Rusty, etched 3" Baby Chiefs -- hammer down - range day at post #55

two-bit cowboy

two-bit cowboy

US Veteran
Platinum
Joined
Jan 31, 2016
Messages
7,536
Reaction score
19,853
Location
inthewind of ol' Wyo
Picked it up yesterday afternoon.

Took "before" photos this morning, then began to fiddle a bit, to the gun's detriment. The screw holding the cylinder release broke when I tried to reinstall (very gentle on the touch, didn't even go in half way when it broke). All that rust tells a tale, eh?

After a wee bit of cleaning with my usual spray and a little gentle rubbing with bronze wool I think I've broken the code on the inscription:

To
Lt. Kousky
From Men
106 pct.
12-24-1953

The inscriber seemed to have a problem with his/her work, nearly adding an "e" after the "u" in the lieutenant's name and almost making the "n" of "Men" an "m."

I searched Kousky, and there are many. When I searched Kouesky I got the same list as when I tried Kousky; there were no listings for Kouesky.

Today the 106th precinct is in Queens, NYC.

Here are a few better photos. All the numbers match. I couldn't find Kroil in Lander yesterday -- the search continues.

Cheers,
 

Attachments

  • pre-clean 1.jpg
    pre-clean 1.jpg
    82.1 KB · Views: 1,432
  • pre-clean 3.jpg
    pre-clean 3.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 1,324
  • pre-clean 8.jpg
    pre-clean 8.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 1,221
  • post-clean & a bit of bronze wool.JPG
    post-clean & a bit of bronze wool.JPG
    146.7 KB · Views: 1,299
  • pre-clean sn.jpg
    pre-clean sn.jpg
    47.2 KB · Views: 872
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
I would use ATF/Acetone 50-50. You can find those two anywhere. There is an article/study saying it works better that Kroil.

"For all of you that are mechanically inclined..... Penetrating Oils Compared A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best! Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil .......... Average load

None ..................... 516 pounds

WD-40 .................... 238 pounds

PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds

Liquid Wrench ............ 127 pounds

Kano Kroil ............... 106 pounds

ATF-Acetone mix.............53 pounds

The Automatic Transmission fluid (ATF)-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price."
 
Congrats Bob, at least I was pretty close with my guess on what it said. When I get one in that condition the first thing I do is remove the grips, put the gun in a 1 gallon ziplock bag and coat it heavily in Kroil, turning it several times throughout the day and let it soak for at least 24 hours. That will usually lower your chances of stuck and broken screws and make using bronze wool to take off the rust have a lot better results. That should be a fun little project to get it back to shooting condition and close to its former glory. Do you plan to letter it?
 
6518John said:
I would use ATF/Acetone 50-50. You can find those two anywhere. There is an article/study saying it works better that Kroil.

"For all of you that are mechanically inclined..... Penetrating Oils Compared A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best! Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil .......... Average load

None ..................... 516 pounds

WD-40 .................... 238 pounds

PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds

Liquid Wrench ............ 127 pounds

Kano Kroil ............... 106 pounds

ATF-Acetone mix.............53 pounds

The Automatic Transmission fluid (ATF)-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price."
Click to expand...

Interesting results. I've always sworn by Blaster in the past, but use Kroil quite a bit where odor is a problem. I'll have to try the ATF-acetone mix. In the Navy we used "oil of wintergreen" or "wintergreen oil"; not sure exactly what it was, but we would get it from the corpsman. I think he used it for liniments or something. Any other Navy guys out there remember using it and what it consisted of exactly?
 
6518John said:
I would use ATF/Acetone 50-50. You can find those two anywhere. There is an article/study saying it works better that Kroil.

"For all of you that are mechanically inclined..... Penetrating Oils Compared A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best! Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil .......... Average load

None ..................... 516 pounds

WD-40 .................... 238 pounds

PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds

Liquid Wrench ............ 127 pounds

Kano Kroil ............... 106 pounds

ATF-Acetone mix.............53 pounds

The Automatic Transmission fluid (ATF)-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price."
Click to expand...
I can't imagine how they were able to do a realistic comparison. I'd love to read about the procedure used. Is that available any where
 
6518John said:
I would use ATF/Acetone 50-50.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that. I b'lieve I'll give that home brew a go.

jsfricks said:
Congrats Bob, at least I was pretty close with my guess on what it said. .... That should be a fun little project to get it back to shooting condition and close to its former glory. Do you plan to letter it?
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to digging in. Thanks. Yes, I will certainly letter this one -- I'm guessing one of those famous NY shops, but we'll see.

SDH said:
Pretty rugged... will be interesting to see in after photos.
Do you have a whole hammer.
Click to expand...

Not yet, but I'm hopeful.

Texas Star said:
It's such a shame that whoever got the gun after the recipient's death (?) didn't take better care of it.
Click to expand...

Well, we don't know that the lieutenant isn't the one who didn't take care of it, and we don't know whether he's still alive! We all know what happens when we jump to conclusions (assume).

M29since14 said:
That's interesting. Never knew there were any 3-inch Baby Chiefs.
Click to expand...

I have no idea how many, but the others on the forum are sure in better shape than this one. I wouldn't have paid what it would take to buy a "nice" one so I'm happy with having this one.

Thanks for all the comments!
 
Last edited:
Fully immerse it in a sealed container and soak it for a week. I think you will be amazed by the results. Plus you can easily find ATF and Acetone anywhere there is a gas station and hardware store. The only way I have ever been able to get Kroil is to order it online.

I soaked a log chain in a 5 gallon bucket that had fallen off the back of a truck and into a mudhole for almost a year. Some of the links were rusted solid. I pulled it out after a week and dragged it behind an ATV on a well graveled road for a mile or two, then soaked another week. Chain is almost as good as new.

I made twice the amount of Kroil for less than half the price and it works twice as well according the torque pressures. I considered that a win. That is all we use on the farm now.
 
I am reasonably sure that a NYPD Lt. alive and with that rank in 1953 isn't living or really competent today.He'd probably be over 100! Possible, but if you find him alive, please let us know.

In the meantime, I'm sticking with my feeling that he'd maintain the gun and be proud of it.

Maybe he retired and stored it in a damp basement. We'll probably never know.

Your best best is to contact NYPD personnel and see if they'll tell you anything.

The gun may have been stolen and badly cared for. No idea who broke the hammer spur.

Let us know what you learn. And good luck with your restoration.
 
tlawler said:
Interesting results. I've always sworn by Blaster in the past, but use Kroil quite a bit where odor is a problem. I'll have to try the ATF-acetone mix. In the Navy we used "oil of wintergreen" or "wintergreen oil"; not sure exactly what it was, but we would get it from the corpsman. I think he used it for liniments or something. Any other Navy guys out there remember using it and what it consisted of exactly?
Click to expand...

tlawler:

On my ship we always had good results with "relative bearing grease".

( Sorry, that's an old Navy joke.... New guys on a ship were sent in quest of the elusive "relative bearing grease.)

Two-bit cowboy, that's a grand gun you have there!!

Best Regards, Les
 
Last edited:
les.b said:
New guys on a ship were sent in quest of the elusive "relative bearing grease"
Click to expand...

I actually fell for getting sent to procure sound powered phone batteries just after I checked aboard my ship:D

I looked up wintergreen oil and it's Methyl salicylate. AKA the active ingredient in Ben Gay. We would get it in liquid form from our corpsman and use an eye dropper to place a few drops around a stubborn and rusted fastener. Surely there's some other snipes on here that used it that way as well.
 
Texas Star said:
Your best best is to contact NYPD personnel and see if they'll tell you anything.

Let us know what you learn. And good luck with your restoration.
Click to expand...

I've looked up the 106 and plan to contact them, but my days in the 'Force make me believe they won't divulge "personnel" info. Hope I'm wrong.

I'll post anything I'm able to discover, and thanks!
 
les.b said:
tlawler:

On my ship we always had good results with "relative bearing grease".

( Sorry, that's an old Navy joke.... New guys on a ship were sent in quest of the elusive "relative bearing grease.)

Two-bit cowboy, that's a grand gun you have there!!

Best Regards, Les
Click to expand...


Thanks Les!

I love military jokes. When we'd get a new guy in the control tower we'd tell him he needed to get a broom and go sweep the dust off the "approach path." Actually had a couple of gullible Gomers who went out near the approach end of the runway with a broom so we'd call the Security Police and get them to go "jack the guy up" for being too close to the runway. Great fun. Amazing what mischief you can create on boring Sunday afternoons when the jets aren't flying!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

two-bit cowboy
Baby Chiefs -- 3" -- thought I'd never see one -- sn update!
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
two-bit cowboy
two-bit cowboy

Latest posts

Back
Top