Do I Clean Em ?

[Stinky]

Apologies in advance for the amount of ignorance I am about to display. So I can tell that these have been sitting for a while and I know the cardinal rule of cleaning antiques, you don't. So I come to you all with the question, do I clean them? Neither appears to ever have been fired but there is some areas where the grease has gotten gunky and there is a very small patch of surface rust on the 1858. I want to treat these with the respect they deserve. The Colt is from 1963 and the Remington is from 1978 both are Pietta.

 

[54ball]

Those are not antiques.
Clean and oil them....
Shoot them...
I recommend Balistol. 3 in 1 oil or a good gun oil.
WD is not the best.....
It ends up being glue if lot gets into the mechanism.
I have been known to put a little axle grease on the arbor.

 

[Stinky]

Those are not antiques.
Clean and oil them....
Shoot them...
I recommend Balistol. 3 in 1 oil or a good gun oil.
WD is not the best.....
It ends up being glue if lot gets into the mechanism.
I have been known to put a little axle grease on the arbor.

Thank you, that is all the permission I needed. Been looking at them for a couple days now and trying to ignore the little voice in my head telling me to pick up a screw driver.

 

[54ball]

Thank you, that is all the permission I needed. Been looking at them for a couple days now and trying to ignore the little voice in my head telling me to pick up a screw driver.

Just make sure it’s a proper gun screwdriver/ bit that fits.

 

[Clark Badgett]

Cleaning any firearm is perfectly fine, but removing patina from actual historical arms isn’t.

 

[Stinky]

Just make sure it’s a proper gun screwdriver/ bit that fits.

What if my butter knife says Snap-On though? lol

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

What if my butter knife says Snap-On though? lol

I know you're joking but those wedge-shaped screwdrivers we use to cuss and beat supposedly inanimate objects into submission aren't very good for our guns. Those hollow ground bits or screwdriver made so that come down flat on the sides and fit the slots nigh on perfect are best. Lest all the screws be buggered.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Apologies in advance for the amount of ignorance I am about to display. So I can tell that these have been sitting for a while and I know the cardinal rule of cleaning antiques, you don't. So I come to you all with the question, do I clean them? Neither appears to ever have been fired but there is some areas where the grease has gotten gunky and there is a very small patch of surface rust on the 1858. I want to treat these with the respect they deserve. The Colt is from 1963 and the Remington is from 1978 both are Pietta.

Why would anyone not clean and oil an antique firearm? You're not using rubbing compound and ScotchBrite pads, just some cloth and oil.

 

[deerstalkert]

I know you're joking but those wedge-shaped screwdrivers we use to cuss and beat supposedly inanimate objects into submission aren't very good for our guns. Those hollow ground bits or screwdriver made so that come down flat on the sides and fit the slots nigh on perfect are best. Lest all the screws be buggered.

what would we use as a bargaining point without boogered screws?
i certainly hope those dates aren't considered antique!
nice guns, clean em

 

[Col. Batguano]

Cleaning any firearm is perfectly fine, but removing patina from actual historical arms isn’t.

While I agree with the first part of this statement, and am in partial agreement with the second, I would modify that part about "patina". Patina is nothing more than oil covered rust. Rust that used to be blueing. I would NEVER take the gun to a wire wheel and REMOVE the patina. What I DO do, is CONVERT it back in to blueing, which is what it was originally. Big difference. It's still working its' deviltry (albeit slowly) under that coat of oil. That's what gives it that chocolate color.

I have several older guns with varying amounts of "patina" on them, and, as my 2024 New Year's Resolution project, I'm reconverting that "patina" back in to blueing on those guns (on those that were originally blued) as appropriate. I'm not messing with the ones that were nickeled. It works best on guns that were originally rust or hot blued. Niter blueing is a slightly different color (more cobalt color) as is fire blueing (usually on small parts). I haven't figured out how to attack that yet other than re-fire blueing the screws. If the slots are buggered up I pound the metal back in to place with a small hammer and re-cut the slots if I have to.

To do that, you have to take the gun completely apart. (If there are staked parts you don't necessarily have to take them completely apart*.) Then boil all the parts for a period of time in regular water. That gets rid of all the old oil and sludge, (like decades old WD`40) and converts the brown inactive rust back in to active orange rust. Take them out, dry them, and card them. You can do it right away, as the rust that forms is fine grained "flash rust". You can use a very fine carding wheel spun at a slow speed, or 4-0 steel wool, or a carding brush. In places where the rust has raised little blisters, use a small (polished face) hammer and pound the blisters. That will flatten the surface and get rid of the blisters. You may or may not have to boil the parts again and repeat depending on the extent of the rust.

* with the staked parts you can boil the unit in a partially assembled state. The same goes for barrels assembled in to receivers. Just make sure to card as much as you can of it, and work all the parts several times while the unit is submerged in the kerosene (it's safer snd lead stinkyto use than diesel fuel or gasoline--WAY too dangerous!) to force the water out of there.

(This is a good time to kill any mold that may have started in the wood too, and do some clean-up with the finish.). I use vinegar and neutralize it with household ammonia. I don't want any of the acid residue touching the metal when the gun goes back together.

Then slobber on some old used heavy motor oil for a day or so (on the metal parts). That darkens it. Clean that off, and submerge the parts in a kerosene bath for another day or so. Work the parts you need to when everything is submerged** to force the water out. Now you can reassemble the gun with a light gun oil and it'll be good for a long time.

** If parts are riveted or staked to the wood use your own discretion in removing those. In any case don't boil the wood. That's not the best way to get oil out of there anyway, and is a topic for another discussion.

If you're going to take on this sort of a project for yourself, I would suggest starting with those specimens in the collection that are the least valuable and working toward those that are more so as you gain experience. Do the research. This is a "conservation and re-conversion" of what is already existing on the gun. Restoration is about replacing and adding things, like broken parts or adding more blueing. I suggest you proceed with judicious caution there. Replacing a broken spring or missing screw is one thing. Those were consumable parts that needed to be replaced periodically. Rebarreling is another. Those parts weren't.

 

[Clark Badgett]

While I agree with the first part of this statement, and am in partial agreement with the second, I would modify that part about "patina". Patina is nothing more than oil covered rust. It's still working its' deviltry (albeit slowly) under that coat of oil. That's what gives it that chocolate color. I have several older guns with varying amounts of "patina" on them, and, as my 2024 project, I'm reconverting that "patina" back in to blueing on those guns (many of those guns that were blued) as appropriate. I'm not messing with the ones that were nickeled. It works best on guns that were originally rust or hot blued. Niter blueing is a slightly different color (more cobalt color) as is fire blueing (usually on small parts). I haven't figured out how to attack that yet.

To do that, you have to take the gun completely apart. (If there are staked parts you don't necessarily have to take them completely apart*.) Then boil all the parts for a period of time in regular water. That gets rid of all the old oil and converts the brown inactive rust in to active orange rust. Take them out, dry them, and card them. You can use a very fine carding wheel spun at a slow speed, or 4-0 steel wool, or a carding brush. In places where the rust has raised little blisters, use a polished face hammer and pound the blisters. That will flatten the surface and get rid of the blisters. You may or may not have to boil the parts again and repeat depending on the extent of the rust.

* with the staked parts you can boil the unit in a partially assembled state. The same goes for barrels assembled in to receivers. Just make sure to card as much as you can of it, and work all the parts several times while the unit is submerged in the kerosene to force the water out of there.

(This is a good time to kill any mold that may have started in the wood too, and do some clean-up with the finish.)

Then slobber on some old used heavy motor oil for a day or so (on the metal parts. Clean that off, and submerge the parts in a kerosene bath for another day or so. Work the parts you need to when everything is submerged**. Now you can reassemble the gun with a light gun oil and it'll be good for a long time.

** If parts are riveted or staked to the wood use your own discretion in removing those. In any case don't boil the wood. That's not the best way to get oil out of there, and is a topic for another discussion.

If you're going to take on this sort of a project for yourself, I would suggest starting with those in the collection that are the least valuable and working toward those that are more so as you gain experience. Do the research. This is a "conservation and re-conversion" of what is already existing on the gun. Restoration is about replacing and adding things, like broken parts or adding more blueing. I suggest you proceed with judicious caution there. Replacing a broken spring or missing screw is one thing. Those were consumable parts that needed to be replaced periodically. Rebarreling is another. Those parts weren't.

I’m not inclined to disagree with your points. I consider “standing” rust to be dirt to be cleaned. If, for instance, the barrel is evenly browned and it was originally blued or bright, I’ll usually just leave it as is.

Don’t tell anyone, but I got an unmentionable with a flippy thing at the breech that currently doesn’t work, but I plan to return to working order and removing all the standing rust