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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Another Corroded Treasure (Read 2435 times)
Bent_Ramrod
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Another Corroded Treasure
Sep 19th, 2022 at 1:21pm
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Found this at an otherwise uninspiring Gun Show this weekend.  As Winston Churchill famously said, "Nevah give up!"


At an Olde-Tyme affordable price, too, complete with #3 barrel with rusty bore, buckhorn rear sight and the remains of a Beech front sight.

Last pic is my parts accumulation.  Fortunately, it looks like all I need to make is the Knockoff and a couple pins.  Been there, done that.
  
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msellers
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #1 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 1:51pm
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Very impressive, and a real bargain at that.

Mike
  
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moodyholler
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #2 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 2:11pm
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Awesome, kids today just walk on by!
  
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YIMAIM  
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jimmy
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #3 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 5:21pm
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What caliber? 

Awesome find!
  
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Spud
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #4 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 5:27pm
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Here in Australia that one would would be considered to be in good condition!  Grin

Spud Wink
  
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Bent_Ramrod
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #5 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 7:02pm
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It’s marked .38-55.  I was hoping a couple strokes with a brush and a few swabs with a patch loaded with the latest miracle juice would reveal a pristine bore (as happens all the time on the Internet) but alas, alackaday... It’s going to be job getting the pilot for the reline drill through that mess.

Gotta dig out my drawings and see what I need to make.  The triggers are drilled for the single-set adjustment screw, one of the hammers is fitted with a fly, and I have an extra sear with a groove to clear the fly.  Maybe I can cobble together  a single set trigger for this one.  I may need a coil spring for this one, although I prefer the flat springs.  Haven’t begun to consider a caliber.  I have enough .38-55s.

I had an aunt with a shelf full of jigsaw puzzles.  One was always in mid-assembly on the card table when I’d visit. Guess the gene mutated a little, but otherwise bred true.
  
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830singleshot
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #6 - Sep 19th, 2022 at 7:33pm
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I "think" you could have it rebored and chambered to 40 Maynard (30-40 krag blown out straight) for less than $300.  Might make a good choice.....
  

J. Scott McCash&&New Braunfels, TX&&830-237-2376&&jsmccash@yahoo.com
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Gunfunpow
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #7 - Sep 30th, 2022 at 12:28am
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Nice find, regardless of barrel condition. You could reline it or get a green mountain barrel for it. Does the dovetail under the barrel mean it had a flat mainspring or is it for the forearm screw? Nice project, have fun!
  
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Bent_Ramrod
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #8 - Sep 30th, 2022 at 10:50am
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It has the extra dovetail for the flat spring pad.  My lever is for a coil spring and I’ll have to weld a projection on the front and grind it down.  Ditto for the hammer.

I’d rather do mods like those to the small parts than drill the receiver for that plunger and spring.  I like the flat spring action better anyway; it’s “snappy,” whereas the few coil spring versions I’ve encountered are kind of “squishy.”  Necessary if you have a takedown, but pointless otherwise.  And a PIA to get back together.

There’s a fair amount of pitting on the outside of the barrel towards the muzzle that will require a lot of draw filing.  I saw somebody’s effort to turn an octagon Winchester barrel to half-round, and it was not a success.  Bought it for $5, turned it to proper proportion smaller taper diameters, milled it properly to half-octagon, and fitted it to a Stevens action, since the spring dovetail was gone by then.  So I doubt that turning the pitted section round would work.

Some sort of rebore or reline to .40 caliber might be nice.  It’ll be a while, though, before that stormy night with the lightning flashes when I shout, “It’s alive, Igor!  It’s alive!!”  Grin
  
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1isenough
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #9 - Dec 15th, 2022 at 4:31am
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Consider a liner and chamber it 40-65.  I recently did that with a #1 Rolling Block (Egyptian) and really like the cartridge.  It shoots lighter correctly-sized pistol bullets (200-250 gr) and 400 grain+ equally well.  Brass is pretty easy/cheap to make.   Lots of flexibility and fun.  Planning another barrel for one of my Highwalls in that caliber next.  Good luck with the project - way beyond anything I would be able to do.  I pretty much just stick to new barrels for my Frankenstein projects.
  
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Steamtractor
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #10 - Dec 15th, 2022 at 5:10pm
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Looks like a nice project! I used to routinely reline sewer pipe bores after failed attempts to scrub/clean them out. Then one day it occurred to me, why not try electrolysis first? After all it works great freeing up and removing rust on steam engine parts. So I took a 3ft piece of 6” pvc capped one end. Took 3ft long 3” pvc drilled a series of 5/8” holes thru side from one end to the other. Wired up barrel and hung it in 3” pipe, set pipe inside 6” pipe. Wired up anodes and hung in space between pipes. Stand it up vertically and fill with washing soda electrolyte, hook up battery charger. Check frequently and in a couple of days you will truly know if your bore is salvageable or not! I am two for two now what looked like hopeless bores actually turned out real nice, a 32-20 H&A & 22 side swing little sure shot. The 22 showed no visible rifling after repeated scrubbing and I almost gave up. Electrolysis gently removed scale filling the grooves, revealing beautiful sharp unworn rifling. There’s moderate pitting left, but the bore is clean and shiney and it shoots great. Same with H&A. Not saying you will have same results. But it may be worth trying first?
  
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Steamtractor
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #11 - Dec 15th, 2022 at 6:20pm
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I should add some detail in case anyone wants to try this.
Number one, always hook negative black lead of battery charger to part being cleaned (barrel here). Red positive lead gets hooked to electrode grid (anode). I just use mild steel for this (hardware store rounds, sheet strips, whatever I scrounge). I wire them with plain uncoated baling wire, running the wire up and out the tank, where you can hook up charger. Keep separated so they don’t touch. I run the baling wire thru the bore and wrap it around “round parts” like barrel shank. Avoid winding it around sharp edges like octagons, on H&A barrel I hadn’t learned that, and noted some wire marks in edges after 2 days in tank. Slight metal loss maybe you could see it but not measure it, file and polish took care of it. That’s why I caution anyone to check frequently the progress, so you can pull the plug if needed.
  
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Swamp Rat
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It's all different ..
but not much has changed

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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #12 - Mar 3rd, 2023 at 6:22pm
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Blessed are those that can still take on additional projects!!
(Great Find!)
  

.... seems like you don't miss much
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Timetripper
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #13 - Mar 3rd, 2023 at 7:19pm
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It's good to see an old firearm being brought back to life. And knowing that there are craftsmen out there that love doing it too.

John
  
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Green_Frog
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Re: Another Corroded Treasure
Reply #14 - May 1st, 2023 at 6:30pm
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Hey, B-R, isn’t it about time for a progress report?  Or am I the not the only one who proceeds at the pace of a glacier?   Roll Eyes
Froggie
  
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