Cleaning out my grandparents house and found my Great grandfathers shotgun he passed to my grandfather and is NOW mine!. The gun had been missing for years. I can't tell anyone I know due to how things are in the family (Alot of greedy cut throat bastards) so I have to come here. It has some light surface rust and I spent the afternoon rubbing it (And watching basketball) with a silicon cloth. I will post pictures once I can get it cleaned up with some bronze wool. But I'm just excited, it truly means alot to finally have it. Both grandparents had alztheimers(?) and so they were lost.


I also found a sears single shot .22. <----This was my grandmothers!!

 

Don't clean that gun!!! You want the old patina on it! That gives it more value. People mess up old guns all the time trying to make them look new!

 

X2
I learned that watching Pawn Stars.

 

There is a big difference between patina and rust. Rust is bad, it allows for more rust to form and the flaking off of the bluing, allowing more rust to form. The goal of steel is to become iron oxide (rust). With that said I don't think I'd go so far as scrubbing any old firearm with anything more than a plastic bristle brush and that would only be to get the carbon off. Definitely keep it lubed up to keep it from rusting.

 

Yeah, I am only cleaning the rust off. I don't want it to look new, I just want to stop the rust from forming.

The silicon cloth only oils the wood and protects it. It will remove some rust but depends on the severity. There's still some roughness to the barrel so I have to go a bit further. The Bronze wool will not hurt the blueing, but can scratch the wood. Steel wool can harm the blueing.

 

I would go to a reputable gun dealer and let them work on it. It sounds like too nice of a gun to just start messing with. Just my own humble opinion.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5532609829/http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5532609829/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/50215560@N07/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533181820/http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533181820/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/50215560@N07/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5532591767/http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5532591767/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/50215560@N07/, on Flickr
I plan on refinishing this table...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533208972/http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533208972/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/50215560@N07/, on Flickr
I miss the 60s... (Not that I was ever there)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533200136/http://www.flickr.com/photos/50215560@N07/5533200136/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/50215560@N07/, on Flickr
^Stolen from my dad's yearbook I found.