Pawn Shop find, First Project guns

[kealil]

Hey All!

Just thought I would share a Pawn Shop find from yesterday. I got two rifles for $50 a piece: A Winchester 190 and a Marlin 60.

They both shoot amazingly well but are definitely rough to say the least. I plan on refinishing the stocks and possibly bluing the barrel and other metal parts.

I'm also curious if anyone has any suggestions for making these rifles like new again. Any tricks for getting the current coat off the metal? anything products I should avoid for rebluing or stock refinishing? I ask because these will be my first project guns and dont want to COMPLETELY ruin them. I expect to make mistakes(especially with the bluing) but I want to avoid as many as possible.

Thanks all!

 

[Tuzo]

Great deal on two fine shooters. My cheap (meaning rough and filthy) finds have been in pawn shops. Last two were Remington Speedmaster (1980) and Targetmaster (1941).

Dismantled completely the rifles. Take reference photos as you tear down if you are not familiar with dissassembly and assembly. Cleaned the wood with several applications of Krud Kutter with hot water rinse. Finished with 220 grit sandpaper and 3 to 4 coats of Tru Oil (great stuff). One of the barrels needed to be reblued so I removed the old finish and rust with Naval Jelly. It works fast with a light 0000 steel wool buffing. Reblue with several applications of Oxpho Blue. This is by far the best cold blue solution I have ever used. It is a durable and fine anti-rust finish. Buffs up nicely.

Have fun.

 

[Doyle]

I've got a 190. Great shooter but the trigger on them is known to be pretty stiff (and mine is one).

 

[barnbwt]

X2 on the Oxpho's rust blue. It really did a great job almost everywhere on my CZ-52 refinishing project. Just heat up the part with a heat gun, and apply when the project fizzes seemed to work the best for me.

Some of the off-alloy parts like the trigger and side-plate didn't take very well, and I instead used a "rust brown" product, and then boiled the rusted piece in distilled water until it blackened. The latter method was a bigger pain, but yielded a (slightly) tougher coating. The real issue with Oxpho was that if it didn't look right, the next coat would take off the old one, so evening out and adjusting the finish was more difficult.

I also blued a kukri I have to get it a jumpstart on natural wear-in, and it has held up pretty well, except where it rubs the sheath (as expected).

As to removing the current finishes, parkerization cannot be removed, except by mechanical (abrasive) methods. Luckily it's usually pretty soft and thin. Paint can be removed by whatever solvent works (won't hurt metal) as long as it's not corrosive (acids, Drano , or long-duration ethanol). Bluing can be taken off with the most mild of acids like vinegar (or bluing solution). Take the opportunity to clean, polish, and inspect every inch of every piece while you have it apart, you won't feel like doing it later

TCB

 

[Big Shrek]

Get the hence over to Rimfire Central...threads with PICS on dissassembly & refinishing

I've got a Winchester 250 (family of the 190)...without RFC's pictorial's I'd have never gotten in broken down & back together

The Marlin semi-auto section is very indepth...you can't find better info on Marlin 60's