Lemme start at the begining. I plan on doing an article on this one so that I can attempt to get it into one of the many gun mags out there. The gun (dry and extaclly as I purchased it) shoots CCI Velocitors, remington golden bullet, and federal lightning 22's dead on, BUT HIGH at 30 yards with the rear sight on the bottom. Since I am ordering new sights anyway this one be a problem. The riginal front sight has been bent in order to make it shoot straight, and it does. CCI Stingers shoot all over the place by the way. Velocitors were 23 inches high at 30. Golden bullets were 8 inches high at 30 and lightnings were 11 inches high at 30.
After spending about 2 hours gently removing the rust from the crown with 600 grit emery cloth and 3 in 1 household oil. The gun was fired again. Again all bullets performed the same EXCEPT they ALL shot 3 inches to the right (If you sight it where the bead WOULD have been before the front sight was bent they are STILL dead on, but high)
I removed the rust from the barrel working on it for about 3 hours using 600 grit emery cloth and 3-in-1 household oil. The barrel is has shallow pitting in places on the OUTSIDE. The inside looks almost new. With the barrel removed from the stock I used blue wonder to remove the last remnants of rust oil, etc from the barrel. The I liberally applied Birchwood Casey gun blueing past to the whole kit and kaboodle. The bluein is very light, however it is good enough to protect it which is all I wanted. After all this is about resurrecting a shooting gun, not creating a museum piece. Another coating of 3-in-1 household oil (And I will reapply it every day for a few weeks to make sure it is well protected) makes the barrel gleam between the pitting. I carefully removed rust and old buildup from the bolt, ejector, etc and after oiling them a little too heavy put it all back together. The ejector will need to be replaced as it looks to have been chipped and it only actually ejects every 7th round or so.
The gun was fired again and it shoots the same as it did after polishing the crown. The bore on this little 22 is SO tight that I can barely force a patch down it. Using hoppes I removed only light rusts from the bore (no lead fouling) and had clean patches in short order.
A heavy coating of boiled linseed oil on the stock really brought out the deep old wood color in it as well.
As soon as I recieve a response from marbles I will have the new sights on order. I wil post more then, and hopefully will be able to announce someday that the whole process (with pictures I might add) will be published. We shall see.
Adendum: I have rarely had as much fun shooting as I did with that 22 this weekend. By the way with the sight all the way down the gun was DEAD on at 90 yards with everything we tried except stingers.
GoodOlBoy
__________________
(Moderator - Gear & Gadgets, Cowboy Action, SouthWest Regional, Small Game) GoodOlBoy@huntchat.com
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16 KJV
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 8:15 KJV
"The gun has been called the great equalizer, meaning that a small person with a gun is equal to a large person, but it is a great equalizer in another way, too. It insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed." - 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan 1911-2004
|