Dabbling in Restoration

by GunsmithUSA Contributor Dan Rogers

Recently a friend of mine brought me some of his grandfather’s guns to look at and assess. Most of them were in pretty tough shape. He had very little attachment to anything in the collection, but wanted to know what kind of shape the pieces were in and if any were serviceable and worth him keeping or investing in for repairs and refurbishment. There were a few really exemplary examples like a Belgian made SA-22 and an Enfield No.2 Mk I 38/200 RAF marked pistol. These two pieces were most certainly gems worthy of any distinguished taste, and both were in excellent shape. The vast majority of the collection though resembled this Springfield double barrel 12 ga. Guns that were used hard and cared for lightly.

Despite its rough appearance the shotgun was in fine mechanical condition, so I thought surely it would be easy to clean up. I might even earn my gunsmithing restoration merit badge. I have repaired, finished, and refinished stocks as well as cleaned metal, but I have never really done anything resembling restoration work. What could possibly go wrong?

I started by disassembling the shotgun. I had a little trouble removing the screw that holds the stock to the receiver. I few drops of Kroil and some time to soak and it unscrewed effortlessly. I am realizing patience is not just a virtue or a useful characteristic in gunsmithing it’s a job requirement. The wood was not oil soaked, cracked, or badly dented, and the finish that remained came off easily with little effort and some 100 grit paper. I then smoothed and de-whiskered the stocks with some 220 grit and placed them aside.

The metal was missing almost all of its bluing and was in poor shape. It was deeply pitted in places and certainly showing its age and use! I initially started working the metal with 320 grit emery cloth and I was getting good results though the pits were not coming out very well. I knew my friend had a large cabinet glass bead blaster in his radiator shop so I asked if he would mind if I came by and blasted the metal parts. Once the parts were blasted they had a clean satin finish. I decided I would leave the receiver in this satin finish, but what to do with the barrels?

I strive to keep my project articles geared towards what I have heard John Siers call table top gunsmithing, or in my case kitchen table smithing. Like many of you out there I am an enthusiast with a penchant for learning and doing things as well as can be done within the confines of my tools and equipment. My intent is to share my experience in an attempt to inspire others to give things a whirl too, and I try and keep things in the realm of hand tooling and little to no special equipment. With this in mind I decided what to do with my barrels. I could have easily cleaned them up and sent them out to fellow writer and friend Paul Smeltzer for professional hot bluing or cerakote or any of the other options he is set up and equipped to do, but in doing so I would leave the realm of doing the whole project yourself in your home work space. With this in mind I made the decision to attempt to cold blue the barrels.

Our friends at Brownells have a product called Oxpho Blue. Oxpho Blue is a cold bluing solution that can be used for regular touch up work or to blue an entire firearm. It is available in either liquid or cream. My curiosity got the better of me, so I ordered both. The instructions on the bottle say that all of the old oil, bluing, and rust do not have to be removed to use Oxpho Blue, but we all know better than to do that. To prepare my barrels after blasting them in my friend’s cabinet I polished them with some 600 grit paper until they had a satisfactory luster. After polishing them I blew them off with compressed air to remove any large debris bits and then wiped them down with clean shop towels and denatured alcohol to remove any film or embedded oils. I then decided to heat the barrels to start the cold bluing process. I found some heat helps the cold blue react and penetrate the metal. Too much heat can be a problem though. I found getting the metal just hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch while wearing rubber gloves seemed to do well. I used some rubber gloves as to not impart any oils into the metal I was trying to finish. I used the stove top to heat the barrels and my diesel fired heater when my bride kicked me out of the kitchen. (Fair enough I knew I was pushing my luck, and it is a new stove).

With my metal now warm and two versions of Oxpho Blue to choose from I chose to lay the cream on first reckoning it would be easier to control and get a good solid first coat applied to the barrels. Focus is the name of the game here. Keeping the coat even while the metal is hot and ensuring everything gets covered. The instructions have you allow the solution sit for a minute and then wipe it off. I probably allowed mine to sit for more than a minute. I made sure I had an even coating using an Oxpho soaked cotton ball and when it looked as if the solution was drying out I wiped off the excess to prevent patches and streaking. I then burnished the barrels with some 0000 steel wool and reheated the barrels. I repeated the previous steps except this time with the liquid Oxpho. I noticed the liquid gives a deep black color and the cream has more of a blue hue. The combination of the two products when applied cautiously I think give a respectable finish. I continued burnishing, reheating, and reapplying the liquid Oxpho Blue until the desired finish darkness was attained. Once I had the finish I wanted I neutralized the barrels by wiping them down with acetone and oiling them. Again focus and even application are the keys to this process. Also cold blue does not wear as well nor penetrate as deep as any of the hot bluing techniques, so keep that in mind when choosing it as a finish technique.

Metal squared away I then turned my attention to the stocks I set aside earlier. I blew the stocks off with compressed air and then wiped them down with some acetone. I used Birchwood Casey’s Tru Oil to finish my stocks. I have always found stocks are easiest to work with while suspended. I fished a coat hanger through my stock and hung it in our wash room. I then took a cloth diaper and began applying a thin coat of Tru Oil. The stock looked tons better immediately. I found the key here is even thin coats and burnishing with some 0000 steel wool between coats.

Over the course of a weekend my stocks were done, and I reassembled the shotgun. I would like to think the shotgun looks a lot better. I now have a working firearm with a respectable finish. What do you guys think? I think about fifty dollars in materials and a little bit of time and effort payed off nicely. Do I get my restoration merit badge now? Until next time shoot safe, shoot straight, and do some ‘smithin’.