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  #1  
Old 09-26-2021, 09:32 PM
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I was out at a friend's house this afternoon and this was leaning against the wall outside his back door. I told him that if I hadn't been so sick I would slap him. I just picked it up and put it in the truck. it was made the year I was born: 1950. the question is: bronze wool, steel wool, bead blast, sand blast or river water? Lee
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:37 PM
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I hope that the bore and the internals look better than the outside.
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:37 PM
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Send it to me

I can make it like new again

Sad state of affairs over there, did he forget, or was he partaking in some shine
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:42 PM
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Lightbulb, some wire, a socket, base and shade. Assemble. Then give it back to your friend as a reminder to take care of his guns.
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scharfschuetzer View Post
I hope that the bore and the internals look better than the outside.
That was my thought.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lihpster View Post
Lightbulb, some wire, a socket, base and shade. Assemble. Then give it back to your friend as a reminder to take care of his guns.
Perfect!
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:57 PM
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Wow. That is simply depressing.
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:58 PM
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I imagine ALL the springs inside are shot(ruined) and probably barrel pitted beyond repair(unsafe to shoot)............The lamp stand is the best idea.
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Old 09-26-2021, 10:05 PM
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It could be used as a tomato stake in a pinch, but that's about it.
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Old 09-27-2021, 01:16 AM
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Hard to know how bad it really is without seeing it in person.
I'd go with electrolysis for rust removal. You might salvage it enough to parkerize, but it will never be a blued gun again. If it really is as bad as all that, the lamp isn't the worst idea.

That vinyl floor brings back fond memories. We had the same thing in the kitchen of the house I grew up in.
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Old 09-27-2021, 02:47 AM
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I think someone must have lost the gun while hunting, and that it was later found and propped up by your friend's back door. I can't believe anyone would deliberately leave it out in the weather.
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Old 09-27-2021, 02:59 AM
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Lee... that is not as hopeless as it looks.

There is a gunsmith, Mark Novak, that posts restoration videos on Youtube and he's figured out how to deal with rust.

Utilize the rust bluing process.... the old school way of bluing firearms.

The rust bluing process is to apply a solution to intentionally rust a firearm (the way that the A-5 looks), then boil it to convert the red oxide rust to black oxide.

The gun is carded with a soft wire wheel... and what's underneath is a nice blue/black.

That A-5 already has the 1st stage of the rust bluing process done, the gun doesn't look pitted.

The wood looks completely recoverable too.

I've done rust bluing, stuff coming out of the rust cabinet looks awful, it's surprising how it turns out after boiling and carding.

Checkout this video where he turns a rusty Winchester 1887 into a thing of beauty:

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Old 09-27-2021, 03:20 AM
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At least the screws don't looked buggered!
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Old 09-27-2021, 04:32 AM
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You saved it from a life of misery..Id make it a prominent wall hangar. They are not that rare to spend a lot of time restoring..at least not for me and I own 3 of them.
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Old 09-27-2021, 07:34 AM
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I would start with stainless wheel on exterior parts. Polish bore with crocus and graduate to valve grinding compound on shaft with drill. Internals walls of action use Dremil. Give bolt assembly and trigger group a dunk in Kroil
then put them to the stainless wheel. The A5 has recoil spring & buffer, you may be able to clean them up, that steel is harder than rest of gun and may clean up easy. You can tell when gun is back together if you need new recoil spring. Other than that there is just the forked flat spring for trigger group. Usually friction rings will be ok, cleaned up.
I wouldn’t hesitate to put gun back as shooter. Since it’s only value is a shooter there is no point spending money on some kind of finish. I would get some good cold blue and have at it. I look at it this way. You are going to end up with $250 gun, my way. Having some finish outsourced you are going to have a $300 gun minus money spent on refinish.
I have done several shot guns including A5 & Rem 11. Never had one evenly coated with fine rust. The receivers on Brownings must be similar to older Winchesters. Some cold blues won’t touch them.
I would probably use boiled linseed on wood. Rub in several thin coats.it will bring water damaged wood back to life.
Done several and best way to deal them off is to prune them to 18” and rebead. I’ve spent hours doing above process on shotguns. Take them to shows and nobody even looks at them. Whack that dude to 18” and the first flite in the door will buy it.
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Old 09-27-2021, 07:36 AM
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I vote "not enough information yet". Disassemble to the extent possible, soak the metal parts in the usual ATF/acetone mixture, lubricate well and see what comes out, figuratively and literally. No use sending it off for a refinish if the internals are seized solid or you will spend 2-3 times its value in replacement parts.
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Old 09-27-2021, 07:46 AM
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This reminds me of a long story regarding my Dad, my grandfather's old Mossberg .22 single shot, and the only time I ever spoke to my Dad with anything other than love and respect (or even ever felt the need to.) But that is a long story, and this is not the time.

Anyhow, I agree, all is not hopeless. In fact, you may be surprised, the internals might not be as bad as the externals. If this is all exposure related, the insides are fairly protected unless the thing was totally soaked inside and out. Even if they are as bad as the outside, A5 parts are still out there, and these guns are tank strong. They are truly mechanical machines, short of blowing one up there's not much that can't be set right.

Soak, disassemble, clean. Inspect. Repeat. For the rust, a soak followed by an aggressive scrub, with either steel wool or bronze wool. What to soak in? Kerosene is cheap and available in quantity to submerge things in. Wiping on Kroil or WD 40 will also help. Vinegar will do a job on rust too, but will also take bluing off. Then again I think that is going to be a foregone conclusion with this specimen.

I predict a positive outcome. Not a 99% safe queen to be sure, but a gun with a useful life ahead of it.

You know, as much as I hate seeing a gun so neglected, I enjoy the project of rescuing them. This is exactly the kind of thing I like to find.
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Old 09-27-2021, 07:47 AM
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I would have to give it a try by any and all the methods posted. Would not put a lot of money in it.
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Old 09-27-2021, 08:21 AM
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If it will still function, then rebuild and parkerize the old girl. If not then the lamp route will be a good avenue to pursue. This can still be a home protection gun. Watch the whole clip.

The great Outdoors shotgun scene - Bing video
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Old 09-27-2021, 09:05 AM
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I would not do anything with it. Not my gun and if the owner is happy with it I'm happy for him. Larry
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Old 09-27-2021, 09:07 AM
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That shotgun has what would be known as...patina.
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Old 09-27-2021, 09:37 AM
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This is what I have done with great results:



I am attaching pictures of when I went through the process with great results. I acquired a bunch of Ithaca 37 parts to include three receivers and barrels at an auction. They were rather rusty but not pitted. I used the above technique but used an old battery charger instead of a battery. It worked great. I then went over the metal with Brownells Oxpho Blue.

It did take some time on eBay and other sources to complete three shotguns.
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Old 09-27-2021, 09:44 AM
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Darn shame for sure how one lets a quality firearm go to pot like that! Quality made gun that would sure be very expensive these days. Can't believe how it got so bad through neglect and poor storage.
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:03 AM
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That's not that bad that it can't be brought all the way back to it's orig look.
Or just spiffed up to get the rust off of it and a decent polish & rust blue in it's place.

First check the mechanics, chamber and bore and see what you have.
An insect nest in the bore could have left an otherwise good bore with a very large and deeply pitted ring in it.

Things like that and other damage inside starts to work against putting too much effort and time into the gun.
Yes bbl bores can be cleaned up but how much $$ goes into a gun that'll be a $400 shooter at best when completed.

The A5 has a gazillion parts inside. Check the entire thing over after stripping it down completely and cleaning for any damage or wear.
Parts are still pretty cheap and available for the A5.


If the inside is OK, then tackle the exterior with as much effort and $$ as you feel it deserves.

Get the rust off by bead blasting (glass bead), or you can use one of the rust removers, even very dilute muriatic acid work fine.

If glass beadblasted, the surface is fine right there for a rust blue, hot salt blue or parkerized finish.
Easy way out really.
It'll hide minor scars and tiny pitting quite well. Where if you go and start to repolish the entire gun, all those little imperfections will start to really show up again.

Lot's of work to give a gun a complete quality polishing job.
Some numbers and lettering will likely be lost or faint after that.
Recutting is possible, but again,,how much effort and money are you willing to put into the A5.

The wood can use a refinish. Repair any cracks,,the forends often crack on these.
I'd ditch the old pad and if the stock hasn't been cut, replace it with an FN plate. If not, then a new plain non ventilated/non whiteline pad can be fitted while the stock is being redone.
Checkering is easily recut after finishing if you want to or mask it and live with whats there.

If it was Abe Lincoln's A5, it would be worth a full restoration back to FN spec.
But unless you are looking for a challenge at the work (and it would be a good one for a fledging gunsmith), then just the above to save it as a nice shooter.

Don't be surprised if no one wants to give you much for it after all the work. But the pride of doing the work is worth something and learning from it as well.
I can't tell you the number of projects like this I did to learn the trade and when resold made nothing or maybe $1/hr for my efforts.

Make an A5-Riot version as mentioned above and you'll have a much better audience for the gun if reselling it.
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:11 AM
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I like it. I am an AVID fan of "leave it as it is, so it can tell its story". However I also made my living taking something broken and fixing it. This gun is one of the cases that I would enjoy cleaning it up. I would steel wool and wire brush every part including the stock. After a thorough cleaning I would leave the metal "naked", and oil the stock with linseed oil. This is a prime candidate for what I call "an adventure gun". Can toss it in the bottom of a canoe, or strap it to a 4 wheeler or snowmobile. I really like cutting tool, knives, axes, misc. My knives are spotless and razor sharp as well as my axes. But there are times when you don't want to use a pristine tool. I have an ax, and hatchet I call my grub tool. I use them when rocks may be encountered. My sacrificial garage knife is a ground on Gerber shorty I paid a dollar for at a yard sale. It is used more and in harmful ways than any other knife. This shotgun would be a prime candidate for a grub gun and used as such. Clean it up and put it to work.
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:00 PM
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Shooter grade I’d guess ……
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:20 PM
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Very sad way to treat any tool, especially a firearm, but not all folks treat their tools with the same reverence we do. Will likely never be a beauty queen, but with a little work I am sure it can be made serviceable again.
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:26 PM
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If it's a working gun, it's worth something to somebody if you can deal with the surface issues to the point where the surface is stabilized. I know because I bought such a shotgun to use for SASS matches. The seller said it had been left out in a boat and the finish was ruined, and that the barrels were then cold blued. The price was right so I bought it. Sure, it looks like the dickens, but I could take it out and not worry about damaging the finish. Plus I could customize it any way I wanted. I found someone who did laser burning on the wood so I had my SASS handle, SASS number and a line burning of a groundhog (my ancestral home is Punxsutawney, PA) put on the stock.
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:43 PM
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I have a Winchester Model 12 in .12 ga. that got left in the barn to long by the looks of it. It functions well and is now a house gun. It cost me a whole $82.50 at the LGS. It had a Polychoke on it and I hate those so had the barrel cut to 18.5 inches. Works for me.
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:49 PM
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No seriously it is probably a good candidate for the next gun "buy back". Good luck!
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Old 09-27-2021, 12:51 PM
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Prime candidate for a Whippet converson.
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Old 09-27-2021, 03:28 PM
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Watch the video that Gunhacker posted before you touch it at all! You'll be surprised what a small amount of effort could result in. More than anything, you can learn a few things not to do! Could end up being a real nice free gun, providing your buddy doesn't want it back
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Old 09-27-2021, 04:31 PM
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I was given a VZ24 bolt action rifle by a guy at work, his father brought it home from Japan after WW2. It had spent 60+ years in his fathers basement and it was covered in a coating of rust, looked like orange fuzz. I disassembled it and went over the whole thing with 0000 bronze wool and Kroil. The bluing was still intact under the rust and and when I was done you would never have thought it could be the same rifle. I don't know if that Auto will turn out as nice but it's sure worth a try.
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Old 09-27-2021, 04:55 PM
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Disassemble which isn't the easiest on these...then Kroil / Red..with 0000 steel wool. Will take a lot of time to bring back, but interesting and fun to do.
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Old 09-27-2021, 05:01 PM
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Lee,

When you get a chance, call me.

Burt
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Old 09-27-2021, 09:27 PM
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I rescued an A5 a few years back. Spots of rust and bare wood on much of the stock. Not as bad as the OP's. Took it all the way down to bare metal and wood, then cleaned up checkering and refinished




She's a swanky girl now. Oh, and I strongly second the Mark Novak YouTube vids for reference! He recently did a "recovery" of a supremely hosed up Colt-Burgess carbine that was at least as bad as the OP's A5.

For reasons unknown, the forum isn't displaying YT pages, but if you go to YT and search 'mark novak colt burgess' it will take you there.
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:19 PM
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I look forward to see how this gun progresses.
Larry
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:45 PM
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I don’t like projects so that one would have never left your friends place with me.
God bless you if you can make something useful out of it besides a wall hanger. Those are fine old guns.
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by outta_ammo View Post
I rescued an A5 a few years back. Spots of rust and bare wood on much of the stock. Not as bad as the OP's. Took it all the way down to bare metal and wood, then cleaned up checkering and refinished




She's a swanky girl now. Oh, and I strongly second the Mark Novak YouTube vids for reference! He recently did a "recovery" of a supremely hosed up Colt-Burgess carbine that was at least as bad as the OP's A5.

For reasons unknown, the forum isn't displaying YT pages, but if you go to YT and search 'mark novak colt burgess' it will take you there.

Thanks for the reference. It is an interesting video.

V2 Anvil 104: Colt/ Burgess "Light Carbine" resurrection - YouTube
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Old 09-27-2021, 11:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Barner View Post
I was out at a friend's house this afternoon and this was leaning against the wall outside his back door. I told him that if I hadn't been so sick I would slap him. I just picked it up and put it in the truck. it was made the year I was born: 1950. the question is: bronze wool, steel wool, bead blast, sand blast or river water? Lee
Nice "patina"!
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Old 09-28-2021, 04:51 AM
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Some years back I bought two Remington 12 guage riot guns. They were covered in rust. Held out hope that I could safely remove all the rust. 1st one I paid $195 and the second one a hair over $200. Started out with gun #1, complete disassembly of all parts. 4000 steel wool and some CLP. Took the shotgun barrel and liberally coated it with CLP and let it soak while I ate dinner. Then used the 4000 steel wool to remove the rust. Slow circular motions with frequent stops to remove the rust with paper towels.at the end of about two hours all the rust on the barrel was gone Light coat of clp on the barrel. all the rust on the action bars,and mag tube was removed the same way. No pitting on any of the steel parts was a removed the same way. After 4 hours when I finished I had a Rem 870 in almost perfect condition. Sometime later I made it to a local range and test fired it. No failures to fire or to eject.2nd shotgun when cleaned up as the first when done also had no pits. Except the barrel extension had a large burr from not making sure the mag cap was screwed on tight when firing the gun. Jerry Knuhausen to the rescue.Removed the burr with small stones and sanded with very fine grit (600) to polish where the burr was and cleanup the damage where the burr had been slamming into the extension cutout in the receiver cutout itself. Range tested no failures of any kind. Could easily flip both shotguns for about $100-150 over what I had paid for them. Sanded and refinished one so when done I had a nice Remington 870i riot gun with 20" barrel. The other 870 had a 21" barrel.
Maybe not the same as rescuing the browning, but shows what can be done with a minimum of tools, and some cleanup supplies. Frank
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Old 09-30-2021, 06:30 PM
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Nothing to add other than it's nice to see a post from you, Lee.
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Old 09-30-2021, 09:19 PM
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That is just the style of gun I like to acquire as a "project" for when I retire in about three years. I have several like that waiting for me to leave work behind, set up half the garage as my workshop and enjoy tinkering.
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