Restoring a rifle

My father in law just handed me a rifle that has been in the family for a long time. He asked if I could get it cleaned up for him so we can take it out with us the next time we go shooting. Here is the situation:

This is an old Springfield / Stevens model 15.

The barrel is covered in surface rust, some of it looks bad.

The wood stock is in fairly decent shape with minor dents and dings.

So I know wood work and the stock is going to be easy. Some Tru-oil and sanding and good as new. The barrel is another story. I have been told that a lot of gun oil and super fine steel wool should help. If that doesn't work, do you have any suggestions on a good product I can use to refinish the barrel myself? I have read up on some cold bluing products, and some have recommended Brownells Alumahyde II. Anyone here have any experience refinishing metal gun parts? How about a good shop in southern california? Any help would be great. I would love to put this gun back in tip top shape and suprise the hell out of him. Thanks!!

 

no help here but good luck! oh and pics?!

 

i've re-done a 12ga barrel that was in pretty bad shape. oil would not have done the trick. i used steel wool got down to the bare metal and used a kit i got at cabelas. iirc i think it was called wonder blue or blue wonder or something. good quality stuff very easy to use. HORRIBLE SMELL. lol.

 

oh and post pictures for sure!

 

I've been reading up on the Blue Wonder, seams like the route I will probably take. I will try to post some pics tonight if I get a chance.

 

You should try Bain and Davis i used them when i lived in so. cal. they are in San Gabriel. I had them re finish my m1 did an outstanding job and it was very affordable.

 

The blue wonder product works pretty well, looks good & really easy to use. Good luck with the restore!

 

Make sure it doesn't have any collectors value before you start fixin' on it.
You'll lose whatever collector value exists.
FYI

 

cold bluing process is pretty straight forward. i've used a number of them with great success. my favorite is a kit made by birchwood/casey(should be fairly easy to find online.
a couple of pointers for you:
1. clean clean clean and clean some more if there is any oil or fingerprints left over from sanding it will effect the bluing.
2. follow the instructions closely.
3. before you blue it wetsand all the metal down with 1000-1500 grit sandpaper(this will add to the sheen of the final product. the shinier it is the better
4. when you finish the bluing and everything is dry apply a generous amount of gun oil to everything metal(if you dont rust will start to form immediately)

 

I'd like to see this project documented with pics.

 

If all it is is just light surface rust a friend of mine swears by FLITZ to restore the bluing shine without damaging it.

 

SCRUB!!!

Good luck on the project Devil Dog. Oh and pics or youre lying. . .

 

+1000

You will destroy the value of the piece if you restore it.

Clean it, oil it and put it away for the next gen.

 

I've worked with a few of the cold bluing products mentioned previously.
They are really simple to use and look good. Only for a while though.
I practiced the method with an old Sears (Yes, Sear Robuck sold guns back then!) 20 Gauge my father game me. Unfortunately all these cold processes wear really easy when you use the rifle. Some would dis-color under heavy use. It also doesn't seem to stand the time with cleaners. After a hunting season (200 shells and 3 months) I had to redo it. After the third time, I got it blued by a gunsmith for like $100 (circa year 2000 prices) including the action. It's been immaculate since, except the barbed wire incident of 2006.

So all I'm saying is, if your going to hang it up or leave it in the vault, the cold blue will be no brainer or wiser to except the keen eyed collector.

I have no experience with the black oxide method or it's durability.

 

Sounds like you got a lot of good advice........for gun oil (CLP), I recommend GUNZILLA awesome stuff.

 

I restored an enfield WWII 30-06 last year, cleaning the rust off and re-bluing is pretty easy, if your looking to get it back to working condition, and not just looking good condition I would read up on how to fully disasemble it and clean the hell out of the barrel and the interior. I've had pretty good luck with the cleaner/oil all in one products like remoil (someone is going to give me hell for that). basically spray it on, give it 10 or 15 minutes, wipe the piece down, repeat till it wipes clean. I probably spent 20-25 hours just cleaning out that enfield before I started any restoration in order to get it right, but it was worth it in the end.

 

Jeff Tandy Gun Finishing in Hemet!! He does DAMN good work and is very reasonable. I have had several weapons refinished by him and have recommended him to several of my buddies all with great success. He has a full blown gun smithing shop that he runs out of his residence. Super guy but be warned.....HE LOVES TO TALK!!