DIY restorations before and after pics (request)

[Jackman]

Anyone have before and after restoration pics of the do it your self nature? On the fence about doing a resto.

[goofy]

If you have never done this befor I would not try.Alot depends on what gun and what you want when you are done.If you want a good finish on steel you want it hot blued.Do not use cold blue IT DOES NOT WORK it will run fade and ware off in a VERY SHORT TIME.It is used for touch up only.What gun are you looking at to restore?How bad is it now?.what kind of finish do you want?these are the questions you need to ask yourself and us.Then we can be more help to you.
These guns were given a quick restore. They were hot blued but not finished at 100% (The owner did not want to spend alot)He just wanted to fix them up to keep them from rusting any further but for another $100 or so he could have had them done at 100% and he did not want any silver(trgger,hammer ect.) showing even if they were supose to be that way.He paid $75.00 a piece to get them done
If the gun you are talking about is important to you you might want to take it to a shop who does this just remember you get what you pay for.If you prep the steel first it would cost you alot less to get blued.As for the wood YOU can finish it yourself with a little careful sanding and a oil finish(it does'nt take much but time)

After posting the pics. I see I should have wipped the cure oil off and the dust

[jack404]

Nice work goofy !

[permafrost]

Yeah, really nice. A damn shame he wouldn't spring for the full resto.I would love to see how they would have turned out.

PS - Your prices are very reasonable for the amount of work required.

[goofy]

Thank you. I tried to get him to go for it but he only had so much money and he is a local customer.So I told him I would do what I could and try to not lose my butt in labor.These guns are worth a total restore but he only had $150 for both and I could not let them get any worse so I did what I could. They were just done(blued on monday)and just got them together yesterday.I would have been happyer if I could have done them at 100% but you do what you have to.

[fuzebox40]

Nice job for a budget resto. Just curious what revolver that is?

[goofy]

The revolver is a Ruger security six (model 117) .357 mag.

[Double D]

You did good. Yea, you could have gone further, but you saved his guns and they look pretty darn good.

[goofy]

Thanks Double D Now back to Jackman and his question(sory for the drifting) The point I was makeing is you CAN refinish your own gun but you need to look at how much the gun is worth(both actual value and sentimental value) then how bad it is (is it going to be worth it)and what you want to end up with.If this is a gun you just want to practice on then GO FOR IT You have to start someware.But if this is a gun you want to have,keep,and use then look at talking with a local smith who does this and see what he will charge to do all of it or some of it.AS I said earlyer if you do the prep on the steel that will knock down the price and if you do the wood again it will bring down the price.If you post some pics. and anser the questions I will be happy to try to help you out on what and how to get what you want done.
GOOFY

[Jackman]

Goofy, Thanks great info and pics you do nice work! I have pics that I am trying to post , its a Savage model 99 chambered for .22HP center fire, its a family gun so sentimental value is there and its a shooter not likely to ever be sold. The 99 is not too bad but it does have spots of rust and one spot is quarter size and a thick bubbled rust, wood is dark but okay imop, The 99 stood up right in an unheated dirt floor barn for a number of years I took it to a gunsmith he checked it out and gave the okay on its condition, basically what I have is an ugly 99 that I want to improve the appearance ,new bluing with the present stocks would be fine with me, but I want to avoid that new bluing look if thats even possible , I like the look of an old worn firearm but not the look of an old abused firearm and my 99 fits the old abused description to a tee ...

Thanks I'll be working on the pics...

[nynomad]

Amazing Restoration - I would have thought they were hopeless.

[goofy]

Jackman.It's kind of strange that you are asking about restoring a 99 but not makeing it look brand new (why you ask) because in the same batch I just did is a 99 that the customer wanted the same thing.(for a coulple of reasons)Well the wood is easy to refinish and keep the distressed look(like beeting a new peice of furniture with a chain befor you finish it)But finishing the steel is a different story it will look new after reblueing so you can do things to make it (the gun) look not like new but still refinish it.Like blueing the bolt and striping the blue off and leaving the pits blue and not bringing up a fine polish.(making it look distressed not new)and other things to.Post your pics. here is what the 99 looks like now.I did not take any befor pics. What I can say is it was almost silver(from the blue worn off) and very heavy pitting.The wood was black from use and dirt and oil.Is this the finish you are looking for?
GOOFY Please excuse the dust, oil and bad pic. taking.

[goofy]

Here is a couple more pics.

[Capt Mac Turk]

Wow I woulda thought they were done seeing the before pictures.
GREAT work Goofy!

[JLA]

Very nice work goof. You have a knack for it for sure.

[American Leader]

Nice work goofy, too bad you can bring'em to the trough but can't mak'em drink!

[Chinook]

Those are great restos! Awesome work for sure!

Ive passed on a few rare pistols, because of condition. And now I kick myself for not buying a "box of guns" about 3 months ago... All were Ruger MK I frames... Projects that been forgotten in a leaky shop...

[goofy]

WOW! Thank you all for your kind words.I do love takeing a gun that most people think is dead and bringing it back to life.The two .22s you can see behind the 99 in the case( the one on the right is a mossberg 353T) I got that one at a yard sale for $2 and was surprised to see it had blond wood under the bad brown stain.The other is a marlin 60 I got for $5.Finished it and I am selling them for around $150.(i'm allways ready to talk price) Most of my restored guns don't sit in the case for long.I collect guns all summer from yard sales and fix them up in the down time to keep busy.All work is done by hand no power tools(buffer).
SALES PITCH....If anybody needs work done just pm me (I don't know if this is ok here)sory if it is not.I just had to do it
Jackman did you take pics.?If you are haveing problems posting them just ask how and the good people here will tell you how(They tought me how and i am computer stupid)
Thanks again for your kind words
GOOFY

[Jackman]

Goofy, still working on pics , Ive done pics in the past worked fine but now I am stuck on how do I move pics from my pc to photo host , once I get pic to the host I can do the rest. Imageshack and photobucket are the where I have accounts....

[goofy]

Sory Jackman I can't help you with getting the pics. on as I said saying I am computer stupid is a understatementBUT someone here will tell you how like I said they showed me how(and that was NOT easy) But in the mean time keep a good rust inhibiter oil on the rust to keep it from getting worse I use barricade made by Birchwood casey from brownells.
Goofy

[jack404]

Jackman for photo bucket find the Upload button ( mines green) follow the instructions

it'll guide you

[Big ugly]

Hey Goofy, I was wondering, In this thread is a Savage pistol similar to the one you redone. Mine is Nickle finished that is wearing off. Is there a way to restore this one.http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=57146

[Jackman]

jack404, Thanks will try pics tonight going to work now.

[goofy]

Thanks Jack for jumping in.Bet you could teach a rue to do back flips


Big Ugly Do you want it replated? I do not do plateing (I have helped do it) It takes specal eqip. to do it.It is not easy and the cost is high.Maybe someone else here knows more about who does this (stonechimney might know)If you want it blued it will require stripping ALL the nickle off down to the steel but it is a slow prosses.They make a Nickle stripper for taking off the nickle and a Electroless Nickle plating But I am told this stuff is like the differance between cold blue and hot blue and I have never used it so I would stay away from that and go with getting it plated the right way.So to anser your question yes you can get it restored the way you choose will determine the price to do it.

[StoneChimney]

Plating can not be touched up, so the gun would need to be stripped and refinished. The 1907 Savage was available nickel plated. This would have been a true electroplated nickel and not the later electroless nickel finish.

The gun should be stripped by reversing the electroplating process. There is no mechanical process that will do the job completely. There are some chemical nickel strippers available that can be satisfactory but the best method is reverse plating. This will also remove the underlying copper.

Once bare, the metal will need to be reprepped. This is the time to recut any lettering, etc. Although nickel can be plated directly to steel, best results are obtained by plating a 'flash' layer of copper first, prepping that finish and then performing the final electroplate of nickel.

Obviously, tolerances are critical and it is not unusual to have to lightly refit pins, etc, after plating.

If you can send us clear pictures of both sides of the pistol, we'd be happy to quote a restoration price.