A bit of a quandry - to refinsh metalwork or not?

[CapitalBee]

Gents, I posted about a recent acquisition recently; a 1912 Improved Model D. Surface finish wise it was a bit patchy (mild understatement), so out came the oil and 000 wire wool. Well after a rebuild (which involved about 3 hrs clearing a blockage from the barrel, not lead I may add), it's shooting very nicely, I can bullseye at 15yds on the open sights. Now comes the quandry; I feel it would benefit from a reblue, but will I spoil the old girl by having it done? I've added some pictures for comment.

[Binners]

The purist will scream! It is your toy, you choose.
I might attempt a little cold blue wipe over on a piece that does not show...

[les allam]

That's a nice old gun you have there Mark,I would normally say clean up the metal work,sort out the screw heads if you can and shoot and enjoy your model D,But after seeing and shooting big Alan's refinished break down Bsa at the last Bash,I would be tempted for a re blue .The stock on your gun is in good nick and it would look great with some nice blued metal next to it.
Atb
Les..

[piggy589]

People restore,refinish classic cars and motorcycles,worth a fortune in some cases.

So why not an air rifle?.

[CapitalBee]

That's a nice old gun you have there Mark,I would normally say clean up the metal work,sort out the screw heads if you can and shoot and enjoy your model D,But after seeing and shooting big Alan's refinished break down Bsa at the last Bash,I would be tempted for a re blue .The stock on your gun is in good nick and it would look great with some nice blued metal next to it.
Atb
Les..

That was what I was leaning towards Les TBH. There were three old underlevers in my RFD's; two light patterns, one nicely blued, and the other taken back to base metal at some stage. Both were missing open sights and one needed some trigger work the other had a crack in the stock. Both were aesthetically better on the metalwork than the mod D, but this one was complete, so I took a punt.

[Hartcliffer]

This is a question that I've been asking myself with regards to a Mk2 Service. Because of what I managed to get it for, I want to keep it as a forever rifle, so if that's the case, why not have it done? It's not going anywhere so why not make it look as good as possible? Purists may cringe, but I'll have a gorgeous rifle that looks as good as possible.

[les allam]

That was what I was leaning towards Les TBH. There were three old underlevers in my RFD's; two light patterns, one nicely blued, and the other taken back to base metal at some stage. Both were missing open sights and one needed some trigger work the other had a crack in the stock. Both were aesthetically better on the metalwork than the mod D, but this one was complete, so I took a punt.

I have a 1906 LJ bsa and it as the brown patina on the metal work and the name Sheila scratched in to the stock,the gun just needs the trigger sorting out.The damage to the stock and over all condition of my gun is part of its history,so I will leave it as it is.
Please make sure you bring your model D to the next Boinger bash so I can have a play with it.
Les..

[T 20]

I've just spent the day sanding a CS club special action back to bare metal in preperation for fume bluing.
I got fed up hand sanding as it was taking too long, so I ended up using an angle grinder and a DA air sander with 80 grit paper to speed things up a bit --- turned out really well.






All the best Mick

PS:- don't tell the old boys in the collectors section the above as they'll choke on their Horlicks --- mums the word Mark.

PPS:- do you think I should weld a scope rail on it while I'm at it ?

[CapitalBee]

I've just spent the day sanding a CS club special action back to bare metal in preperation for fume bluing.
I got fed up hand sanding as it was taking too long, so I ended up using an angle grinder and a DA air sander with 80 grit paper to speed things up a bit --- turned out really well.






All the best Mick

PS:- don't tell the old boys in the collectors section the above as they'll choke on their Horlicks --- mums the word Mark.

PPS:- do you think I should weld a scope rail on it while I'm at it ?

Have you seen tube polishing attachments for angle grinders? I did think about buying one, but I rarely refinish actions, preferring to let people do it who know what they're doing.

[ccdjg]

My attitude towards the refinishing of a rare classic gun is that there are two requirements to be satisfied before one can justify refinishing.

It should only be undertaken (a) if the contemplated new finish will give a true representation of how the gun looked originally, and (b) when the current finish is giving a false impression of how the gun should have looked with natural ageing and wear and tear consistent with its age.

In your case the mottling, blotchy appearance is certainly not natural nor attractive and should be got rid of. If you want to treat your gun as a vintage classic, then the rebluing should be by a rust/fume method and not hot caustic bluing as it would give completely the wrong effect. Cold blue should never be used on a rare classic as it is basically just a thin film of a sulphide or selenide and while it might look OK for some time, from the point of view of originality you might as well use paint.

However, as your gun is not all that rare, if you just want something that you will be shooting regularly and that looks OK, then you need not feel guilty about finishing it any way you want, although you might end up offending a few purists.

[Binners]

This is when and why you refinish an oldun

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....e-restoration/

Nuff said

[Muskett]

My view is first stop the rot, and stabilise it.
Then ask is there enough original finish there to save? Can the rough be removed without losing even more finish?
Many rifles can handle losing quite a lot of finish and carry that patina very well. Only full restore when the condition is so poor that the value has been lost. At that stage it doesn't matter and a full recondition won't matter. Though the cost of doing so is rarely recoverable, so its for you not for any other reason.

Some fully restored rifles can look fantastic, often possibly better than when they left the factory all that time ago.

The purists will always prefer original. Something very rare then best just stabilised. There are always other guns that there are plenty of and can done with as you please. Its your property so do as you like, and there will be new stuff anyhow. Not everything warrants a museum place.

On this piece, I think it would look fine with the minimum of work.

[Benelli B76]

After refinishing hundreds of airguns over the last 50 years, I stopped using fine wire wool a long time ago. I always use medium and occasionally coarse. To reblue an old rifle that is not too bad is a personal decision depending on how original you want to keep it. When the finish is really bad it really needs to be done, like the one below I cold blued. You could first try some medium wire wool and oil to see if you can improve what you have. My preference would be to cold blue it.

Baz

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[I. J.]

PS:- don't tell the old boys in the collectors section the above as they'll choke on their Horlicks --- mums the word Mark.

This IS the Collectors Section aka The Gentlemens Department.

I sentence you to 10 lashes with Dennis Hillers Book of Air Rifles.

Personally - I would just shoot and enjoy. Ive got a 1914 BSA under lever and someone in its past history has scratched their initials in the stock. Ive not re-finished it as its part of the guns history. It makes you think, did a previous owner survive the wars?

[Benelli B76]

This is when and why you refinish an oldun

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....e-restoration/

Nuff said

When are you going to get it done Peter ?