Ruger stainless revolver refinish

[rugerguy]

you will not remove any of the material around the rollmarkings with a scotch brite pad, need files and emery etc,,and we hate to see marks , and fubars, within the rollmarkings, as that tells of a job not done properly,,,yes neatness counts....

oh yes there can be times when a pit in there just causes all kinds of grief...

 

[magnum0710]

you will not remove any of the material around the rollmarkings with a scotch brite pad, need files and emery etc,,and we hate to see marks , and fubars, within the rollmarkings, as that tells of a job not done properly,,,yes neatness counts....

oh yes there can be times when a pit in there just causes all kinds of grief...

the scotch brite pad won't remove the markings but it can make them very dull if you're not careful. I just blend around the markings but I've never had pits in the roll marks either.

 

[deac45]

the scotch brite pad won't remove the markings but it can make them very dull if you're not careful. I just blend around the markings but I've never had pits in the roll marks either.

I don't think roll marks are affected much by a scotch brite pad...it's the laser markings a scotch brite pad will for sure lighten up.

 

[magnum0710]

I don't think roll marks are affected much by a scotch brite pad...it's the laser markings a scotch brite pad will for sure lighten up.

It will dull the markings if you put any amount of pressure on it, ask me how I know

 

[deac45]

It will dull the markings if you put any amount of pressure on it, ask me how I know

I take it experience was a good teacher? I have been fortunate to never have one in bad enough condition to require much elbow grease. Not much more than a gentle wipe down is all I've had to do. But, yes, with too much pressure the outlines of the letters will lose their crispness.

 

[magnum0710]

I take it experience was a good teacher? I have been fortunate to never have one in bad enough condition to require much elbow grease. Not much more than a gentle wipe down is all I've had to do. But, yes, with too much pressure the outlines of the letters will lose their crispness.

That's exactly what happened, I was trying to get a scratch out and got too close to some of the lettering. Just made it a little dull, I don't think anyone else would've noticed but I definitely could.

 

[Knecht]

Ok, I bought it. Here are some of the dents and scratches. It's after midnight here in CZ, so I may take better pics tomorrow at daylight. I gave it some basic cleaning (I suspect the owner did boresnake the barrel and brushed the chambers, but other than that, he just sprayed oil on everything. It was full of black oily crap. Will have to clean it properly, once I'm doing the finish.
There's a spot on the barrel that looks as if it met some power tool... my guess would be a very light kiss from an angle grinder in a messy workshop, or something like that.... not at all deep enough to make me worry, but surely deep enough to be too much for scotchbrite to remove. Rather than sanding all around to make it disappear, I'll just make it less sharp (pretty much do to it what you warned me not to do around the markings). The CIP marking punched next to it is done quite poorly anyway, the punch created a little burr, no loss if it gets somewhat dull along with the scraped spot.
The part that did get some rough treatment for sure is the cylinder crane. My guess is that it saw some beating to get stuck 454 brass out, being hit by whatever was at hand. Never tried to replace this part, is it worth trying? I guess there will be some handfitting included. Does Ruger even sell it separately?
There are couple nibs and dents on some exposed edges, but nothing too serious, I'll take care of them.

 

[Hankus]

Ok, I bought it. Here are some of the dents and scratches. It's after midnight here in CZ, so I may take better pics tomorrow at daylight. I gave it some basic cleaning (I suspect the owner did boresnake the barrel and brushed the chambers, but other than that, he just sprayed oil on everything. It was full of black oily crap. Will have to clean it properly, once I'm doing the finish.
There's a spot on the barrel that looks as if it met some power tool... my guess would be a very light kiss from an angle grinder in a messy workshop, or something like that.... not at all deep enough to make me worry, but surely deep enough to be too much for scotchbrite to remove. Rather than sanding all around to make it disappear, I'll just make it less sharp (pretty much do to it what you warned me not to do around the markings). The CIP marking punched next to it is done quite poorly anyway, the punch created a little burr, no loss if it gets somewhat dull along with the scraped spot.
The part that did get some rough treatment for sure is the cylinder crane. My guess is that it saw some beating to get stuck 454 brass out, being hit by whatever was at hand. Never tried to replace this part, is it worth trying? I guess there will be some handfitting included. Does Ruger even sell it separately?
There are couple nibs and dents on some exposed edges, but nothing too serious, I'll take care of them.

Good luck!

 

[bergmen]

Flitz and a Dremel tool

Flitz is amazing, I've used it many times to spiff up stainless. It also works wonders on unplated steel parts (Ruger .22 auto bolts for instance).

Dan

 

[magnum0710]

That should clean up easily! Keep us posted on the outcome

 

[Knecht]

So, found a moment to work on it. The grinder(?) scar on the barrel sleeve has been somewhat dulled, doesn't stand out as much. Can't do much more for it, unless I want to remove lots of material. The CIP mark next to it has been dulled a little as well, on purpose. It was punched quite sloppily, with a "ghost" to it, as someone's hammer at the proofhouse rattled around a bit when he struck the punch. So that's the good part. Some minor scratches have been polished out, too. The cylinder got light polishing, didn't want to erase the markings there, plus it wasn't that badly beaten. There was a nib on the rear edge of it, which I lightly stoned flat and then polished away, mostly. The front face of the crane had some nasty dents (see the old posts) that I've removed completely with ease, being on a small exposed surface.
Now, the main problem remains the other side of the crane. There are lots of dents and scratches around the crosspin hole. I've checked couple videos how this thing gets disassembled, but couldn't really move the pin. Not by pushing a punch by hand, not by light hammer tapping (yes, I was trying to depress the plunger - I suppose it's ment to be pushed all the way in? I'm actually starting to think there's no plunger there at all, it feels like I'm hitting just a bare spring). I'm afraid the crosspin might have been forced in incorrectly, or possibly replaced by a wrong, altered or improvised part(?) - perhaps because some previous owner lost the plunger that held it in place?? The concentration of scratches around the pin hole certainly suggests that there was something done there. Also, the pin head on the left side is sunk well below the surface, while on pictures it seems to be protruding a bit. Any ideas? Should I just use a bigger hammer and force it out? I guess oiling it overnight won't hurt anything, so I'm going to do that (it's 2:30am on this side of the planet) and tomorrow I'll check what the forum suggests (thanks in advance).

 

[Knecht]

Update: I actually took my own advice and used a bigger hammer... got the pin out. The plunger really is missing, there's just a spring in that hole. Took picture of the crosspin and another part I took out of the assembly. Both look much different that what I saw in a video. Are these someone's homemade parts?

 

[Knecht]

Starting to think that the whole crane has seen some serious damage and was "fixed" in some amateur way. Will see if I can take better pictures tomorrow on daylight. Something is not right in the slot at the front end of the crane. As if there was something bent/broken inside and - I dare to say - possibly even epoxied and fitted with the weird parts I've posted above. Ah well... please let me know what's a good source to get a replacement crane assembly (or feel free to PM me if you have one for sale/trade - it's a part that can be legally shipped).

 

[dadstillsurfs]

Bluing is a little bit different with rust, I've heard 0000 steel wool, completely dry will get rid of the rust without leaving rust particles behind but I've never done it myself. I haven't tried working with bluing at all yet. I'm pretty sure it can be removed chemically but I'm just not familiar with the exact process. Depending on the situation and what your goals are exactly removing the bluing itself may not be necessary, cerakote may be an option if we're talking something shooter grade.

@magnum0710 I own two .22 caliber gallery guns, a Winchester model 1890, mfg 1911, and a Winchester 1906 (with mixed serial numbers) mfg 1913 /1926.Both are fair condition, neither has much bluing left, so anything I do is a preservation not a restoration.
I'm going to get some Copper Wool, and
I've got a buddy who is a machinist with access to Oxygen Free Copper. Supposedly I can make tools from that material that will allow me to "rub" off the light rust and not effect the bluing.

Realisticly, one would likely be doing a complete strip job along with a bore sleeve. The rust on the other one might clean up if I don't go through what's left of the factory bluing.
But if I'm going to get the materials and build the setup for one to be rust blued, I might as well do both.

So now you know why I want to know how to clean up the rust, or strip the bluing entirely, inside and out.

 

[NikA]

@magnum0710 I own two .22 caliber gallery guns, a Winchester model 1890, mfg 1911, and a Winchester 1906 (with mixed serial numbers) mfg 1913 /1926.Both are fair condition, neither has much bluing left, so anything I do is a preservation not a restoration.
I'm going to get some Copper Wool, and
I've got a buddy who is a machinist with access to Oxygen Free Copper. Supposedly I can make tools from that material that will allow me to "rub" off the light rust and not effect the bluing.

Realisticly, one would likely be doing a complete strip job along with a bore sleeve. The rust on the other one might clean up if I don't go through what's left of the factory bluing.
But if I'm going to get the materials and build the setup for one to be rust blued, I might as well do both.

So now you know why I want to know how to clean up the rust, or strip the bluing entirely, inside and out.

If I were dealing with a similar situation (and I have, I have a strong interest in milsurp firearms and am cheap), I would attempt to convert the existing rust by boiling then carefully hand card away any loose particles. If there were still large patches of rust, I would use something harder than copper (bronze wool, etc.) so the rust particles don't embed in my tool.

Abrasive particles embedded in a soft tool is lapping. Lapping will 100% remove bluing. Red iron oxide (rouge) is a common compound for lapping.

 

[dadstillsurfs]

If I were dealing with a similar situation (and I have, I have a strong interest in milsurp firearms and am cheap), I would attempt to convert the existing rust by boiling then carefully hand card away any loose particles. If there were still large patches of rust, I would use something harder than copper (bronze wool, etc.) so the rust particles don't embed in my tool.

Abrasive particles embedded in a soft tool is lapping. Lapping will 100% remove bluing. Red iron oxide (rouge) is a common compound for lapping.

Thanks for the advice on boiling and carding. Do you have any advice for how to remove rust from interiors surfaces and interior corners like inside chambers or long features like bores?

 

[NikA]

Thanks for the advice on boiling and carding. Do you have any advice for how to remove rust from interiors surfaces and interior corners like inside chambers or long features like bores?

What I've done is fill the bore with Kroil after plugging with a foam earplug, allow to sit for at least 4 hours, then use a slightly oversize bore brush wrapped in bronze wool, etc. and brush it out, working the bore section by section. As long as there is no deep pitting I feel this is the best bet.

I use the Big 45 Frontier non-ferrous scrubbing pads, they seem to have the best combination of overall durability and not being hard/abrasive enough to damage bluing. Been using the same one for a few years on guns and tooling, wash it in the sink with soapy water after each task to get the accumulated gunk out.

ETA: would also say that some lapping to remove imperfections is acceptable in the barrel/bore cleaning process.

 

[Knecht]

So, further progress: I was able to get out the front latch plunger and spring. I don't know why the previous owner did this, but the whole thing was bent downwards in the slot in the crane where it sits. It has really been epoxied in this position. The homemade front latch was more like a washer in this gun, just filled the slot. It was flush with the crane and didn't move at all, so the front locking was completely disabled. Why would anyone do this is beyond my understanding - even if he lost the original latch, he could have just left the slot empty. Also, the new part that he made, while not doing the job it was supposed (deliberately) was made quite nicely, finely filed into shape. The plunger that holds the latch pivot pin is gone. The pivot pin itself was just a piece of stainless rod, friction fit into the hole.
I took apart my GP100 and found out that these parts seem to be completely interchangeable. I installed the GP parts into the Alaskan crane and it worked, including the front lock. So the crane itself seems to be ok, other than bearing some scars around the pivot pin hole, likely caused by the same artist that performed this whole thing.

Really don't see the reason why this was done. Is there a known problem with the front latch possibly causing any trouble?
I was lucky finding all the missing parts online, my American friend should be able to forward them to me.