Posted: 9/10/2012 4:18:11 PM EDT
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I loaned a friend my Ruger Super Single Six, the first pistol I ever purchased, first gun in fact, in 1973...
Well she had 12' of water at her house for Isaac and the pistol was there on the bottom floor....poor girl lost everything....so sad.... Well she did find the Ruger, full of mud. I got it from her today and hosed the mud off and believe it or not, it works great, no shots of course... I got it home, disassembled as far as I could and have it in a pan mixed with liquid Kroil, 30 weight oil and some other light oil I had, entire pistol covered. I am going to disassemble the rest of the way this weekend and will rebuild. The flood water took all of the blue off on the barrel and I applied some light 320 grit and steel wool to knock the rust off...the metal does not appear to be pitted. As far as refinishing, any suggestions? I was kind of thinking of sending to Robar or Birdsong, but maybe bringing back to original by sending to Ruger....Any help will be greatly appreciated, as this pistol means a lot to me, cut lawns all summer in 1973 to buy this pistol, paid $47 for it new....oh the good old days. Many thanks, 77 |
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Your friend owes you new pistol..it was not a gift to her.. as it is yours she has a stewardship duty when in her possession.
OK, so you're not gonna do that..get it shooting and forget the refinish..now has character and a great story. Them Rugers were cheap back in the day..paid <$40 for my Standard Pistol which I still shoot, here 'tis; 
Best. |
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You might consider stripping all of the finish off and just leaving it that way. The picture below is of my Single Six Conertible. It is NOT stainless. It was actually a blue gun that was really abused at some time. I bought it like this. I've had it for 3 or 4 years; keep it stored in a cheap Ruger logo zippered pistol rug. Lots of people told me that it would rust without any finish on it but as you can see, it hasn't.
I might oil it once a year but not much more than that. You can see in the pic that the anodized aluminum grip frame and the aluminum ejector rod housing has also been stripped and polished. I thought about having it refinished but after 3+ years in the white, I am just going to leave it the way that it is. The magnum cylinder is carbon steel as well. I also have a 1909 Argentine Mauser; these have the receivers left in the white. No rust on it either. 
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All comments are helpful...I do like the SS in all white, that really looks good...
Actually after I left the pistol in the Kroil/Motor oil bath for a few days, I took it down to a local gunsmith, he said the pistol was in great shape and will be easy to bring back to original condition, he is going to disassemble the pistol, replace all parts that need replacing, re-blue the pistol and basically it will look like brand new....he is a great smith, I have seen his work and if it comes out like the work I have seen, I will be really satisfied. 77 |
| It may be just as well that you get yours refinished. I live in Kansas where we have less humidity than in Louisiana where you are. Metal left in the white might need a lot more maintenance in Louisiana. Actually all metal might need a lot more maintenance in Louisiana. |