A very good result, much better than taking the whole surface back and trying to make it look new, as obviously all the rusted surfaces cannot be taken back under the rust, this one will now hopefully be a usable gun again, saved from the scrap bin! Chris B.
Thanks, Mark. I did not do this myself, but a gunsmith saved a 100-year old side by side that my father gave me. Both barrels were covered with rust. It is now a shooter (though shot rarely and with light loads).
I really enjoyed this video, I do a little bit of repairs to my personal guns only. This is a technique that I would find very useful. Thank you very much. And by the way, I personally think any of these old classic firearms that can be saved should be saved and preserved for future generations. My favorite firearms are not the perfect collector examples but the ones that have honest wear and use on them with a sense of history.
Thank you Mark for making this video. The results were amazing from what you started with. Saving old firearms, without a huge expense up front helps out alot of people. Showing how it is done was well worth it. Thank you again!
Thank you Mark for demonstrating this process; I saw Mark Novak fo this also. I worked for John Martz Luger carbine maker from Lincoln, CA and he would bead blast the rust then weld the pits and file and finish. Afterwards, one couldn't tell if the Luger had been rusted. He didn't work on very badly rusted pistols but what he did weld looked great. It takes alot of skill and practice to get good at welding pits in steel and not crater the pits; so that they would be seen later on.
Great video as always Mark. With your videos help, I was able to get that 130 year old Winchester 1873 back to shooting condition now. There’s still some work yet to be done, but she handles the black powder loads pretty good now. Keep them videos a coming.
It's surprisingly simple and effective. I like kerosene too, but I had a bottle of WD-40 on the bench. I really haven't been able to see a difference in the results between the two.
Very interesting! Love these old lever guns. Always enjoy your videos! Have you ever seen Backyard Ballistics? He does a lot of antique bluing recipes with different chemicals.
Well i for one would like to see this project completed in whole. So please put it together over several episodes over several months and show us how do the lining of a bore or brush it to hell and back with a cordless drill. But get er built!
Very amazing! i have an old 22 that shoots shorts and lr. id like to do that to. and possibly an old double barrel shotgun. has two triggers and its the old break action style.
Wow BOTH my FAVORITE Marks in the same comments, WoW. So one comment I don’t think I’ve exactly heard in the “conservation discussion” is on a firearm that is still pretty nice but has been allowed to “freckle” with light spots of red. Would it be a candidate or would another process be better initially? That is until it progressed further hopefully years down the road.
If it's light surface rust that hasn't gone through the bluing, I've had good luck using gun oil and fine brass or steel wool or even cloth. I produced an episode on this a while back. Try it on a small inconspicuous area first. If the rust isn't through the bluing, it usually cleans right up. If it is through the bluing, you'll see little white spots and a conversion may be in order.
I think I would have liked to polish it up and re-blue it instead. But that's just me. If I'm going to work on a firearm I like to make it look as new as I can. I need to go back and look through your videos to see if you have one where you're polishing parts and see how you do it. Very interesting process you showed here. I like the way you repurposed the pressure cooker.
My local FFL friend recently had a number of Winchester lever rifles on GunBroker, most of them had been polished and reblued. They looked pretty good from a few feet away but not so good up close. I collect firearms, have about 150 of them, I never buy refinished ones, they've lost value and can never get it back.
@@3ducs I've seen rifles like that. I can guarantee you, anything that I'd be working on to refinish would never make it into a gun shop. It'd be for learning purposes only.
I like your thinking. Unfortunately, I don't have unlimited time and this isn't a firearm that would even remotely be worth properly polishing to restore. The more pitted a firearm, the more time it takes to do the metal prep. Believe it or not, I would estimate the draw filing and polishing to take approximately 40 hours on this little rifle. Gunsmiths charge $50-$90 per hour. It could cost $2,000 -$3,500 just to have the polishing done and then you'd have a firearm with no markings remaining and all surfaces undersized. Then you'd still have the cost of the rest of the restoration. You could easily pour $4-5,000 in to restoring this little 22 and be worth less that $1,000 when you're done. I recently had a restored rifle come into the shop that had cost the owner $2,400 just for the metal polishing and it was in far better condition than this one to start with.
Absolutely, but it would defeat the whole purpose of a rust conversion. You can't convert rust to blue that has been removed with a carpenter's pencil. Rust removal is a whole other subject.
Thanks you for the programs, I enjoy your them very much. Could you tell me if it is necessary to disassemble the trigger assemble of a Savage model 29 before steaming to convert the rust? I am concerned about taking the temper out of the springs. thanks Mike from NW Florida
Springs are tempered to 600-700 F. You would have to heat them over that temperature to affect the temper. Boiling only brings the temperature to a little over 200 F and will have no impact on a spring's temper.
I like your thinking! Every gunsmith who's ever lived dreams of being able to have a pitted firearm properly polished and ready to refinish in 30 minutes. Even if you were to be able to use grinders to get through the pitting, you still have many hours of hand polishing through all the grits to properly prepare the surfaces. That's why buffing wheels get used to prep cheaply refinished firearms.
You can, don't need to. The short exposure to steam won't hurt the bore as long as you clean and oil it when done. If you choose to plug the barrel, make sure the plugs are positively secured or you will have created an explosive situation in your steam or boiling chamber. That's one of the reasons we don't plug bores when bluing firearms.
Yes, I posted an episode a couple of weeks ago where I use EvapoRust to clean up some rusty gun parts. Of course, it will take any original finish off and leave bare metal. Never use it on any firearms like this one, where you're trying to save the finish.
That would defeat the whole purpose of rust conversion. You can't convert rust to bluing that you just removed in the blast cabinet. Blasting only removes the rust and not the pits. You'd now just have a pitted firearm with a bare metal surface that needs to be blued. You've added another step along with more time and cost to get the same result.
@@thecinnabar8442 I bead blasted an Astra 400 years ago and then cold blued it. It only had very light rust and came out looking very nice except the finish was a very fine satin and no bright blue left. I have never heard of rust conversion before but interested in everyones ideas on restoration of firearms that aren't collectables. I always enjoy your videos, especially those on the Winchester lever actions.
I'm 75 years old, so I appreciated the Jack O'Connor joke !
A very good result, much better than taking the whole surface back and trying to make it look new, as obviously all the rusted surfaces cannot be taken back under the rust, this one will now hopefully be a usable gun again, saved from the scrap bin! Chris B.
Thanks Chris! Keep an eye out for a reline and rebuild episode.
Thanks, Mark. I did not do this myself, but a gunsmith saved a 100-year old side by side that my father gave me. Both barrels were covered with rust. It is now a shooter (though shot rarely and with light loads).
Thanks for sharing Mark!
It's good to hear about old firearms being saved from the scrap heap.
You're very welcome!
Goodshow Mark thanks.
Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
Thanks, will do!
Always happy to see your videos roll off the press
Thanks Jeremy!
hi, mr cinnabar's boss ...!!!
good and excellent work , splendid rifle ... awesome video
bye bye
👋😉👍
Again great information
Thanks Mountain Man!
Funny you should mention it but I see so many UA-cam "restorations" involving a sandblaster and buffing wheel it drives me dang near crazy!
I always cringe when I see that kind of thing.
Thanks Mark This Was an Excellent Video 😀😊😀
Thanks Chris! Glad you enjoyed it
Great video
Thanks!
I just did my first conversion on a Belgian SxS, and next I’m going to do it too an old percussion greener shotgun.
That's great! Best of luck on the Greener!
I really enjoyed this video, I do a little bit of repairs to my personal guns only.
This is a technique that I would find very useful.
Thank you very much.
And by the way, I personally think any of these old classic firearms that can be saved should be saved and preserved for future generations.
My favorite firearms are not the perfect collector examples but the ones that have honest wear and use on them with a sense of history.
I agree. I like firearms with some history and that a person doesn't have to be afraid to shoot.
Thank you Mark for making this video. The results were amazing from what you started with. Saving old firearms, without a huge expense up front helps out alot of people. Showing how it is done was well worth it. Thank you again!
Thank you very much.
Thank you Mark, again a good tutorial.
Glad you liked it, Henry!
Wonderful Video
Spread the gospel Sir. Well done, we can save these "wrecks". More importantly, showing how to not eff stuff up. Excellent, thanks..............
Thanks a bunch, Mark! Love what you're doing on your channel.
Thank you Mark for demonstrating this process; I saw Mark Novak fo this also.
I worked for John Martz Luger carbine maker from Lincoln, CA and he would bead blast the rust then weld the pits and file and finish. Afterwards, one couldn't tell if the Luger had been rusted. He didn't work on very badly rusted pistols but what he did weld looked great. It takes alot of skill and practice to get good at welding pits in steel and not crater the pits; so that they would be seen later on.
Really good info for everybody!
Another excellent teaching video, Mark. Thank you.
Thank you very informative
thanks , some good hints and guidance here.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video as always Mark. With your videos help, I was able to get that 130 year old Winchester 1873 back to shooting condition now. There’s still some work yet to be done, but she handles the black powder loads pretty good now. Keep them videos a coming.
Good inside Good video,thanks
Interesting, I've never seen this conversion process before. Thanks!
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Amazing!
Elmer Keith says you can't remove rust with less than a 338 Win magnum.
😂😂😂 I was thinking Elmer might prefer a 375 H&H😉
i have been amazed at how well rust conversion works as a maintenance process. Despite the high cost I like kerosene for stopping the process.
It's surprisingly simple and effective. I like kerosene too, but I had a bottle of WD-40 on the bench. I really haven't been able to see a difference in the results between the two.
THANKS AGAIN SIR
Very interesting! Love these old lever guns. Always enjoy your videos!
Have you ever seen Backyard Ballistics? He does a lot of antique bluing recipes with different chemicals.
Well i for one would like to see this project completed in whole. So please put it together over several episodes over several months and show us how do the lining of a bore or brush it to hell and back with a cordless drill. But get er built!
Keep an eye out.😉
Let’s head on down the rabbit hole.
😂😂😂
I have an extra fore arm and a new mag tube for an 1890, 1 broken hanger and 1 good hanger.
I liked the joke about the .270 ( I am 64 years old)...
Very amazing! i have an old 22 that shoots shorts and lr. id like to do that to. and possibly an old double barrel shotgun. has two triggers and its the old break action style.
Best of luck on your projects!
@@thecinnabar8442 Thank you sir. Very excited about them.
Do you reline .22 barrels? Or do you have a video showing it done? I've always been curious about it's done
I'm planning to do a relining episode. Keep an eye out.
Jack O'Connor might have used a 7x57 case. Great video!
😂😂😂
Wow BOTH my FAVORITE Marks in the same comments, WoW.
So one comment I don’t think I’ve exactly heard in the “conservation discussion” is on a firearm that is still pretty nice but has been allowed to “freckle” with light spots of red. Would it be a candidate or would another process be better initially? That is until it progressed further hopefully years down the road.
If it's light surface rust that hasn't gone through the bluing, I've had good luck using gun oil and fine brass or steel wool or even cloth. I produced an episode on this a while back. Try it on a small inconspicuous area first. If the rust isn't through the bluing, it usually cleans right up. If it is through the bluing, you'll see little white spots and a conversion may be in order.
I think I would have liked to polish it up and re-blue it instead. But that's just me. If I'm going to work on a firearm I like to make it look as new as I can. I need to go back and look through your videos to see if you have one where you're polishing parts and see how you do it. Very interesting process you showed here. I like the way you repurposed the pressure cooker.
My local FFL friend recently had a number of Winchester lever rifles on GunBroker, most of them had been polished and reblued. They looked pretty good from a few feet away but not so good up close. I collect firearms, have about 150 of them, I never buy refinished ones, they've lost value and can never get it back.
@@3ducs I've seen rifles like that. I can guarantee you, anything that I'd be working on to refinish would never make it into a gun shop. It'd be for learning purposes only.
I like your thinking. Unfortunately, I don't have unlimited time and this isn't a firearm that would even remotely be worth properly polishing to restore. The more pitted a firearm, the more time it takes to do the metal prep. Believe it or not, I would estimate the draw filing and polishing to take approximately 40 hours on this little rifle. Gunsmiths charge $50-$90 per hour. It could cost $2,000 -$3,500 just to have the polishing done and then you'd have a firearm with no markings remaining and all surfaces undersized. Then you'd still have the cost of the rest of the restoration. You could easily pour $4-5,000 in to restoring this little 22 and be worth less that $1,000 when you're done. I recently had a restored rifle come into the shop that had cost the owner $2,400 just for the metal polishing and it was in far better condition than this one to start with.
👌👌👍👍
Good info thanks and I also keep up on mark novaks show
A flat carpenters pencil has just enough grit to remove most rust .
Absolutely, but it would defeat the whole purpose of a rust conversion. You can't convert rust to blue that has been removed with a carpenter's pencil. Rust removal is a whole other subject.
Thanks you for the programs, I enjoy your them very much. Could you tell me if it is necessary to disassemble the trigger assemble of a Savage model 29 before steaming to convert the rust? I am concerned about taking the temper out of the springs. thanks Mike from NW Florida
Springs are tempered to 600-700 F. You would have to heat them over that temperature to affect the temper. Boiling only brings the temperature to a little over 200 F and will have no impact on a spring's temper.
Is there a video of the gun finished. Very seeing this process
Elmer Keith would have used a .333 OKH. Interesting video thanks if you can I would love to see a feline of that bore.
"Feline of that bore"...would that make it a Tom??? Sorry...I'll show myself out!!!
Question you could put the receiver on a surface grinder and also have contoured shaped wheels to get the angles you need and be done in 30 minutes?
I like your thinking! Every gunsmith who's ever lived dreams of being able to have a pitted firearm properly polished and ready to refinish in 30 minutes. Even if you were to be able to use grinders to get through the pitting, you still have many hours of hand polishing through all the grits to properly prepare the surfaces. That's why buffing wheels get used to prep cheaply refinished firearms.
If the bore is good and you just need to work the outside, can/should you plug the barrel with something or otherwise protect it from the steam?
You can, don't need to. The short exposure to steam won't hurt the bore as long as you clean and oil it when done. If you choose to plug the barrel, make sure the plugs are positively secured or you will have created an explosive situation in your steam or boiling chamber. That's one of the reasons we don't plug bores when bluing firearms.
Question, is the carding wheel brush stainless steel?
Ha! I will be using 270!,,LOL👍🏽😀❤️🇺🇸
It seems like the lower in the steam pipe converted better. What if you had put it back in with the barrel down before you carded it?
My thoughts exactly...the contraption seems to "run outa steam" at the top...pardon the pun!
Hello, Have you ever given Evap-O-Rust or similar products a try?
Yes, I posted an episode a couple of weeks ago where I use EvapoRust to clean up some rusty gun parts. Of course, it will take any original finish off and leave bare metal. Never use it on any firearms like this one, where you're trying to save the finish.
Bead blast the parts.
That would defeat the whole purpose of rust conversion. You can't convert rust to bluing that you just removed in the blast cabinet. Blasting only removes the rust and not the pits. You'd now just have a pitted firearm with a bare metal surface that needs to be blued. You've added another step along with more time and cost to get the same result.
@@thecinnabar8442 I bead blasted an Astra 400 years ago and then cold blued it. It only had very light rust and came out looking very nice except the finish was a very fine satin and no bright blue left.
I have never heard of rust conversion before but interested in everyones ideas on restoration of firearms that aren't collectables.
I always enjoy your videos, especially those on the Winchester lever actions.
Hello Mark, thanks again on this rust conversion process. On your steamer, is there a vent hole in the plastic cap?
Yes. The grooves for the hanger are oversized and vent steam.
Great video