"Grandpa's Rifle Stash"

5

5whiskey

New member
I have to share this... sorry. So a friend calls today and asks for advice. He want's a Magpul stock for his grand dad's Mosin Nagant that was handed down to him, and he asked where he might could find one. I told him to check midwayusa or brownells. Then he pulls out the doozy....

Him: So yeah, I have another question. I'm trying to clean a couple of these old guns up and they have a ton of crud on them. Is it okay if I use some sandpaper and mineral spirits to clean the crud and rust off?

Me: DO NOT DO THAT!!!

Him: So I shouldn't use that? Well, I already cleaned one up and it has a silver colored barrel. I can see the sandpaper lines so I guess you're right. Oh well, at least the barrel is stainless steel.

Me: Wait, you said a couple of these old guns? What all do you have.

Him: A Mosin, a K98, and an Arisaka (I already helped him discover that he had an Arisaka a year or so ago).

Me: None of those rifles had a stainless finish, you actually removed all the bluing with your sandpaper and it will now likely rust overnight. Wait, you have a German Mauser? Where did it come from? Is it a Russian capture?

Him: Oh, that's ok. I think I'll duracoat it anyway. Oh my grandfather was in WWII and he brought the K98 back from Europe. Nothing Russian about it that I know of.

Me: DO NOT TOUCH ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE GUNS WITH SANDPAPER. As a matter of fact, don't touch them at all. I will happily help you clean them up.



I know it's his stuff and he can do what he wants in the end, but I know for a fact that he's going to hate himself if he bubbas all of it. I think I did convince him that the Mauser needs to be *properly* cleaned and then left alone. Not just that they are getting pretty rare and valuable, but also because his grandfather brought it back from the war. Have any of you ever cringed after a conversation similar to this?
 
Wait until he finds the old man's cache of Colt Patersons and that wire wheel. He could "clean off" a half million bucks.

Jim
 
Last year I bought a LE 303 someone took coarse steel wool too.

Some LE were painted with a thick black paint.
I guess he wanted to read the factory stampings and scrubbed all the paint off just to find that due to wear most of the markings were only partials.
Took me 2 weeks and a lot of effort to find is was a 1944 BSA Mk4 No 1-3

Great rifle, good bore and wood but the metal work had been trashed.

I made it my range 303.

People just can't leave well enough alone on things they know little about.
 
Think gun collectors are bad? You may have yet to see a coin collector cry when he sees a rare coin that someone has "cleaned" with steel wool and cleanser! Makes a $500 coin into a $10 coin very quickly.

Jim
 
I sometimes wonder if we should write down information and put it with our
firearms for our inheritors to find and read before they take posession of our
treasures.

Especally with the more valuable firearms.

I know my collection is field grade, and the value in some cases is sentimental.
But, to be able to pass them along to my family, I should also pass along the
history as well.

Seeing how many times I have cheated death so far, I don't think I should put
it off any more...
 
Yes, we should leave written instructions with our stuff.

Even if they're just going to sell it, they need to know what they have and the best way to do it. You can even recommend who to take it to.
 
I'm lucky in that my son is into firearms also and he hates Bubba jobs. When I die and he gets my guns, I know that they will be in good hands.

To the OP: Your friend knows someone (you) that knows about firearms. Why didn't he bother to take a minute before he decided to break out the sandpaper?

Answer: He's an idiot...
 
To the OP: Your friend knows someone (you) that knows about firearms. Why didn't he bother to take a minute before he decided to break out the sandpaper?

Answer: He's an idiot...
Click to expand...

That's really the moral of the story. He thinks he knows something about guns because he's bought a little .22lr ammo since the hype and flipped it for a little profit. I don't really associate with him much. Not because of that (although I personally don't agree with it), but because of other more personal stuff. I'm guessing he had to suck it up a little to call me, but his archangel stock was worth it and he decided to fill me in on his sandpaper job while I was on the line. I offered to help because I don't want a K98 Mauser that may be in good shape have sandpaper put to it.
 
I would take a sandpapered barrel over the barrel the owner took a file to. :eek:

I have seen many nice firearms destroyed beyond redemption by people. :(
 
Great story! Most people don't really know.

And to this
I sometimes wonder if we should write down information and put it with our
firearms for our inheritors to find and read before they take posession of our
treasures
Click to expand...

I thought I knew a lot but am still trying to figure out all my Dad's guns and where he got them and what they mean. He had somewhat of a list, but it was typed out and many years old. Then his friend in the hospital brought all of his guns over to my Dad's to store until they got better and could go shooting. They both passed away last year...
So, I have a room full of hundred or so guns and only a few cryptic notes about what was what.

Please make out some detailed notes or lists. It would not take you long but digging through paperwork from the 70's and researching online is still taking me a long long time. And I am only guessing that the.410 was my great grandpa's and maybe one of the old Remington's? Oh boy. My Mom knows absolutely nothing. At least I am getting to know them by taking each group out and trying them and finding ammo. Wish I had more time, but with little kids and my Dad's place hours away, there is not much time.
 
I think I am going to write some notes about my guns for my future inheritors. I should also do it with my vintage stereo equipment too. My Sansui 9090DB and my Pioneer 1050 receivers are worth $50O.00 to $700.00 each, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The stereo stuff is worth 10 times more than my 40 gun collection.
 
I am actually working with my dad to gather all the information he knows about all of the guns we have. Many of the guns belonged to my grandfather and generations before him. With everyone beyond my father gone I feel like it is important to write down and save what information we know for sure about the guns we have (whos they were, main purpose, where they came from, when they were obtained, etc.) None of these guns will ever be sold as long as I am alive and I want to be able to pass them down to my son and make sure he understands and appreciates their history even after I am gone.

Plus it is fun learning about and discovering stuff about the guns that I never knew before. My dad knows alot about most of the guns and whose they were and I find that very interesting. Its information that I would hate to lose just because I couldnt remember for sure or because we didnt take the time to write it down so it can be passed down with the guns.
 
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