Members feelings on rust!

GaryR said:
Seriously considering buying a 1948 mfg K38 Masterpiece (45k serial#). However… was stored badly and about 20% of the cylinder has pretty significant rust! Rest of the gun is 95%. Think I can prob. get into it for around $300 or so. Cylinder will need restoration. Any opinions on this? Thanks!
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Pretty significant rust? Not really a precise term. If pitted, you will most likely need a new cylinder.

Merely surface rust? Polish and professional hot bluing. Cold bluing is merely a band aid and leads to other issues.

Restoring it to 100% original is impossible so the best you can hope for is a 60% shooter.

Your money, your choice.

Kevin

Okay, you posted images while I was typing. Not surprising as I type rather slowly! There is a bit of pitting. More than I would fell comfortable polishing out.

If I wanted a K38, Target revolver, I would grab it. If I wanted a collectible revolver, I would wait for a collectible revolver to appear.

Kevin
 
GaryR said:
Seriously considering buying a 1948 mfg K38 Masterpiece (45k serial#). However… was stored badly and about 20% of the cylinder has pretty significant rust! Rest of the gun is 95%. Think I can prob. get into it for around $300 or so. Cylinder will need restoration. Any opinions on this? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Watch Mark Novak on YouTube how he restores rusted guns. He boils them in water like it's done in rust bluing sometimes and hour or twice. Then uses a carding wheel to get the rust off. I did it on my friends Marlin. The barrel was rusted so bad you couldn't see the markings. Boiled it for an hour or so and it came out looking very good. The pits are still there but they're black and you have to look real close to see them. Degrease and boil and card. No wheel then use 0000 steel wool. Cheap way to make a gun look decent again and any original bluing stays on it.
 
JwesleyN said:
Watch Mark Novak on YouTube how he restores rusted guns. He boils them in water like it's done in rust bluing sometimes and hour or twice. Then uses a carding wheel to get the rust off. I did it on my friends Marlin. The barrel was rusted so bad you couldn't see the markings. Boiled it for an hour or so and it came out looking very good. The pits are still there but they're black and you have to look real close to see them. Degrease and boil and card. No wheel then use 0000 steel wool. Cheap way to make a gun look decent again and any original bluing stays on it.
Click to expand...
I can add this to the process. If you have a loss of bluing on the gun you can use any of the rust blue formulas from Brownells, Midway and Bob's Guns. He sells different formulas for rust bluing. Just follow the process until you get the color you want. I usually stop when the metal stops rusting. Having someone that is good at refinishing is very expensive and if you replace any parts like the cylinder you will get in to more money than finding the same gun in pristine condition.
 
OP, You said there was rust and pitting as if the cylinder was almost worn though!! :eek: :ROFLMAO: There ain't nothing wrong with that K-38! It looks better than mine and I paid +600 for mine. They shoot great no matter what they look like. Great price too. I would have bought it even though I don't need another one. But what's need got to do with it??

MRCVS - Throw that nasty old rusty thumb cocker my way! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
My one and only rescue is a 1978 vintage Model 28. I bought it with some rust and some pitting knowing that it would be a refinish project revolver.

The refinish job was $185. The bluing came out quite dark and "royal" looking so I got the white grips for contrast.
 

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greenwellg said:
Bead blast it then rotate it while sanding the surface if pitted.

Before you do anything soak the surface and see if the rust can be minimized and do nothing other than clean it. Use a nickel to try to scrape the rust off FIRST, with some Kroil for lubrication. Nice thing about the cylinder is there are no markings to lose when polishing it. I built a Warner Swasey Sniper from a drill rifle that had the original tapped holes and was an original. Bead blasted the (chromed) receiver and other parts, replaced the barrel (plugged) and turned a $100 dollar drill rifle into a $2800 original sniper, with an original scope. No deception when sold. I also checked the serial number before beginning the whole process.
The key is if it is pitted or not. If pitted then bead blast the surface and polish it with a machine to spin the cylinder. Very easy to get it perfect metal wise, then rust blue it or have it professionally reblued.
Click to expand...
I use a copper penny vs a nickle and agree that Kroil is the go-to stuff.
 
That's a no brainer , buy it . Not going to be a collector gun but it would be a good woods and range gun and it's worth more than $300 for the parts alone.
 
greenwellg said:
If you are going to use a copper penny the use one minted before 1983 when they were real copper and not the plated zinc post 1982 pennies.
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It was 01 October 1982, so some 1982 pennies aren't copper, so best to stick to 1981 and before.
 
Looking at the pictures, in my opinion that cylinder can be restored and appropriate to the gun. It will need to be stripped, polished and blued. Here's one I did about a year ago. It was worse than yours with rust pits, scratches and gouges from being dropped or something. I pulled the cylinder and inserted the ejector rod in a drill, used 220 grit wet to start off with at a low rpm and kept the paper flat (so the flutes wouldn't get rounded), until the surfaces were smooth, followed by 400, 600 and 800 wet. I hand polished the flutes with 400 staying away from the edges, then cold blued it with Super Blue. I have also used rust blue in the past but it leaves more of a matte finish and it's a lot more work.



IMG_0049.jpg

IMG_0048.jpg
 
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Every time I see this title I think of that stupid movie/tv show where Alec Baldwin killed someone! But that would be with a capital "R" wouldn't it.

Rick
 
mrcvs said:
Yeah, because of rust, I was thinking of throwing away this piece of junk!
View attachment 780535View attachment 780536View attachment 780537View attachment 780538View attachment 780539View attachment 780540View attachment 780541View attachment 780542View attachment 780543View attachment 780544

Colt Artillery Model revolver (and a nice one!), for those who want to know.
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Yeah, that's not really worth much, but PM me, and I would be willing to take it off your hands.

😲😲😲😋😋😋

That is a beauty!!!
 
JwesleyN said:
Watch Mark Novak on YouTube how he restores rusted guns. He boils them in water like it's done in rust bluing sometimes and hour or twice. Then uses a carding wheel to get the rust off. I did it on my friends Marlin. The barrel was rusted so bad you couldn't see the markings. Boiled it for an hour or so and it came out looking very good. The pits are still there but they're black and you have to look real close to see them. Degrease and boil and card. No wheel then use 0000 steel wool. Cheap way to make a gun look decent again and any original bluing stays on it.
Click to expand...
If the cylinder needs replacing then I'd pass on it.
 
JwesleyN said:
Watch Mark Novak on YouTube how he restores rusted guns. He boils them in water like it's done in rust bluing sometimes and hour or twice. Then uses a carding wheel to get the rust off. I did it on my friends Marlin. The barrel was rusted so bad you couldn't see the markings. Boiled it for an hour or so and it came out looking very good. The pits are still there but they're black and you have to look real close to see them. Degrease and boil and card. No wheel then use 0000 steel wool. Cheap way to make a gun look decent again and any original bluing stays on it.
Click to expand...
Can you post a link where this process is shown, please? Thank you in advance.
 
Even if the cyl needs replacing, isn't an M&P 38spcl cyl a simple replacement. (RH ejector rod thread I assume.)
They seem to show up often in decent condition & at not too awfully high prices.

From the looks of the rust on the cyl in the pic, it'll clean up just fine though.
By hand or a combination of
belt grinder and hand polishing work, it's about a 1hr+ job if you don't dawdle around.
It's polishing the frame and bbl that take up all the time on the clock on these.
 
If your only interest is in owning a museum quality piece pass. If you want a shooter or a restoration project you can be proud of it's a go.
 
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