Belgian 1889 Project

I got lucky again, I think anyway. Went to the Cabelas in Delaware yesterday and was going through their surplus rack, they actually have one. The reason they have one is their prices are simply ridiculous and have been since they opened. I'm not really looking at the rifles, just flipping the price tags which are ranging from $599 for a type 38 that's been there since they opened, to $499 for a Mosin Nagant Finn capture with nothing done to it other than changing the front sight. Flipped the last tag and it was $99 so I grabbed it right up and took a close look at it. Belgian 1889 which I've been looking for for quite a while. It's rough, tag called it a project rifle but it's something I enjoy messing with and figured I wasn't going to beat the price. Bore has strong rifling but a coating of rust, not sure how bad but it looks serviceable at minimum. Bolt was bent back a little but not down. All parts with the exception of the cleaning rod appear to be there but the sight spring is broken. Butt plate is probably also beyond reasonable salvage but I'll make an attempt. Both the spring and butt plate are among the very few parts available from Numrich so I may place an order later after I verify it needs nothing else. It functions properly, and firing pin is in place. Biggest issue I see is the stock. It is in good condition with the exception of about 2 inches of the butt, top for the most part. It is dry rotted, some of it is missing. Not sure of proper repair for this, I guess it depends on how bad it is after I get the butt plate off. I'd like to remove minimal original wood but don't want a big hole there either. I'll probably start cleaning today but going to have to let the screws soak as they are locked at present. With a veterans discount it was $95 out the door.


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Looks like it stood in water for a spell to do that to the butt. Doing a patch there will be hard but not impossible. The hardest part will be as you say getting all apart without twisting off screw heads...I'd straighten the bolt handle too...the rest will be harder, I'd remove all the rust. Others will want to leave it...

I'm thinking the same thing about the butt. Unfortunately I can't get any of the screws to move yet. This one might take a while. Rust will be removed.

I know there'll be a couple of suggestions on the woodwork, love to see the follow up on this...when it finally comes apart... If the barrel is good, it definitely has promise.

The barrel bands are off. Not looking too good under the wood line. Had hopes it would be protected. Screws are soaking in penetrating oil. On the plus side, the rust is coming off the exterior and it is not deeply pitted. Never going to win a beauty contest but will be a bit smoother anyway. I'm also somewhat concerned with getting the sleeve off but the wood has to come off first.

Be a good candidate for electrolysis bath, might have to make one up.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Never going to win a beauty contest but will be a bit smoother anyway.

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It's just the sort of thing I like to spend time undertaking. The most excitement here lately was a couple of #5 LE that needed help. One's done and proven and the other closer than it was. Then there's a two man bucksaw to strip the rust from...

Keep us up with current pics, this one should be good.

I got the bolt handle straightened, that went easier than expected. Bolt body cleaned up also so making some limited progress. Wish I had a faster way to get those screws out. Hate waiting. I figured I'd have this all cleaned up with the exception of the stock by the end of the holiday weekend. Bolt does not match (is only 99 numbers off 4915 to 4816) but everything else that's numbered does.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Wish I had a faster way to get those screws out.

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Most will probably be advocates of Kroil or some such. I've used a screw driver with the appropriate width blade and set it in the screw...and rapped it sharply with a machinist's hammer. A solid hit has often released the rust. Careful...

Wow that certainly is a project. Congrats on getting a 1889, I know I have been looking for a while, and they don't come up often. Definitely interested to see how this turns out.

One screw out, second still holding fast. I'm using a combination of two rust dissolvers. Liquid Wrench and some other stuff that stinks to high heaven but you can see the rust dissolve when you spray. Tapped the screw driver in with a hammer and turn them with a wrench on the screwdriver blade. Good news is the first screw wasn't really rusty at all, just stuck fast at the head. Hoping second is the same. The stuck one is the receiver screw so no way to get the oil in the threaded area.

Butt plate off and polished, found original serial number under all that and it cleaned up well enough to keep. Some deep pitting here and there but I can live with it. Rear sling swivel off also so only the receiver screw holding me up now. Butt is rotted about two inches down from the top Not sure how far forward it goes, maybe an inch and a half. There is also a quarter inch deep area that continues down the side which is where the cracking is seen in the above photos. I'm going to let the screw sit overnight and work at it again tomorrow but suspecting I'm going to have to drill it out. Busted one screwdriver tip and bent three others.

You might try the electrolysis method for rust removal on the entire barreled action. I have had amazing results on similarly rusted rifles.
Simple & quite effective. Looks like a fun project. Nice score. I hope the BPS buyout does not ruin Cabelas.

Only 2 days ago i was thinking we hadn't had an aragorn project for a while. :)
The trick i've used sucessfully on cars etc for many years is to tap the screwdriver then tighten it a fraction to crack the rust before trying to loosen it.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Busted one screwdriver tip and bent three others.

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You can also use the drill press but you need a second person. Unplug the drill press. Put the screw driver shaft and tip into the chuck and raise the table to as close as you can, hold the rifle on the table. The screw driver shaft needs to be lowered into the screw slot and held by one while the other turns the chuck by hand. If the tip is dressed correctly, the screw will give up. It's going to be a wide slot so there shouldn't be much trouble. Save drilling it out.

My son in law gave me some sort of impact screwdriver to try. You put the blade in and hit it with a hammer. He says it loosens most anything. If it works, I'll let you all know. The hammer drives the screw in the direction you want to go with it. I understand the basic concept but it might be a two person job as well.

I haven't seen an impact screwdriver for some time, yes, it should work.

Semi-success. The barrel is out of the stock. It fought and screamed the entire way. Impact screwdriver was awesome. Might have to get one. But it did nothing. Ended up drilling it out. Nothing. Got a larger bit, the head came out then nothing. Inserted a pin and hit with a hammer and still nothing. Ended up having to drill all the way through the bolt sleeve before it would come loose. I think some of the bolt is still attached to the sleeve. In any case. Not worst case scenario under there but pretty close. No holes (yet) through the barrel sleeve. That won't come off by the way and I did not push it at all. I think I am going to put this particular project on hold until I can assemble an electrolysis bath. I want to do it right so it might take some time to find the right materials. I did scrape off most of the heavy rust you see in the photos and may continue to work on it a bit but I think this one definitely needs the bath.

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As you can see, the bolt cleaned up nicely. I believe most of the expose metal will clean up similarly. Right now it has a very dark brown patina under the rust with little to no pitting. The area under the wood has much more severe pitting, some original bluing in spots but not much.

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And this is the stock damage. any suggestions on repairs would be appreciated. I understand they may an epoxy type product that can stabilize the remaining wood but I think that will look awful. That pretty much leaves cutting out the bad and splicing new in but it will be a but joint for the most part and they don't always hold well. I can dowel it in place.

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And this is the butt plate after about 15 minutes of cleaning. I need to get the rust out of the screw hole yet and work on the back some but it's not bad. Belt sanders are great on these.

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Aragorn243 " I think I am going to put this particular project on hold until I can assemble an electrolysis bath. I want to do it right so it might take some time to find the right materials. I did scrape off most of the heavy rust you see in the photos and may continue to work on it a bit but I think this one definitely needs the bath."

Plastic window planter box $10 Lowes
Washing soda $3 Walmart
Trickle charger
Scrap rebar or equivelent
steel wire
Instrucions here Rust Removal via Electrolysis

I predict great results

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Ended up having to drill all the way through the bolt sleeve before it would come loose.

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Bummer, at least it's done. You'll have time to sort that detail out I think. Looks like this might take a minute... Guess you're right about the electrolysis, the only other things to do would be glass bead blast and then hand polish before bluing. Not sure that's the direction you're headed though. It'll never be perfect anyway unless you remove about the top third of the metal.

Yes, it'll be fine.

So do you bake them in an oven? Not sure the barrel will fit in there. Might go on a quest today.

I don't have the ability to bead blast. Wasn't planning to re-blue but might end up going that route, depends what it looks like minus the rust.

Bake them? For the electrolysis? It just goes into the bath out in the shop... Only thing goes in the oven should be a Pizza...

There is a big warning on the link Hooked posted about baking them to prevent them from becoming brittle due to hydrogen infiltration. In any case, I believe I had a successful quest. Look this stuff over and let me know. Only manual charger I could locate, nearly all are automatic these days. Lowest setting is 2 amp. Is that too much? I think most guys were using 1.5 amps, not a huge difference but wanted to check. Also, is there any inherent dangers here, gasses, small children or pets being electrocuted, etc? I can return what I bought, the wire and rebar I had here at the house.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

There is a big warning on the link Hooked posted about baking them to prevent them from becoming brittle

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We have guys here that have done this very thing, I'm surprised they haven't come along. I'm going to have to find the thread so you can PM some people...I think.

Here's the thread I was looking for... https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=48590

Only one other fellow mentioned the metal becoming brittle, says not to use on barrels and receivers. Frankly, not being a metallurgist but being kind of common sensecal, I don't see how hydrogen could get deep enough into the metal to make anything but the surface brittle if even that. It would seem to me that the fellow writing the advice may have confused the initial creation of the steel rather than electrolysis. I followed the links through to the Surplusrifle forum and seems lots of fellows have done this to barrels and receivers and none mention baking afterwards.

Ah, the Christiana Mall Cabelas... I thought it was the worst store I'd been in until I bought a gun at the Hamburg location. Is the SL8 still sitting there in the Gun Library?

Good thing you got to this gun before me. With the 1916 cleaned up I need something else :lol:

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Only one other fellow mentioned the metal becoming brittle, says not to use on barrels and receivers. Frankly, not being a metallurgist but being kind of common sensecal, I don't see how hydrogen could get deep enough into the metal to make anything but the surface brittle if even that.

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I agree, and electrolyse all metal parts except springs, where any embrittlement could cause an early failure. For springs, I use 0000 wire wool, oil and elbow grease.

As for electrolysis, the link provided above by BAR pretty well covers it all.

I can't answer on the SL8. I never even would have seen that gun. If it doesn't have wood on it, it's invisible to me. I've never had a problem at Hamburg. I've bought a lot from them. Wasn't really a huge problem at Christiana either other than they had 2 people doing the paperwork and had 15 guys in line waiting.

Hydrogen does penetrate the metal, we see this in pressure vessels, it can cause blisters in the steel and lead to separations, we use what is referred to as a "Hydrogen Bake Out" much like a stress relieving process although I can't picture this occurring during the electrolysis procedure

I have it in the bath this morning. Been in for 45 minutes. Wasn't seeing much action so turned up the charger to 12 volts, 6 amps and it's making more bubbles now. I put almost everything in there so might have put too much in for the lower setting. Small parts were bubbling but not the barrel or action. First setting was 6 volts, 2 amps.

Now the hard part of waiting. Give it time. I know we had longer more detailed threads here somewhere, there were pics too. That must have been a really long time ago...

It's been about 2 hours now. I wire brushed the orange off most of the parts and put them back in. Looks like it's working. Just went out to check it, good thing I did, I tripped the GFCI when I plugged it back in. It wasn't doing anything.

That would have sucked...come back the next day and it's all rusted again from just soaking... Be patient, this will become a fixation to see how much more rust will come off. Let it do as much as it will...can't wait to see the end result.

I've been checking it about every 15 minutes. It's just outside. I'm thinking I will shut it down after 4 and clean everything up and put things that still need it back in. The small items will probably be done by then. I just hope I'll be able to get the sleeve off after this. I don't like the thought of all that water in there now with no way for any rust, etc to get out. I may end up baking the barrel just to dry it out. Probably just set it on top of a heater. One thing I've noticed is that it is not turning all soupy and thick on top of the water. It's just getting cloudy I have 5 gallons of water in the sled so maybe that's why, not as concentrated.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I just hope I'll be able to get the sleeve off after this.

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Strap wrench? Hold the rest in a padded vice? Someone here must have done that, I'd be tempted to warm the threads with a torch. That might be bad though. Someone here will know...

I have a book which does not mention the 1889 but does discuss the 88 commission rifle. They should come off by hand. This one is obviously rusted on. I don't know if the electrolysis will get at the stuff in the threads or not. Hoping it does. Warming is mentioned but can discolor the metal. Not that it is an issue with this one. I may go that route.

Four hour cleaning and things are looking good. Was able to move the rear sight slide and get the magazine removed from the trigger assembly. Moved the barrel closer to the rebar and it is bubbling away now. So proximity does appear to make a big difference. Four screws now clean.

Sounds like it's doing fine. Maybe the jacket will need an over night dousing of Kroil or some such after...maybe not. Strap wrench... That buttstock heel will be a pig though, couple guys here have done wonders. frankderrico might be a good candidate for you just sending the stock and stand back...if you look at some of the resurrections he's performed?

For some smaller parts, you can try vinegar. I'm trying it with my gun currently, and I've used it on bolts before. Just about 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water (or all vinegar if you like..) and soak the parts for a few hours. Once done, scrub the rust off and it should be clean as heck. Dip it in a solution of baking soda and water (I do a couple spoon fulls) just to neutralize the acidity from the vinegar. Your vinegar can be the cheapest stuff you can find, and the cheap stuff usually works best.

nuget, I've used vinegar in the past, I brought back a Swedish M38 from the dead a few years ago, that's on this site somewhere also. It has some problems for which I would not recommend it for your Turkish Mauser. The biggest is that is will remove all the original finish along with the rust. Secondary is that really deep pits will not be removed but converted to black rust which is pretty stable but still there. This is my first attempt at electrolysis and I wish I knew about this when I did the Swede. For me, this is the way to go now as I have a tendency to get these rifles in this type of shape. So the expense of getting the materials is well worth it. For one Turk Mauser, I don't think I'd do it. Drawbacks are that it's kind of a mess and I think this is something that I will save parts up for and do them all at once rather than as needed. Although I could use a bucket for small parts that would be just fine.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Although I could use a bucket for small parts that would be just fine.

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Should of clarified, that's what I meant. For things such as bolts and what not.

Update, it's been almost 10 hours now. Small parts are all out with the exception of the barrel bands which I can't get off the barrel and the barrel, shroud and action. Butt plate is still soaking because of the inside, not the outside. Small parts look great, better than I expected. Barrel shroud is the main reason it's still soaking. Receiver is looking pretty good. I am going to let it run a few more hours and probably shut the operation down, clean it up and oil it. My next phase will be to get a steel rod for inside the barrel so I'll be repeating the process on another day I have some time. I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing, wish I was confident enough to attempt this years ago. I have taken photos periodically and will try to get some posted soon. From what I can tell, water is not getting inside the shroud so that may not be as big a problem as I thought. I would still like to get it off however.

The link to the Swedish Mauser is here: https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=43216&page=1

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

the shroud

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I think it's mandatory too. I think they're also staked on...at the back. It could have a torque value too so it might not be that easy. I'm surprised no one has jumped in to tell us. Looking forward to the final result.

Looking forward to the after photos. Amazingly easy & efficient process.

Some photos of the process and the end result

The Setup

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Low setting 6 volt 2 amp

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Higher setting 12volt 6 amp

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And afterwards, the dark side I put cold blue on last night just to see what it would look like. mottled grey side is how it looked after wiping down. Photos show some orange you can't really see in natural light. I did oil this immediately after drying but it needs more apparently.

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I have to do some thinking on where to go from here. I did order a new front guard screw and sight spring from Numrich, something like $13 with shipping. Leaning towards polishing the shroud where it is outside the wood and then cold bluing it. Probably leave the rest as is. As for the stock, I'm going to try the simplest approach first and see how it turns out. I'm going to try to color match some fill material, cut out the punky stuff and fill, sand and stain. If that looks like crap, I'll go the more difficult route and cut it out and splice. Bore doesn't look bad at this point, I don't think I'm going to put it in the bath again. Should be able to clean it with brushes. It's just the end 6 inches or so.

It looks great! I'm actually surprised how well it worked, looks like a totally different gun.

Looks like the electrolysis worked well, for the wood repair check out some log home suppliers they sell a product to stabilize rotting wood, I have no idea what it looks like but it is injected into the wood.

Looking good!

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Originally Posted by #1oilman

Looks like the electrolysis worked well, for the wood repair check out some log home suppliers they sell a product to stabilize rotting wood, I have no idea what it looks like but it is injected into the wood.

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I have heard about these products and have been considering them as well but I need to locate a source.

This looks promising, maybe the rot terminator over the first one. What do you guys think?

PC Epoxy Petrifier Terminator Woody - YouTube

Outstanding results.Thanks for the photos as I am sure it will help others wanting to give it a go. I like the way the process leaves what remains of the blueing and "kills" the rust. Leaves the firearm looking unmolested vs beadblasting & reblue.

Looking good now, that stock won't be so easy though. Don't know about that kit...haven't used that.

Canadian log home supply Eaganville Ontario Canada

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Originally Posted by #1oilman

Canadian log home supply Eaganville Ontario Canada

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How's that?

Supplier of the rotten wood stabilizer

I put it back together this evening after some light polishing of the shroud and cold bluing it. Might be all the more I do with the metal, not sure. Still showing orange in some of the photos that is not showing in natural light. Not sure what is going on with that. I've steel wooled it and oiled it. Waiting on the guard screw and the sight spring. As soon as I can get to Home Depot I plan to check into their wood hardeners, not in a huge rush plus I get there about three times a week.

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Sure a far cry from what we were originally looking at here isn't it?

I'm going to try electrolysis one day, thanks for posting the progress of your project.:thup:
Maybe just some small parts first because of the heating of the components afterwards.

I think the consensus was that heating isn't necessary afterwards. Yes? No?

I actually found the PC Rot Terminator at my local hardware store. Will let you know how it works when I get a chance to use it.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I think the consensus was that heating isn't necessary afterwards.

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That was what I gathered.

I applied the PC Rot Terminator this evening. I first drilled a few holed into the stock in places where the butt plate will cover them. Pretty easy to use and it has a pleasant smell which is surprising for this type of product. I used a toothbrush to rub it in a bit and applied it numerous times as it soaked in. It says it will take 24 hours to cure so now I wait. The drill bit hit solid wood pretty fast so it does not appear to have gone any deeper than 3/8's of an inch in any given direction which I thought surprising considering how bad it looks. I also got some wood fill in walnut color which I can sense I am not going to be happy with at all. I'm thinking instead that if this hardener does indeed work, that I may cut small lengths of thin wood to fill the biggest gaps, glue them in place and then sand them down to flush That way I'll have some grain in it. I have to think on it a bit

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

wood fill in walnut color

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Doesn't Lepages make a filler in various colors?

I never heard of Lepages so I don't know. May not be a product available in the US. Minwax and Dap are the two most common here.

Here's a link then... Wood Filler | LePage

Almost 24 hours now. It is no longer sticky and it did seem to harden the wood considerably. I put it back on a heater to ensure the deeper wood is also cured. Had it on the heater for a few hours this morning but for the most part, it was in 65 degree air. Unfortunately, the bottle is also hardening so this is a one time use product. Cost was around $10 so it doesn't break the bank.

Can't wait for a look...

Decided to try the wood filler first. I can always reverse it if I don't like it. Rotted wood is very solid. Put one coat of filler on and sanded off. Filler is very light, second coated it and will sand and start trying to color it tomorrow.

Keep up the good work, and post pictures, so that we all (= me, especially!) can profit from your results!

Filler giving me some headaches but getting there. Right side of stock filler keeps breaking loose when I pull the butt plate. It's not drying right with the plate on. Newest attempt I put it on and left the plate off. Harder to get a good fit this way but perhaps with smaller amounts, it will stay for the final coat. The end of the butt I had drilled half a dozen holed into down to solid wood. Three of them you can still see, the others have fill over them. The rotted wood is now hard as a rock so the petrifier worked as advertised. The darker fill has stain, the lighter does not.

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This is the left side that filled solid and held. I don't like the thin dark transition between the wood and the filler, some stain overlap, possibly wood petrifier.

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And the last two photos show the top and right side where I'm still waiting on it to dry.

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Final layer of fill dried and stained. Not the best match but it will do for now. Will probably do some experimenting with colors.

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Over all it looks much better. I guess we'll see what the heel looks like after time. It's far from the project you started with.

I have had the best luck with the alcohol based stain sold by Brownells. You can mix the colors for the closest match. Penetrates well.

Penetrates wood well or fill well. I've never had much luck with fill.

Absorbed at diffrent rates with wood based filler/wood but well with both. I even used it to darken Accuraglass (prior to appplication during the mixing process) for a couple of small projects.

I put a dark red stain on it last night and left it sit. It is a much closer match. The biggest problem is that there is a 1/8 to 1/4 inch transition that just keeps getting very dark in comparison to both the fill and the wood. I'm going to continue playing with it and it does look better now than in the photos. I may try oiling it to see what that does.

I often need to look at the before pictures on a project to remind myself that it looks soooooo much better than it did originally. It is fun shooting for prefection though.

I'm not complaining, don't mean to sound like that. I knew going in that fill was going to be obvious but then so is any splice I put there and thinking on it, I don't think a splice would be as strong as the fill considering I took very little original wood out after petrifying it. Just a very small amount of loose stuff. So yes, it looks a lot better than it did and I'm happy with it, just continuing to try to get it closer. I think scratching the fill does a lot to improve the appearance, at least looks like wood grain to a certain extent. I did oil it last night and after wiping it down this morning realized I forgot to clean the stock at all other than where I was working on it so I'll probably do a heavier wipe down with Blo to get the crud off. It looked really good wet, not as good dry but still getting closer.

A little disappointed in Numrich right now. Front guard screw fits but it's not from a Belgian 1889. It's probably German, cut for the locking screws. The rear sight spring isn't even close to fitting. Nothing about it is close to what belongs.

So, if anyone has a source for an 1889 rear sight spring, please let me know.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I'm not complaining, don't mean to sound like that.

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Not taken as complaining. I just see my own perfectionism in your comment.

Ditto on Numrich.
Their sorting leaves much to be desired.

I have a line on a Carcano long rifle you have inspired me to attempt a reserection.

Given the rarity of the rifles in the US and the almost complete absence of parts, it looks like my alternative is making a spring myself. Can this be done? What type steel should I use?

This spring is rather long and narrow and is held in place by a dovetailed section and a single screw.

Heres a video to give a good rough idea what is required. Only difference is instead of making a v spring you would only make the one side. Might be a better option to see if you can find a similar spring (possibly the 1891 Argentine Mausers use the same style, I don't know just a possibility) and modify it to work.

Gunsmithing - British Side-by-Side Shotguns How to Make New Leaf Springs - YouTube

You need to start with spring steel which can be bought in different thicknesses and widths, depending on how elaborate the shape is you might have to anneal the spring stock to work it and then re temper

Brownells sells different wire and flat stock, that's a good start.

The really aggravating thing is that I never throw anything away. But this ONE time, I threw away the busted part of the spring, the part that dovetails into the base and has the hole. I did this right after ordering the part from Numrich. Not that I could use it for anything other than a template at this point. The spring itself should be fairly easy to make. I need to file the dovetails into it and then narrow it on both sides and drill a hole into it. It may not even need a bend as it looks like it is straight all the way into the base with moving the sight up or down pushing down on it until it allows it to release.

No other Rifle that I have has a spring that is the same or similar for that matter and the Argentines were the first I checked. 88 Commission rifle next and then the Spanish Mausers.

I like the video, amazed he likes the big rough files. Does a good job with them.

Yeah it is impressive how well he uses them. I am currently making a stock for a 1882 Swiss revolver using hacksaws and files (building the adaptor and butt-plate out of brass), and I am no where near his skill level.

I know my Grandfather who was a tradesman in the UK before he moved to Canada said for his apprenticeship the first year he was only allowed to use hacksaws and files, and this was as a machinist apprentice! I have done about 3 months worth of formal training with just a hacksaw and files, and that was a long time.

Beautiful.....that's how I like them. I've had two full length 1889s, wish I still had them.

A friend gave me a piece of spring steel today and the rear sight is now fixed. Not my prettiest work but fully functional and really doesn't look bad. Dove tail fits nice and spring is correct width the main length. Over filed a little at the front of the dovetail but I'm happy with it.

I know it's bad form to resurrect dead posts, but reading this through has me hooked. Does anybody know if this project ever progressed as far as the rifle range?

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Originally Posted by harry mac

I know it's bad form to resurrect dead posts, but reading this through has me hooked. Does anybody know if this project ever progressed as far as the rifle range?

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You don't know me very well. I let my range membership expire about four years ago and stubbornly have refused to renew it due to being a 20 year member that they decide has to pay an extra $50 to join as a new member. On the positive side, my son-in-law has convinced me to give up my stubborness and renew my membership which is done, as is the mandatory meeting for all new members. I am thus now fully able to take my firearms to the range again and shoot them. Too cold right now and this one honestly isn't real high on the priority list but one of these days, I'll get it there.

I don't think I could have gotten my wallet out fast enough. I love the 1889s, and this one has that 'done that' look that I can't get enough of. Great score.