Need help dating a rusty old revolver

[mikepriwer]

If you haven't already, its time to open the cylinder. Push the thumbpiece forward, holding the butt in your right hand, and with your left hand wrapped under the gun, push the cylinder to the left. Once opened, try pushing the extractor rod in and out. The idea is to see if any of that is stuck. With the cylinder open, it can be easily removed with one additional step, and that will help with further cleaning.

After that, you can move to dis-assembly. We can all help with that.

Nice work so far, Mike Priwer

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Birchwood-Casey makes a pretty good gun bore cleaner that I have used successfully on some gunked up military surplus rifles. You just don't want it on any blue finish you intend to keep, 'cause it'll remove it. I think I would try a metal polish/cleaner like Flitz or Mother's Mag along with some bronze or brass wool and a brass brush on the external pitting and to clean up the cylinder chambers. A brass bore brush, Mother's Mag and electric drill would brighten up those chambers, IMO.

 

[flagman1776]

You must understand that to collectors, even a poor "original finish" is much desired and valuable over a new refinish. Do not be in a hurry as you'll surely damage the remaining finish. Soak, soft cloth or bristle tooth brush, soak again. Time is your friend.

 

[xfabianromerox]

Had her in the fluid mix since mid December and took her out yesterday. Looks a little more shiny, but besides that, doesn't look like much rust has come off since the last soak. What do y'all recommend for the next cleaning phase?

 

[xfabianromerox]

 

[delcrossv]

Hey Fabian, quite an improvement!

How do the bore and chambers look? Do you have a .22 gun cleaning kit?

 

[Waveski]

Super fine bronze wool and oil. Let the oil soak for a time ,; the surface rust should give way to the bronze wool.

Bronze - not steel wool.

 

[delcrossv]

to the above I'd add a bronze brush and oil for the bore , chambers etc.

 

[Muley Gil]

Hey Fabian, quite an improvement!

How do the bore and chambers look? Do you have a .22 gun cleaning kit?

It's a .32 Long.

 

[Hondo44]

You definitely deserve the "MOST DISCIPLINED, MOST PATIENT, BEST NOVICE GUN RESCUE" award of all time!

You have achieved spectacular results so far. And instead of turning a $100 gun into a $50 gun like we see with nauseating occurrence on this forum, you've turned it into a $400 to $500 gun and more once completed!

 

[walnutred]

Now that the metal is coming along long do some research on repairing the chip in the grip. Nice project you have there, one many of us are a little jealous of. At least I am.

 

[Bekeart]

EVAPO - RUST worked for me.

EVAPO - RUST worked for me.

I had gotten some rusty mechanic tools.
Several sockets and a few combination wrenches had rust.
Followed advice of favorite mechanic - used EVAPO-RUST.
Overnight soaking in EVAPO-RUST cleaned them nicely.

Bekeart

 

[AlHunt]

EVAPO - RUST worked for me.

I had gotten some rusty mechanic tools.
Several sockets and a few combination wrenches had rust.
Followed advice of favorite mechanic - used EVAPO-RUST.
Overnight soaking in EVAPO-RUST cleaned them nicely.

Bekeart

Hold on - wouldn't Evaporust eat the remaining bluing, too ... ??

 

[Waveski]

"Hold on - wouldn't Evaporust eat the remaining bluing, too ... ?? "

My concern too - I think the answer is yes.

 

[weatherby]

I think you need to fire it up some with your father.

 

[glowe]

Bluing is nothing more than controlled rusting of steel, so yes many rust removers will dissolve bluing. Any mixtures that contains acid will quickly remove bluing, like Naval Jelly. I have not used Evaporust, but it supposedly does not contain any acids. I do use a product called Metal Rescue that does not contain any acid, but will remove bluing. Bottom line is test any product first before using it on a valuable gun or parts. Make sure the bluing will not be removed first.

The video is fine, but all these products remove rust on the product's schedule. I have been restoring doubleguns for years and find that the supposedly worst product, Metal Rescue, works wonders on barrels. Many were rusted inside and out and no other product cleaned them to the degree that Metal Rescue did. Problem is that you need to leave the barrel submerged for 24 to 48 hours since that is the length of time suggested on the label.

Here is a barrel set half done.

I use a PVC pipe with a cap glued on one end. One gallon of Metal Rescue is added ad the barrel is submerged and forgotten. After a few days, I flip it over to do the other half and rinse. Great product if used as recommended. Nice thing about non-acidic rust removers is that you can leave the part submerged for a week without any damage to the steel or soldered joints.

 

[delcrossv]

It's a .32 Long.

Ahh forgot it from the beginning of the thread. In any event, the bore and chambers heed brush attention.

 

[merl67]

What an absolute great job a testament to your patience to do it right. Keep working with bronze wool and bronze brushes at this point along with some penetrating oil woring in the specific areas of rust. Thank you for the continuing updates keep them coming.

 

[dingomann]

That gun is far nicer than when you found it! I never thought it would come back to life like it has.
I have torn down/ renovated many homes and apartments. In the St. Louis area we found an 1860 .44 Colt revolver with 3 loaded and 3 fired chambers in a wall. It was wrapped in a greasy rag which was as hard as stone. We soaked it in diesel fuel until it softened enough to get off. The gun was in a condition similar to yours. We gave it to the homeowner and HE GAVE IT TO THE POLICE because he thought it may have been used in a murder or something, I don't know. I was just sick about it but it wasn't mine. I am happy your gun has a better outcome!

 

[xfabianromerox]

Hey Fabian, quite an improvement!

How do the bore and chambers look? Do you have a .22 gun cleaning kit?

Thanks! The cylinder chambers look a bit rusty, but it looks like a thin layer of rust. It's hard to tell if the bore is rusty because it's so long, but I'd say it's probably a little more rusty than the cylinder chambers.

 

[xfabianromerox]

Super fine bronze wool and oil. Let the oil soak for a time ,; the surface rust should give way to the bronze wool.

Bronze - not steel wool.

Do you mean drowning it like I did for the atf/acetone mix, or just drenching the rusty parts?

 

[xfabianromerox]

You definitely deserve the "MOST DISCIPLINED, MOST PATIENT, BEST NOVICE GUN RESCUE" award of all time!

You have achieved spectacular results so far. And instead of turning a $100 gun into a $50 gun like we see with nauseating occurrence on this forum, you've turned it into a $400 to $500 gun and more once completed!

I appreciate the kind words

 

[xfabianromerox]

Now that the metal is coming along long do some research on repairing the chip in the grip. Nice project you have there, one many of us are a little jealous of. At least I am.

Thank you! How would I fix that chip?

 

[xfabianromerox]

Bluing is nothing more than controlled rusting of steel, so yes many rust removers will dissolve bluing. Any mixtures that contains acid will quickly remove bluing, like Naval Jelly. I have not used Evaporust, but it supposedly does not contain any acids. I do use a product called Metal Rescue that does not contain any acid, but will remove bluing. Bottom line is test any product first before using it on a valuable gun or parts. Make sure the bluing will not be removed first.

The video is fine, but all these products remove rust on the product's schedule. I have been restoring doubleguns for years and find that the supposedly worst product, Metal Rescue, works wonders on barrels. Many were rusted inside and out and no other product cleaned them to the degree that Metal Rescue did. Problem is that you need to leave the barrel submerged for 24 to 48 hours since that is the length of time suggested on the label.

Here is a barrel set half done.

I use a PVC pipe with a cap glued on one end. One gallon of Metal Rescue is added ad the barrel is submerged and forgotten. After a few days, I flip it over to do the other half and rinse. Great product if used as recommended. Nice thing about non-acidic rust removers is that you can leave the part submerged for a week without any damage to the steel or soldered joints.

I really don't wanna mess up the bluing. Maybe I'll look at some evaporust videos on YouTube tomorrow and see what cleaners do the least damage to the bluing.

 

[xfabianromerox]

That gun is far nicer than when you found it! I never thought it would come back to life like it has.
I have torn down/ renovated many homes and apartments. In the St. Louis area we found an 1860 .44 Colt revolver with 3 loaded and 3 fired chambers in a wall. It was wrapped in a greasy rag which was as hard as stone. We soaked it in diesel fuel until it softened enough to get off. The gun was in a condition similar to yours. We gave it to the homeowner and HE GAVE IT TO THE POLICE because he thought it may have been used in a murder or something, I don't know. I was just sick about it but it wasn't mine. I am happy your gun has a better outcome!

Very cool story! I'm sure this sort of thing happens here and there.

 

[delcrossv]

First, I'd pass on chemical cleaners like Evaporust at this point.

Do you mean drowning it like I did for the atf/acetone mix, or just drenching the rusty parts?

No. Just a layer of oil (smear it on with your fingers) and a light touch with the bronze wool.

Once you got the outside done, do the same with the bore and chambers with a bronze brush alternating with oily patches from a cleaning kit (.32). You'll probably have to do many passes. Run a oily patch, run the brush a bunch of times, clean with another few patches, repeat.

When the patches are no longer orange/dirty, finish with a couple of dry patches, shine a light down the bore and report condition. There's bore polishing compounds that can clean things up if necessary.

When those are where you want them, we can get started on a detail strip.

 

[Muley Gil]

I'll add to the above post. I like to use a bronze brush that is one caliber LARGER, especially when cleaning an extremely dirty or rusty firearm. In this case, use a .38 brush. Clean the chambers of the cylinder first, since they are larger than the bore. For extreme cases, you can chuck a straight cleaning rod in a drill and operate at low speeds.

 

[xfabianromerox]

I think you need to fire it up some with your father.

For sure! We wanted to, but the rounds we got we're too long. Does do they have to be s&w .32 long to fit?

 

[Muley Gil]

For sure! We wanted to, but the rounds we got we're too long. Does do they have to be s&w .32 long to fit?

Either the .32 Long or the shorter .32 S&W.

 

[AlHunt]

I really don't wanna mess up the bluing. Maybe I'll look at some evaporust videos on YouTube tomorrow and see what cleaners do the least damage to the bluing.

I think you'll regret Evaporust. I use it and love it. I think it's a mistake on blued steel.

I just looked. About 3/4 of the way down this page:
Evapo-Rust Gallon

Q. Will Evapo-Rust remove bluing or other oxide finishes?

A. Yes, bluing and other oxide finishes are chemically similar to rust and will be readily removed with Evapo-Rust.