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marlinguy
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A year in the elements.
Oct 1st, 2025 at 2:58pm
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About this time last year we were at deer camp. I don't hunt anymore, but I still go along to spend time outdoors during the hunt with my family and friends. During a break one day I got out my Remington No. 1 Rolling Block in .22LR with a 12x Fecker scope and began shooting. I was using .22LR cases as my target at 75 yds. and my great nephew and his buddy were very surprised by the old gun's accuracy. I handed them the rifle and two boxes of ammo and told them to bring it into the shop when they were done. His friend came in about 15 minutes later, but my nephew stayed outside until he'd finished off all the ammo!
I took the gun back and simply put it away in the case. When I got home I got it out to wipe it down and discovered both lens caps were missing. I remembered telling them to screw them on when done, but forgot to check. Too far to go back for them, and hoped if somebody went to the cabin during the year they'd bring them home. Well that didn't happen until last week! 
So I went over to my nephew's father inlaw's to see what was left of my lens caps. Fortunately the caps were left with the threads down, and flat side up as the threads look great, and backside has very little rust. Top side is another thing. Pretty rusty, especially the smaller cap for some reason. 

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Had they been flipped over the recess cut in the caps would have held water and been a real mess, maybe ruined. So I'll see what it takes to neutralize the rust, and then polish the caps smooth, and blue them again. At least they're salvageable, which surprises me after a year outside in snow, rain, sun, etc.

  

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GT
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #1 - Oct 1st, 2025 at 4:29pm
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Vall,
Some folks pay good money to make them look like that, didn't cost you anything... Oil them up and run with them Grin  cherish the memories...
Greg
  

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"  T. A. Edison
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right" M.T.
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nuclearcricket
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #2 - Oct 1st, 2025 at 7:16pm
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go and get some distilled water and bring it up to a boil and drop the caps in for about 10 minutes, take them out and when cool go at them with fine steel wool.  They may still be pitted some but it will turn them black. 
Sam
  
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Jeff_Schultz
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #3 - Oct 1st, 2025 at 7:44pm
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It's not rust, it's patina.
  

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo

“There is no situation so bad that it cannot be made worse."

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westerner
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #4 - Oct 1st, 2025 at 11:04pm
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Jeff_Schultz wrote on Oct 1st, 2025 at 7:44pm:
It's not rust, it's patina.

  

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LRF
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #5 - Oct 2nd, 2025 at 5:39am
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Makings of a before and after story i think.......
  
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marlinguy
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Re: A year in the elements.
Reply #6 - Oct 2nd, 2025 at 9:40am
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Since I'm not much on patina, or rust either, I soaked them in naval jelly, and then wire brushed them. Rinsed in hot water, and they were both fairly pitted. Put them on my aluminum block with some 220 grit emery paper and rubbed them until they were smooth and bare. Then did it again with 360 grit. Dropped them in a Dixie cup with Oxpho-Blue and turned them blued again, then burnished them with 4/0 steel wool and oiled with Kroil. They screwed back on the Fecker fine, so threads didn't get hurt at all.

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« Last Edit: Oct 2nd, 2025 at 1:48pm by marlinguy »  

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