Anyone ever antique gun?

[Hawg]

I've got an old Rigarmi 58 Remington Beals I bought new in 69 when I was 12. It's been thru hell and hi water. After being severly used and abused and stored for a buncha years due to a broken loading lever It was looking pretty scruffy. I found parts I could fit to it and get it working again but it looked funny with a new lever so I decided to defarb it and antique it. I coated the bore and chambers with bore butter after removing the grips and internals and sprayed it down with a vinegar and salt mix and let it sit a couple of days then buffed it off with steel wool. I buffed off the clear coating on the grips too(not that there was much left). Whacha think?

Finished product. I'd have preferred a more even brown coating but it'll do.

 

[Old Dragoon]

Looks Great!

Never heard of the mfg. that you speak of.
You sure it isn't an old Armi San Paolo? Looks like their frame.

 

[Hawg]

No it's Rigarmi. They went under in the mid 70's.

 

[Raider2000]

Very interesting, it sure makes it look authentic enough to be a conversation piece hanging on the wall...

 

[Hawg]

It's no wall hanger.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Guns weren't "antiqued" when the cowboys used them. They were closer to new then.

 

[Hawg]

That's true and if it had been a nice gun I wouldn't have done it. It could have probably passed for an antique as was but it looked funny with a new loading lever and it had a few pits already from being stored in a humid southern attic for a number of years. It could have been polished out and reblued but not really worth it so I decided to defarb and antique it. All that rust buildup from salt and vinegar was just surface rust. It would be no harder to polish and reblue later if I decide to but I like it the way it is. I've got a new looking 58 if I want pretty.

 

[ForksLaPush]

I like it. A cowboy would be shocked that there are city slickers who keep their guns in a safe and never shoot them. It wouldn't take long for rain, dew, and who know what else to "refinish" a gun that way. If you want to make it more authentic, pound a few fence staples in with the butt.

 

[Hawg]

You've been reading too many paperback westerns. Pounding staples would be split grip city.

 

[Jamie C.]

You've been reading too many paperback westerns.

Nah... all you've gotta do is go to Cimarron's site, and you'll read the same thing:

"Conversion models remained popular with cowboys (many originals will be found with imprints of fence staples on the butt) even after the introduction of the Colt Peacemaker of 1873. This was due to the low cost of conversion models."
http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/Conversions/51R-MConvOpener.htm

Now granted, this is speaking of converted Colts, but there's no reason to assume one wouldn't use a Remmy the same way...


J.C.

 

[Hawg]

I still think I'll pass on pounding staples with it.

 

[Jamie C.]

Yeah, especially if it happened to be loaded at the time...


J.C.