Gehendra Untouched Restoration With Photos

[Aragorn243]

Figured since the original one was getting large with no photos, I'll start off a new one.

Got this I think Monday two weeks ago. On sale for $225 with free shipping from IMA. On first glance, didn't look too bad, just dirty. All parts seemed to be there and appeared functional for the most part. First few days were just getting it apart. Then I spent some time cleaning both the metal and the wood.

Metal spent about 5 hours in an electrolysis bath after manually scraping off the old grease crud. Bore just needed a few pads run through it. All but the last two inches are shiny with no pitting. Last two inches does have some pitting and some rust which is being a bit difficult to get out.

Wood received two treatments of Citristrip. I glued the three cracks in the forestock with Gorrilla Glue and then opted to dig out the rot by the stock pins and replace it with walnut.

Pitting on barrel is significant but not sure enough to prevent firing. I've seen worse. Firing spring is an issue, it is a replacement and it is broken. Missing a metal block to prevent cleaning rod from entering the mechanism. Should be an easy fix other than stabilizing the heavy rot in this area. Using Imgur now.

Information

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[WarPig1976]

Kind of looks like it was in a fire. I know it wasn't but they have that appearance. Looking forward to the cleaned up pics.

[Aragorn243]

And here are a few progress photos. The three worst areas of pitting on the barrel are in the close ups. At worst, 3/16th of an inch deep which shouldn't come close to halfway through. I don't know that I will ever attempt to fire this rifle but it would be good to know if it could be fired if I were to choose to make the attempt. I don't think this is as bad as my Swedish M38 but this isn't good high quality steel either. Let me know what you think, surplus rounds, reloaded black powder rounds, or reduced BP rounds or it will blow up, don't fire it.

I still have some color matching on the wood replacement. No intention of trying to hide them but would be nice if they were a little closer to the original wood. the small one under the band has had nothing done to it, just did that one last night. I did not do the other side because that was only rotted out a small amount the the glue filled it. Bayonet is a perfect fit and I lucked into a full length one. IMA says they run anywhere from 15 inch to 21 inch and they just pick one up. Some rust spots on it but all in all not bad.

The metal on the rifle has been cold blued to hopefully prevent further decay. It's actually pretty close to the original color. The area behind the breech I did polish. I'm not finished with it. It had some severe pitting that detracted from the Nepal lettering so I ground most of it off, leaving the lettering clear. I need to get it profiled better and then will probably "rough" it up a bit and cold blue again.

All in all I like the way it came out, looks a lot better than it did and even if it's not able to fire, it still looks pretty good.

[Salt Flat]

Aragorn, Kudos! That's a great work of preservation. Imho I would not shoot it. It might be just fine and it might not be. Your point about the steel quality is valid. I always think about the restoraton you've done and the risk of ruining that work. I'm sure you have many fine shooting safe rifles to satisfy that need. I have a GEW 1888 that is in about the same condition as well as a few others that I keep for historical reasons and the fact that I just like to look at them and handle them occasionally. Salt Flat

[Doco overboard]

I need to clean a black greasy stock just like that in appearance. Where did you get the citri strip? It looks like it works well.

[Aragorn243]

Citristrip is great to work with. I've been using it for quite a few years now and cleaned/stripped probably two dozen stocks with it along with an oak chest of drawers. For stocks, it's perfect, for the chest of drawers, not so much. Reason I say that is it can be a bit of a mess. I do all mine in the bathtub because it gets washed off anyway and the water is right there. It also has the advantage of getting rid of any soap scum in the shower. It comes in both liquid, which I don't like using, and a spray can which again is perfect for stocks. A spray can runs about $9 at Walmart and will do about 3 stocks. Put it in the tub, spray it all over and let it sit for 15-30 minutes and then wash it off with as hot of water as you can stand and scrub a bit with a soft vinyl brush. If stock was really bad, do a second treatment immediately while it is still wet. and if really, really bad, do a third. Sometimes I will wait on the third because after a few days the oil from the inside will reach the surface again. As bad as this stock was, I only did two treatments.

It has never harmed any markings on the wood and in fact has made many visible that I didn't even know where there. After the final wash, I'll wipe the excess water off the stock with a paper towel and then just sit is somewhere to dry. Usually the wood is completely dry in 2 hours or less. I've never had a crack or warping of the wood. I don't believe the water penetrates very deep. The wood may still look dirty after the second wash but when it dries out, you'll probably be surprised how the color evens out, etc. If it still feels greasy, that's when you need to consider a third treatment. That black stuff will start dissolving immediately, the citristrip is kind of like a foam, it lays on thick when you spray it.

The reason the chest of drawers was a pain is because you can't put that it a tub and you can't really go around spraying large wood flat surfaces with a hose. They will likely crack. But you have the same problem with any type stripper so not a huge deal. The liquid form is cheaper but then you have to mess with brushes, pans, etc. For furniture, the better way to go but for gun stocks, I'd stick with the spray can.

It does have an odor which I do not find unpleasant but it does irritate my wife. It smells like crushed orange peels.

[RCS]

You might consider a sub caliber adopter should you want to fire a few low velocity rounds down the barrel - no real pressure involved and might clean-up the bore

[Aragorn243]

Bore is good, no complaints about that. Just wondering what the thought is of firing actual rounds through it with the exterior pitting. And again, I don't need too. I have about 60 other rifles I have not fired yet that I have no qualms about. I'm not a heavy shooter, hardly even rate as a light shooter considering I haven't renewed my range membership in 3 years.

Sling came yesterday and it really finishes it off nice. Indian repro, dark brown. Ordered it Friday and it arrived 5 days later. I'm super impressed with the worlds delivery capabilities. Not a Gahendra specific, it's a Martini sling but it has the leather thong rather than a metal button so it probably appropriate.

I did spend some time looking for sub caliber devices and they are out there but pretty expensive. Recommendations from most are to just make gallery rounds out of the real thing. Kind of makes sense. The sub cals were in vogue when you couldn't get brass for the rifles.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Great results! You have me thinking about air conditioning my shop so I do not have to wait for fall to do a project.
Good B&A photos as well.

[Aragorn243]

Shop, who needs a shop. I do this stuff in the air conditioned living room under a ceiling fan while I watch TV. Well, not the electrolysis bath, that's outside on the porch where I can see it from the living room. I do not have a wife that keeps an immaculate house so that isn't an issue. I have a nice canvas work cloth for the dirt and that's about it.