H&R 22 Special

P

pipoman

New member
I aquired this gun from "unclaimed property" associated with my business. I would like to use it around the farm and let my boys target shoot with it. I first want to be sure it is safe to fire. As you can see there is some rust on the exterior of the gun. The bore is shiney, there is some minor rust in a couple of the chambers. There is no play in the gun when locked into position. The wheel seems to line up well with the bore.

I am thinking I will apply some penetrating oil to the frame and barrel then toothbrush the rust. If this does not remove the rust I thought of using a brass brush or stainless steel wool, but do not know if this will damage the existing finish?

Do you think it is safe to fire after a good cleaning and oiling?

Any help would be appreciated.

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Electrolitic removal

That looks like a fine canidate for electrolitical rust removal. It's not difficult to do and you most likely could do it yourself. That or either a good blasting to make sure you get all of the rust off. I will try to find a post about removing rust using electricty in a bucket with a battery charger for you. It is pretty straightforward and you can pour the solution out when you are done with it. Then I would get some oxpho Blue gel from MidwayUSA or Brownells and reblue the gun or let a smith do it using a hot dip blue. I will post the artical about the process as soon as I locate it for you.
 
Someone brought up an old thread on the revolver forum about checking out a revolver. It appears this gun passes all tests on that list. The only one which was close was the distance between the barrel and the cylinder (not quite as thich as a credit card when the cylinder is pushed towards the firing pin) There is approx. a playing card thickness front to back play.

Would the cost of rebluing exceed the value of the gun?

How much is a gun like this worth refurbed?

Anyone know the vintage of this gun? The ser # is 5669xx
 
Don't have a blue book

I don't have a copy of the book of gun values handy right now, but if you ask a Pawn shop in your area, they should have The Blue Book of Guns handy and should be able to give the value to you.
 
Got one too

I have the identical type gun, but mine is a "project" waiting for a parts gun to bring it back to life. Mine was in excellent condition, but some boob got ahold of it and filed the firing pin, dremeled the ratchets on the extractor trying to renew them, and filed down the rear sight posts a bit. I believe it is a prewar gun. I don't think they made this model after the war. If it is tight and has no rust in the bore and chambers, it might be a candidate to be made into a shooter, but don't expect it to have much market value. You could at least start by wire brushing the loose rust off of it. Maybe one of those little fine steel wire brushes that look like toothbrushes at the hardware, not a big brush or a power wheel. Maybe try a brass brush first to remove loose rust without hurting the finish that is left. Fine steel wool works on parts but you don't want to get the bits of that down inside of the gun! Hard to say if it has rust inside-has pins instead of screws and might be hard to reassemble. Maybe soaking the innards in some kind of penetrating oil, like KROIL, if the feel is stiff or gritty. Might be a good idea just to wash out all the old crud and oil, with KROIL, or gun scrubber spray. Then try to inject new oil inside it. Don't spend too much on it. If it works it is a keeper but not much value in that condition.
 
I have found that WD-40 and 0000 steel wool takes rust off big time.Don`t use the wool dry!!! keep it wet with WD and don`t use too much pressure. Let the wool do the work. WD-40 is an excellent rust remover with little effort on your part. Good luck.
 
Since everyone else has discussed the rust and general cleaning of the gun, I'll talk about the caliber. The .22 Special, if memory serves, was Remington's version of the .22 Winchester Rim Fire cartridge.This cartridge has been obsolete for a number of years. It has been loaded occasionally but is VERY hard to find. Old Western Scrounger (as soon as they get reorganized) usually has some, but the price is fairy steep. The .22 WRF is a cross between the .22 LR RF and the .22 Mag. and cannot be substituted with either one.
 
The .22 Special, if memory serves, was Remington's version of the .22 Winchester Rim Fire cartridge
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This was my first thought too. The "22 Special" on this gun is the model. On the other side of the barrel it says "22 LR" and it chambers "22 LR". Thanks
 
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