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A Francotte Martini with a bit of history (Read 7153 times)

JLouis Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 10625 Joined: Apr 8^th, 2009	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #15 - Sep 20^th, 2021 at 4:10pm	Print Post
	Nice project along with all of the history and thank you so very much for sharing it with all of us.

	" It Is Better To Now Have Been A Has Been Than A Never Was Or A Wanna Be "
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ballardhepburnmich ASSRA Board Member Offline Posts: 598 Location: Scotts,mi. Joined: May 20^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #16 - Sep 20^th, 2021 at 9:47pm	Print Post
	I appreciate your story, it was wonderful. Lee Gibbs pres.ASSRA


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Otony Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 325 Location: Bandon, Oregon Joined: Jun 5^th, 2021	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #17 - Sep 20^th, 2021 at 11:06pm	Print Post
	My parents were both from Sicily, a little town in the mountains called Tripi, near Messina. So in addition to the marvelous rifle (and clever “restoration” work), this story had an added dimension that I found quite interesting. Thank you for sharing!

	Otony
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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #18 - Sep 21^st, 2021 at 5:40am	Print Post
	Using a carding wheel, I went over the internal parts and the rust simply disappeared.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #19 - Sep 21^st, 2021 at 5:41am	Print Post
	Oddly enough some colour from the case hardening survivied


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #20 - Sep 21^st, 2021 at 5:43am	Print Post
	Closeup of the cocking indicator


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #21 - Sep 21^st, 2021 at 5:47am	Print Post
	Notice the Lion with a sword in it's arm. More on this later on.


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Sure shot Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1169 Location: East central Iowa Joined: Jun 22^nd, 2020	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #22 - Sep 21^st, 2021 at 6:26am	Print Post
	Thank you for sharing your story on your rifle, most interesting.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #23 - Sep 26^th, 2021 at 11:08am	Print Post
	After I asking here for advice on cleaning the engraving of the action walls, I followed the formula of a new friend I made. He suggested that I warm wood vinegar ( 20% acetic acid ) and add as much sea salt ( I guess because it does not have iodine in it) to it as can be dissolved. I let it cool and added enough plain flour to it to make a stiffish paste.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #24 - Sep 26^th, 2021 at 11:09am	Print Post
	I experimented with this on a crap double barrel shotgun I have and was quite please with the result. I liked the effect of this paste a LOT. Unfortunately it also showed me that the crap shotgun was worth salvaging.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #25 - Sep 26^th, 2021 at 11:12am	Print Post
	I applied this concoction to one side at a time, leaving the paste to work for 15 minutes and washing it off with water. I cannot fathom the chemistry behind this but it works and works very well, so much so, that new details came to light, including another serial number ( that must have been polished off) and another lion with a sword in its hand and traces of a gold outline to the engraving.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #26 - Sep 26^th, 2021 at 11:16am	Print Post
	Me thinks that this action was repurposed by Auguste Francotte from a left over action that was originally destined for the Iranian Contract. If one searches for Iranian Contract Martini, images will turn up, with gold embellishment and the lion with the sword in its hand. I wish steel could talk back to me.


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Grumpy gumpy Full Member Offline Posts: 214 Location: australia Joined: Jul 6^th, 2016	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #27 - Sep 26^th, 2021 at 6:24pm	Print Post
	That’s coming up nicely, can’t wait to see the final results Gumpy


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MG-42 Participating Member Offline Posts: 45 Joined: Jul 14^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #28 - Sep 27^th, 2021 at 9:40pm	Print Post
	I enjoy reading your write ups.


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mqabbi Full Member Offline Posts: 109 Joined: Nov 6^th, 2015	Re: A Francotte Martini with a bit of history Reply #29 - Oct 2^nd, 2021 at 4:00pm	Print Post
	Now that the barrel and action were sorted, I turned to the express sights that were originally fitted on the rifle. As you can see from the attached images, it was in a very poor state.


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