This will bring a tear to your eye...
- Thread starter elwood
- Start date
Last edited:
sbeatty1983
Member
I agree
My stepfather got a katrina gun. A Luger with nazi proof marks. Broke my heart to see such a fine firearm totaly ruined.
No...not sure but doubt it. We're a long way from the beach. But, it could have had something unusual happen...just don't know the details of how it was stored except to say that it was stored poorly.
I have been able to get 3 of the 4 side plate screws out...the front one just below the cylinder hasen't moved. Still soaking....
If I do eventually get the side plate off, I'll consider some pictures of that if the damage is as I'm expecting. We'll see. Side plate removal might require drilling/grinding off that front screw head...trying not to.
Elwood
airman
WW II Vet
I found a badly rusted ice-cream maker and took it home to experiment on. I flooded all the iron with WD40 an began working it. It took hours but gradually the parts freed up and worked again. It still looked terrible but one could make ice cream in it again.
Wouldn't a gun respond that way?
Wouldn't a gun respond that way?
Stored under the couch with "Water damage" .... and an old guy sitting on the couch above.......Hmmmmmmm ....could be....sure does LOOK like it could be !
Hmmm...I guess that brings the salt water theory back into play. Not saying this isn't what happened. Hope not.
I'm going to continue with the soaking for a while. Will let everyone know if anything happens. Again, I'll say, it's hard to see the extent of the damage from the photo. It may not get any better but will make a nice "framed" example of a poorly maintained revolver...maybe in a shadow box display along with the Colt Detective Special that is in comparably sad shape.
Cocked & Locked
Member
A set of bigmtnman's custom made stag grips would make that gun look awesome. You wouldn't even notice the rust & corrosion and if you did it wouldn't matter.
WELL !!....Thanks for THAT !!
Shooting4life
Member
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Dibs on the trigger and hammer!!! Poor gun, I would put it on the wall.
andyo5
Member
Send it back to the factory and ask them to fix it under warranty. ; )
But seriously, ask him for one that can still be fixed. Naturally he'd offer you the worst one of the bunch.
But seriously, ask him for one that can still be fixed. Naturally he'd offer you the worst one of the bunch.
rburg
Member
Guns often respond to restoration attempts. Don't give up, keep trying. Rust is weak and falls away over time, just like it grew.
Our family rust story involved an 1860 Colt Army. It had been promised to my father back in the 1930s. It was owned by one of his cousins and was in nearly perfect condition. But after WWII, the cousin died and my dad tried to claim the gun. As often happens in families, the gun couldn't be found. Usually that means someone of higher rank just took it. So my dad did the discrete and honorable thing, he let it drop. Then about 1960 he got a phone call. They found the gun under the front porch. Terrible rust (much worse than the gun shown here.) Of course my dad wanted it, so we made a trip to recover it.
The story was the young teen kids of the owner (or his grand kids, its unclear) had played with it and just left it outside. For years. So we took the gun home. And dad and I started our project, just like so many others over the years. My brother had no interest in guns or rust, so he left us to our gun. I'd been reading in Popular Science about a then great product, Liquid Wrench. The local clip-joint/ discount house carried it. So off we went to buy some. We discovered it was sold in tiny oil can like size, and then in big bulk cans. Dad opted for the big size, since the price was pretty similar.
We submerged and soaked the entire gun. One grip was gone to the elements. Soaking does wonders, but it takes time. Its one thing we had plenty of back then. Besides, we had plenty of research to do trying to find springs and small parts. Within a few weeks we managed to get some of the screws out. Dad was afraid to use heat. He finally gave in and we began the more dangerous part of our project, heating the soup.
We weren't after a lot of heat, we just went out in the yard, plugged in a hot plate, and began bringing up the temp. While we were afraid of a fire, there wasn't enough to damage any metal. Repeated hot cool cycles managed to work the penetrating oil down in side and we got the center pin and cylinder out, then the barrel wedge. Lock parts were in better shape than we'd hoped.
In less than a full year, the gun was up and clicking. We didn't have the nerve to fire it. Old steel and heavy rust were just too scary. But we did make the missing grip out of a piece of walnut. In the end it wasn't as pretty as it once had been, but it was nice. After my father died in 1980, my brother wanted it (in contrast to his refusal to even spend one evening with us trying to restore it.) Things like that happen within families. Now looking back, the real value was working with my dad on the project. Once the task was finished, it was almost forgotten except for the time we spent together.
Its how you make something out of almost nothing.
To me the gun this thread is about shows great promise. This isn't a mission impossible. It'll take more time than the gun is worth, but its fun.
Our family rust story involved an 1860 Colt Army. It had been promised to my father back in the 1930s. It was owned by one of his cousins and was in nearly perfect condition. But after WWII, the cousin died and my dad tried to claim the gun. As often happens in families, the gun couldn't be found. Usually that means someone of higher rank just took it. So my dad did the discrete and honorable thing, he let it drop. Then about 1960 he got a phone call. They found the gun under the front porch. Terrible rust (much worse than the gun shown here.) Of course my dad wanted it, so we made a trip to recover it.
The story was the young teen kids of the owner (or his grand kids, its unclear) had played with it and just left it outside. For years. So we took the gun home. And dad and I started our project, just like so many others over the years. My brother had no interest in guns or rust, so he left us to our gun. I'd been reading in Popular Science about a then great product, Liquid Wrench. The local clip-joint/ discount house carried it. So off we went to buy some. We discovered it was sold in tiny oil can like size, and then in big bulk cans. Dad opted for the big size, since the price was pretty similar.
We submerged and soaked the entire gun. One grip was gone to the elements. Soaking does wonders, but it takes time. Its one thing we had plenty of back then. Besides, we had plenty of research to do trying to find springs and small parts. Within a few weeks we managed to get some of the screws out. Dad was afraid to use heat. He finally gave in and we began the more dangerous part of our project, heating the soup.
We weren't after a lot of heat, we just went out in the yard, plugged in a hot plate, and began bringing up the temp. While we were afraid of a fire, there wasn't enough to damage any metal. Repeated hot cool cycles managed to work the penetrating oil down in side and we got the center pin and cylinder out, then the barrel wedge. Lock parts were in better shape than we'd hoped.
In less than a full year, the gun was up and clicking. We didn't have the nerve to fire it. Old steel and heavy rust were just too scary. But we did make the missing grip out of a piece of walnut. In the end it wasn't as pretty as it once had been, but it was nice. After my father died in 1980, my brother wanted it (in contrast to his refusal to even spend one evening with us trying to restore it.) Things like that happen within families. Now looking back, the real value was working with my dad on the project. Once the task was finished, it was almost forgotten except for the time we spent together.
Its how you make something out of almost nothing.
To me the gun this thread is about shows great promise. This isn't a mission impossible. It'll take more time than the gun is worth, but its fun.
I think VM can salvage those grips.
notsofast
Member
I had 4 Katrina guns that sat for over a week in the water and remained in their soft cases "drying" out for 5 more weeks before I could get to them. One M60, a M66, a Rem 870 pump and a H&R .410 crack barrel. All are up and running; the stainless revolvers show no signs of damage, however the blued guns definetly show finish problems. Soaked them in mineral spirits with Marvel Mystery oil for a week then blew them out with compressed air. Then started trying to work the stuck action with WD40, it took sometime but all are working and working without issue.
jrm53
Member
If you can get the sideplate off and the parts out it can be brought back it may not look great but I bet it will fire and be safe with light wadcutter model 52 loads. If it looks like you can ressurect I have a decent pair of K magnas that I will send to you free, these are not diamond grips but they are pretty good. Good Luck! Jeff
Bajadoc
US Veteran
A little Hoppe's 9 should clean that right up.
