ACORN
Member
HA HA!!!!!!
This One Will Break Your Heart
- Thread starter merl67
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HA HA!!!!!!
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Well, it will never win a blue ribbon in a beauty contest but I'd bet it can be restored mechanically. If you are not into that, just make it a wall hanger. Let us know how you make out with it. I'd love to see pictures of the inside & parts as well.
Throw wife out
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I've seen worse sadly. Since the OP said everything seems to work it can at least be made into a shooter even though the collector value is toast. A professional might be able to restore its appearance but it wouldn't be cheap.
Having handled a lot of mistreated and poorly stored guns over the years I was a dealer when condition is this poor my main interest becomes "will it shoot?", "does it have any significant collector value left" versus becoming a parts donor. Have had guns fall into all three categories.
The 4 worst I can recall were:
An early Colt 1911 that was found in a cardboard box on a basement floor. One side was perfect the other was trashed.... Functional, was cleaned as best as possible and returned to the family.
The "chicken coop" Luger......... WWII Mauser made Luger that hung on a peg in a chicken coop for many years to shoot pests. Good bore. nice internally, the outside was horrible. Bought cheap, shot it a few times passed it onto a friend who liked it.
A Colt Junior 25 found in a low quality holster in the trunk of a car sold to a scrapyard. The holster held moisture against the gun and corrosion ate away sections of the surface metal. Good bore and actually shoots quite well, sits in my safe at the moment.
A Colt 1903 found loaded, wrapped in a rag under a porch when the new owners were remodeling a house. No finish left, pitted from end to end. Still worked! Didn't come up as stolen when checked (they worried because of where it was found) and a friend ended up with it.
Sad thing is a lot of people either don't care or don't think when storing a gun. They just stick it somewhere and go on their way, may even forget about it altogether. Saw way too many good guns screwed up by simple neglect, the 4 above are just ones that stand out for how bad they can get (and how value can be lost)..........
Having handled a lot of mistreated and poorly stored guns over the years I was a dealer when condition is this poor my main interest becomes "will it shoot?", "does it have any significant collector value left" versus becoming a parts donor. Have had guns fall into all three categories.
The 4 worst I can recall were:
An early Colt 1911 that was found in a cardboard box on a basement floor. One side was perfect the other was trashed.... Functional, was cleaned as best as possible and returned to the family.
The "chicken coop" Luger......... WWII Mauser made Luger that hung on a peg in a chicken coop for many years to shoot pests. Good bore. nice internally, the outside was horrible. Bought cheap, shot it a few times passed it onto a friend who liked it.
A Colt Junior 25 found in a low quality holster in the trunk of a car sold to a scrapyard. The holster held moisture against the gun and corrosion ate away sections of the surface metal. Good bore and actually shoots quite well, sits in my safe at the moment.
A Colt 1903 found loaded, wrapped in a rag under a porch when the new owners were remodeling a house. No finish left, pitted from end to end. Still worked! Didn't come up as stolen when checked (they worried because of where it was found) and a friend ended up with it.
Sad thing is a lot of people either don't care or don't think when storing a gun. They just stick it somewhere and go on their way, may even forget about it altogether. Saw way too many good guns screwed up by simple neglect, the 4 above are just ones that stand out for how bad they can get (and how value can be lost)..........
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Grayfox
US Veteran
Depends on what the internals look like as to if salvaging it is feasible. If it is, I go along with bead blasting and parkerizing.
My “long soak” approach is really just to make sure that the disassembly goes smoothly. All the various pins may have decided to become one with the frame. The long soak gives time for the penetrating action to do the work instead of a hammer.
max503
Member
I've been married to a liberal since 1992. One day while watching Oprah she turned and said, "I don't like having handguns in the house". I said, "Yea...And?".
That subject has never been brought up again.
When I told her I was getting a CC permit, she said she didn't want me carrying around her.
What she doesn't know won't hurt her.
Funny. Now, she doesn't complain when I bring a 1911 along in the car to St. Louis. I think she's finally coming around.
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cherrypointmarine
Member
I second sending it to Turnbull's . You certainly can't hurt the resell value the way it sits . But a 1918 Colt 1911 that's been treated to the Turnbull's service , that would be one h*** of a BBQ gun .
He got what he deserved for not putting his foot down or ditching his wife.
Let that be a lesson to him.
… sorry could not resist. Didn’t mean it.
Let that be a lesson to him.
… sorry could not resist. Didn’t mean it.
Got a Colt Match Target (2nd Series) for $50 from my LGS because someone had put it away wrapped in a towel. Pitting deeper than the serial number, which was still there. Had to clean up a little rust on the ejector, bore was fine. Eventually had to replace the recoil spring. Still use it, probably my best .22.
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I am not saying you have a right to keep your stuff in someone's house forever, but on the other hand, you cannot just negligently store someone's property resulting in property damage. Grandma should have given notice.
SGT ROCK 11B
Member
What a shame! How and why did the gun get from her safe to "under the house"?
The only bright side to this is it would be nearly impossible to hurt it any more.
The 1911 "under the house" was stolen when a family member was in the Army. That is why it was kept separate from the others. Usually Veterans would scrub the US Property marking and sometimes the Serial Number too.
Back in my single days, the subject of firearms came up. My date told me that she would never have children in a home with guns. I told her that I'd never have children in a home without guns. That was the first and last date.
DWalt
Member
Me too. or hot blued.
SGT ROCK 11B
Member
Good point.
Most marriages the husband gets his way the first half and the wife her way the second half. YMMV but YOLO.
OP
This one still has US property stamp and serial number it was stored under the house to hide from wife. These are this man's family guns. While it is hard for us that have supporting wives, or for our ladies supporting husbands to understand this mindset no everyone looks at firearms as we do. Sometimes education helps not sure if this has been tried. Love makes a body do strange things. My wife wasn't always comfortable around my ever growing collection, but she understood my passion at least to some degree, and even learned not to be scared of them. She has even learned to look out for me at flea markets, and put me on a box for my K22. I sincerely hope this woman know s how much her husband has sacrificed for the relationship I'm not sure I could ...
My wife's a better shot than me.
