Defarbing a TC or the like

[French Colonial]

Ok here is another curiosity question, as mentioned in other posts I have been toying with the idea of buying an el cheapo TC, Pedersoli or other production gun to play with.

One of the things that bugs me is the magazine length writing on the barrel that gives you plenty to read on the deer stand but looks like crap (IMHO). I realize its there for the lawyers, BLACK POWDER ONLY!!!!!

Other than draw filing the what looks like pretty deep lettering is there a better way to get rid of all the verbiage, at least get it down to a paragraph or two.

 

[mooman76]

I have heard of people carefully peening the lettering before filing so you wouldn't have to file so much.

 

[necchi]

I have heard of people carefully peening the lettering before filing so you wouldn't have to file so much.

Yup, there's that, a small hard punch, light peening, and draw filing. Then strip the bluing off followed by rust browning with the likes of Laurel Mountain Forge.
Your right French Colonial, the letters are deep and you can't really take all the metal off to completely remove them without the missing metal being noticed,
But those steps and browning sure lesson the glaring sight of the offending stamps

 

[S.Kenton]

Just like necchi said, Ive used a medium size punch before, carefully peened, then draw filed. Then I’ll either finish the metal accordingly. If you try you can get most of it off. In my opinion it does make a cookie cutter, factory rifle look a lot better.

 

[longcruise]

Re - breach it with those flats on the underside??

Don't mean to be rude or haughty about this, but the guns you refer to are what they are! No amount of cosmetic surgery is going to change that very much. It might be more satisfying to build or have built the gun you would like.

 

[French Colonial]

I have built before and will soon again. I have had three custom built for me so there is that. Honestly I probably have enough for most people now.

I have never owned a Pedersoli, Lyman or others but I did own a TC for about a month back somewhere around 1980.

I plan to get an el cheapo just to play with this winter in the shop to see what I can do with it, if its a percussion I will probably switch it over to flint and I have never shot a patent breach more than a couple shots so I want to see what that is all about as well. If I mess it up, no big deal, I just have to have projects to keep me busy in the winter and taking one of these apart and reworking it seems like something to do.

It may or may not happen, depends on where life takes me.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I agree, you will have to do some major work on a factory gun to make it look like anything else.

That said, I was breaching a Green Mountain barrel and being a rookie I was having a time getting the breechplug to perfectly mate with the breech face. When I finally did the Green Mountain Logo was on the top oblique flat and I wasn't having that.

I got out a small punch and started closing up the letters, it was surprisingly easy to do. A little draw filing and the logo was history.

 

[jimairwin]

I agree, you will have to do some major work on a factory gun to make it look like anything else.

That said, I was breaching a Green Mountain barrel and being a rookie I was having a time getting the breechplug to perfectly mate with the breech face. When I finally did the Green Mountain Logo was on the top oblique flat and I wasn't having that.

I got out a small punch and started closing up the letters, it was surprisingly easy to do. A little draw filing and the logo was history.

One can TIG weld using appropriate steel rod, then draw file to avoid leaving a wavy non-flat flat.

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Find a guy with a mig/tig welder to fill in the spot, then draw file and brown the barrel.

 

[necchi]

One can TIG weld using appropriate steel rod, then draw file to avoid leaving a wavy non-flat flat.

Find a guy with a mig/tig welder to fill in the spot, then draw file and brown the barrel.

Uhm,, It's never been recommended to "weld" anything on a gun barrel.

 

[hiker45acp]

If you peen with punches, if you have a belt sander or even lay some sand paper/emery cloth on a flat surface and put a radius on those punches (convex radius) so the edges of the punch do not leave sharp indentations. If possible, buff the radius mirror smooth. You will have better control of your peening. Have several sizes for different size lettering. I learned this as a tool and die maker for 25 years.

 

[Steve Martin]

I actually did the peening and draw filing routine on a Lyman Great Plains rifle back about three years ago and it really does work well and save a lot of filing. I then browned the barrel and trigger guard and it looked great. It's not hard, just slow if you do it right.

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Uhm,, It's never been recommended to "weld" anything on a gun barrel.

You've got a point about MIG, but the heat from TIG would be a lot less and much more controllable. A good TIG welder can stitch two razor blades together with very little heat being dumped into the material. And you're not welding anything to/on the barrel, just filling small voids.

 

[DixieTexian]

There was a guy probably fifteen years ago on THR's black powder board who used a hardened steel rod just rubbed up and down the barrel until it eventually pushed the metal back in around the Italian marks. I assume you have to put a little muscle behind it, but that could be a good option without removing any metal.

 

[necchi]

. And you're not welding anything to/on the barrel, just filling small voids.

There is still a heat transfer to a limited section of an otherwise consistent section of tempered steel. No one can expect a full section of tempered steel to react consistently along it's length when even a small single section has been changed by enough heat to turn the steel to a molten state within the environment of "gun barrel" safely.
I'm sure your analogy of the razor blades it true, but to create the environment and gasses required to do so, along with the skilled labor of the man to do it, would exceed the cost of a new barrel
Can it be done? Sure, absolutely.
Recommended? No. Don't "weld" on gun barrels,, not good,,

 

[Eric Krewson]

I would wonder if the tigged place would brown or gray the same as the surrounding metal. I did have a breechplug tigged at the tang and it browned close to the same on a Rice barrel.

Here is the logo I did away with, it was once between the two larger black spots on the barrel.

 

[toot]

you know that when you get all done, it is like taking the spots off of a LEOPARD or taking the stripes off of a ZEBRA. you will still have the same LEOPARD & ZEBRA!

 

[French Colonial]

Yeah.....

I found a TC Renegade at a local shop for $359.00 yesterday and looked it over.
The old saying "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" kept going through my head.

Maybe a Lyman GPR or something similar.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yeah.....

I found a TC Renegade at a local shop for $359.00 yesterday and looked it over.
The old saying "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" kept going through my head.

Maybe a Lyman GPR or something similar.

I'd suggest that you look at a new Traditions kit, as I think a lot of those are now marked with stamps that are more shallow than vintage guns, as the barrels are made in Spain. For under $300 you can find a kit, and then go from there. The stock will be two piece, so part of the project would be restocking it... if you wanted to do that.

LD

 

[Old Hawkeye]

There is still a heat transfer to a limited section of an otherwise consistent section of tempered steel. No one can expect a full section of tempered steel to react consistently along it's length when even a small single section has been changed by enough heat to turn the steel to a molten state within the environment of "gun barrel" safely.
I'm sure your analogy of the razor blades it true, but to create the environment and gasses required to do so, along with the skilled labor of the man to do it, would exceed the cost of a new barrel
Can it be done? Sure, absolutely.
Recommended? No. Don't "weld" on gun barrels,, not good,,

Gun barrels are NOT tempered or hardened in any way. They are actually a fairly mild steel & welding the stampings full will have no ill effects . I've welded on several barrels with my wire feed welder. Heat control & the wire feed speed allows one to fill stampings, gouges, & even dovetails without turning the barrel into "molten" steel as you have somehow "imagined".