FINISHED! My reblue of an old Smith.

[Exmilcop]

I won't get too wordy but I set myself a chore and half. I'd picked up a fairly good old S&W in .44 Russian which I hope to use as my bush carry piece, seeing as the only legal carry I can have here in Canada is an antique. It was mechanically sound but pretty grotty looking. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to set my hand at a re-blue job. I know some of the purists regard patina as just honest history and should be left as is, but I also wanted to protect it from any further corrosion. I won't go into great length about the bobbles I made, but at the end of the day it was worth it to me. Is it 100%? No. Is it 100% better than it was? You be the judge. It's times like these I really miss not having a shop so it was all hand sanding to get into the little nooks and crannies. I opted not to fill in the rust pits at the muzzle. I may fill them in with metal epoxy at some point down the road, but for now I just cleaned them out with a bronze brush to get to bare steel and let the bluing take. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll have to fabricate a new foresight to put me on the money, but that'll be another post.

 

[Muley Gil]

Good job.

Can you carry a cap and ball revolver in Canada? A Ruger Old Army may fit you needs as well.

 

[Exmilcop]

Good job.

Can you carry a cap and ball revolver in Canada? A Ruger Old Army may fit you needs as well.

Alas, no. To qualify as antique status, the pistol must be made prior to 1898 and must be chambered in a caliber not on the RCMP's list of current calibers. There is example after example of bureaucratic stupidity and lack of knowledge regarding firearms. Just as one small example, .45ACP is not on the list of current calibers but .45 Colt is. As a result, people up here are adapting old Webley and French pistols to accept .45 ACP. The chair warmers who drew up the list thought that .45 Colt was .45 ACP so not knowing the difference allowed the legal loophole. If I purchased a Pietta Schofield in .45 Schofield, it has to be registered. A genuine original Schofield doesn't have to be. So your Ruger Old Army cap and ball has to be registered whereas an original Remington qualifies as antique. Stupid, eh?

 

[Drm50]

What is the regulation in Canada now on 22 handguns. I've been in PIA issues with long guns up there back in 60s & 70s. I haven't been back to Canada since the Pass Port was required.

 

[Old_Cop]

So when you drive to the store to pick up a case of Blue, you can carry an antique pistol ?

 

[Exmilcop]

What is the regulation in Canada now on 22 handguns. I've been in PIA issues with long guns up there back in 60s & 70s. I haven't been back to Canada since the Pass Port was required.

ALL non-antique status handguns are restricted, regardless of caliber. As to the .22, here's another example of bureaucratic stupidity. If I bought an antique S&W tip-up, first model, in .22 it would be restricted. The fact that it was meant for black powder loads isn't factored into the cement heads who write our firearms laws. The model 1-1/2 in .32 RF is perfectly fine to own without a license.

 

[Exmilcop]

So when you drive to the store to pick up a case of Blue, you can carry an antique pistol ?

First off, I wouldn't drink Blue (given a choice) as I prefer real beer. Secondly, yes, I could open carry an antique pistol and gad about the city until the cops picked me up. Unless I actually pulled the pistol on someone or did something else stupid with it I couldn't be charged under the firearms act. What I would face would be whole host of nuisance charges like assault (according to a cop friend of mine), being a common nuisance, creating a disturbance, etc. etc. etc. And that's presupposing some adredaline pumped cop didn't put a bullet in me first.

 

[Exmilcop]

WELL! I finally fabricated a new foresight for the old girl. Every one of these I've owned didn't come close to the bull with the fixed factory sight and that skinny blade is hard to pick up, especially for my old eyes. This blade is way too high and far too wide but that will allow me to file it down and take material from either the left or right side until it puts me on the bull with my eyes. At that point I'll do the final bluing and put blaze fluorescent paint on the center of the blade. Not a perfect job I grant you, but considering it's all hand filing and fitting, it ain't too bad.

 

[Ruger 13]

I thought the pics were the before pictures…….sorry!

 

[Bald1]

Great job MILCOP. I hate that you have such restrictions on you. My deer hunting buddy lives in Fort Erie. Taking his rifle back and forth became such a hassle he now just uses one of mine. I do a lot of fishing in Nippising and Muskoka areas. I'm no longer allowed to bring my own bait into Canada. That's right, Trudeau has banned American Night Crawlers. Canadians should all sleep better at night.

 

[jc2721]

What did you use for the bluing? I keep small jars of Super Blue, aluminum black, etc handy for small touch ups but I absolutely hate the smell of most touch up bluing solutions--I think it's from the selenium that's used?

Nice job!

 

[Exmilcop]

I used the Birchwood Casey gun blue, but a buddy put me on to a trick that seems to improve the application of cold blue compounds. I put all metal in the oven at low heat until it was just warm enough to handle comfortably. The bluing seems to take better, I'm assuming the heat expands the metal slightly and allows for better penetration of the bluing.