Flood damaged Browning BAR restoration

So as some of you have seen in a couple other threads, I picked up what I believe is a Katrina gun. It is/was a grade IV Browning BAR in .270. I'll post pictures of the cleaning, restoring , shooting and anything else I think about for it. and for those who may ask, I have 270 in the gun, shipping, and transfer fees, the scope cleaned up on it so I figure I'm OK even if the gun is unsalvageable (though I think I'll be fine lol)

please feel free to offer advice, give hints, ask questions, call me nuts for taking on this project, etc..

The first pictures are what I got from the person selling the gun, he will hopefully provide me with a few more so that a better idea can be had of what condition the gun was actually in when I got it.

just found out all his pictures have been deleted, oh well, I have some at least







scope cleaned up nicely, it originally had a yellow tint to the lenses and was rather nasty. After some 0000 steel wool and gun oil and a lens pen for the lenses, it cleaned up nicely. the last ring has one of the screws rusted in place and stripped out so I have not been able to get it out. if I can get the screw out the rings and scope mount should be salvageable for use if I can get new screws. would help the budget of the gun significantly.

the scope is very clear and works great, I'd be willing to put money that this gun was submerged for at least some period of time and this scope came out fine.....and they say leupold is over priced....



these are pictures I took at home after scrubbing a small amount at the shop while waiting for a few things. a much better idea of the condition is seen here. I believe the gas block, gas piston, and 2 or 3 other small parts are the only things that will need to be replaced. the charging handle will also have to be replaced as we broke it while beating on it with a hammer to get the action freed up.











this gives you an idea on the stocks, the salt water destroyed the fore end, but I believe that the buttstock is salvageable, so I am lucky there. I have also learned that boyd's gunstocks make stocks and forends for the BAR so I may get a set from them. I'm pretty sure it would be a lot cheaper than trying to get new ones from browning.



most of the small action parts soaking in break free CLP, the entire trigger mechanism is freely moving though I may have to replace one spring.



I got some Evaporust from school today as well (in school for machining), I have it soaking on the gas block area. the red rag was soaked with it then the entire thing was wrapped in plastic wrap. if it works well, I'll get a bottle for myself and also soak the bore with it.





as far as plans for the gun, my goal right now is to get it shooting. After that I will get a full set of stocks for it (I'll use the original stock and shoot it without the forend for function testing). After the stocks and shooting it a bit more to confirm functionality, I will see about refinishing. right now I'm jumping between a few different things. so if anyone wants to comment on what finish I should do

option one is to bead blast the entire thing and parkerize it (lowest on personal scaled, but functional nonetheless)

option two is to bead blast it and matte blue the entire thing.

option three is to bead blast the barrel and matte blue it and try to leave the receiver as is

option four is to bead blast it and then cerakote it, using stainless cerakote on the receiver and all receiver parts with the stainless cerakote and use socom blue on the barrel and all parts that were originally blued.

option 5 is any mix of the above lol

I'd love ya'lls opinions on it, the cerakote is winning so far in my mind. Any bead blasting I do, I will take into account the engraving and try to preserve as much as possible. if I go cerakote I may just polish and sand everything and not bead blast it.

 

Thanks for making the thread! Sub!

 

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no problem, after thinking about it, I thought it would be cool to have a record of what all I do to it.

and would it be sacrilege to thread the gun for a suppressor if I get it running nicely? or would I have better bragging rights after I say that "I have a suppressed BAR"

(hoping to start paperwork on a suppressor soon)

 

Suppressing a BAR would be cool.

 

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Wow...all these thread bumps and I thought there was an update to be had.

If only there was a way of subscribing without bumping the thread...

 

I'll an taking the red rag with the evaporust off this evening to see if it has done anything.

But what amazes me is that i posted on the internet asking for opinions on what finish I should use and I get no responses lol

 

That just means we all know, that you know what you're doing and will make a good decision.

 

Do the cerakote with the stainless and socom blue.

 

Evaporust results before scrubbing.....I think I need to buy a bottle of it myself and figure out a way to actually soak the barrel instead of just wrapping the rag on it

 

Wow. There is no way. How's the rifling look?? Gads. I bow to you in the greatest respect for even trying!!!

 

It will be worth all the work. Browning and Leupold are the best.
I have 5 deer rifles and all of them have Leupold VX2's and VX3's on top of all them.
They are the best!!!!

 

And after just a couple minutes of scrubbing, I'm gonna buy some evaporust and figure out a way to soak the mechanism, it loosened a lot up

 

Rifling is better than most mosins, actually shiny with a little burn of rust, it's not as bad as I was expecting after looking at the bore initially when I got it

 

are you able to verify that all hazardous molds etc. have been eradicated?

 

Not too worried about it to be honest, it was found in a bag in an attic I believe a month or two ago, I've coated it with enough gun oil, solvents, and brake cleaner for me to not worry about it

 

Trigger assembly is apart, I'm not going to take the safety out as it works fine and is completely free moving