proud of the surface.  Try to leave as much of the original finish as possible.  When you are done, you will have a gun with a nice aged patina.  Clean the residue and crud off and oil the gun.  That part is done.

Remove the trigger guard and give it the same gentle treatment.

Clean to stock with Murphy's oil soap or similar.  Your goal is to remove the dirt and leave all the remaining finish, scratches and all.  Give the stock a thin coat of Tru-Oil, let it dry, rub it out with a clean cotton rag until there is no haze visible in the finish a glancing light through a window, and stop.

Reassemble the gun and hang it on the wall; it will look great, and it will retain the scratches and dents from Grandpa's adventures with the gun.

Or, you can strip it of all finish, sand the hell out of the stock, cold blue the metal parts, and you will have a gun that looks Bubba'd up, but you can take comfort in knowing that you aren't alone.  You also won't be doing your gal a favor.

There have been some good articles lately on Brownell's site regarding a refinish of an old shotgun.  Check out the "Beginner's Bench" articles.

www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/newsletterarchive.aspx

MAKE AND MODEL


J. Stevens Arms & Tool

"Crack Shot"

It's a single shot .22, fixed sights and to load you pull a lever on the right side which rolls/pulls the bullet in and out of the barrel.  I figure it was just an old piece that would have been tossed, so I wanted to make it like new for her again.  

This is the same as the gun she has, but all rusted.  This one pictured above is what I want to make hers look like.  It has a crack on the forearm above and below, but not enough to cause it to wiggle around.  

You have a side lever Crackshot, manufactured from 1898 to 1910.

Bluebook prices are low in my opinion, varying from $250 for a 100% gun to $100 for a 60% gun.

If it were my rifle I would still give it a gentle cleaning first.  I wouldn't mind having a look at the actual rifle if you can take some photos.

I'll try to get some pics up, but this is a gun that's 50% rusted, especially on the internals.  Before I met her, her family actually tossed a few guns (just in the local trash), and I imagine they would be restorable, or at least wall hangers.   She's got 2 side by sides in the garage with no stocks that are totally siezed up that I'm also going to try to work on and at least make them good enough to put on a wall in my office.

How do you get the blueing to look like it does in the above photos?  I don't just want a dark blue gun, but more of the antique look like you see in that rifle and the old blackpowder pistols and such.

Quoted: How do you get the blueing to look like it does in the above photos?  I don't just want a dark blue gun, but more of the antique look like you see in that rifle and the old blackpowder pistols and such.

That's called color case hardening on the receiver.

Color case hardening can be done by amateur gun smiths, but you sure as hell don't want to try it on a gun for your first time out of the barrel, and probably never.  The process to get good color is complicated and takes a fair bit of time to achieve.  I recommend you do a search at this web site for information from men that know how it's done -
www.americanlongrifles.com/american-longrifles-BBS-frame.htm

You can also find other web sites with explanations of the process.

There are gun smiths around the country that can do this work for you, Doug Turnbull being at the top of the heap presently, but be prepared for a long wait at his shop.

I believe the gun in the photos has had cold blue applied over the remaining case.  There will probably be no signs of color on your gun, but you can get that steel wool and oil after it first to find out for sure.