Found MUSKET in thrift store.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Jmoore, you were and are right. This is one of those fields where if you don't know what you are doing, you should not crash in and do something irreversible. I started out on junkers, made some mistakes, and the whole point of human society is that we don't all have to pile in and make the same mistakes over and over, but can learn from others.

I only intervened because I was worried that since DaveN had started on this tricky path anyway, he was likely to do something that he might regret later - as I have done in the past - if he did not get some help, and so he should rather be gently led in a direction that is not going to result in serious damage.

I am always careful to refer to my methods as refurbishment, not restoration. Refurbishment, for me, means getting the thing working as intended, catching up on maybe a century of missed maintenance (nearly 2 centuries in this case!) to bring the rifle back to something like the condition it might have had if it had been properly cared for all that time.

BTW, I am looking forward (Hint! Hint! ) - to reading your final write up of the Arisaka puzzle as a "sticky" on the Japanese forum

(Sorry! That is what is described in German as "a nudge with the fence post")

[Claven2]

FWIW, this is how I like my old brasses to look AFTER being cleaned. Patinated, but not dirty or corroded - a nice mellow reddish hue to show age.

[Patrick Chadwick]

That looks fine to me too. I wrote somewhere else that if you refinish everything as new, (which I did once, and regret) you get that "mutton dressed as lamb" look. Jmoore expressed the same sentiment.

P.S: can we please see the rest of whatever it is?

[jmoore]

P.S: can we please see the rest of whatever it is?

I'll bet it's part of his Brunswick rifle resurrection. Just a WAG. BIG thread. Scary amount of work.

ETA: Link here:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=23840

Yah, I've been reading it, too. Almost bought one, should have. Saw a couple that weren't too bad, but it was in the middle of a roadtrip and there were other things to squander money upon. Now I really need to get in the woods. Deer time!

[DaveN]

Patrick,jmoore, The photos may look like new but I did try to leave some of the tarnish in the scares and a little around the harder tho clean areas that seems to say clean but not new giving it the antique look or what you call pantina. I call pantina light. Rest assured no sand paper will go any where near this stock. In person the brass looks like brass with character I just to see where the wood ended and the brass began. My photos were taken in haste and the flash really makes the brass look bright yellow than brassy/bronze color. Is there truth in that in USA we tend to like then left alone and in Europe they like them shined up.

[Patrick Chadwick]

.

Is there truth in that in USA we tend to like then left alone and in Europe they like them shined up.

Not that I am aware of.

The difference is that over here, licensing restrictions and the requirement to keep just about anything that goes bang in an approved (i.e. expensive) gun cabinet mean that anything which is non-working is literally occupying valuable space. Space that people like myself would rather use to house a shooter. We just cannot afford/are not allowed to collect everything that takes our fancy, and are forced to be selective.

The requirements for de-acts that you are allowed to hang on the wall are now so severe that for types which are not in demand as shooters, you can purchase perfectly serviceable milsurps for LESS than the same item as a de-act!
Which is why I got the "treacle rifle" for free.
Just don't ask about the time it takes - you are about to find out.

[DaveN]

[Patrick Chadwick]

OK, but don't do any more to the brass. Like, for instance, starting to file out the dings! That is a no-no. If you want to do something creative while I am slaving away over a hot keyboard hammering out Part 5, then I suggest you go to the Argentine RB thread, read through parts 1 and 2, and start dismantling your rifle ever so carefully. Yes, if you want to get rid of the treacle look that is what you will have to do. Even if you do nothing at all to the metal bits.

The RB thread will do near enough as a "first approximation" for your rifle, because as it is the principles and methods that are important, and the problems are usually pretty similar for most guns from the black powder era. So please follow that thread for guidance, as I am just not up to doing it all again for another rifle in a kind of multiplex operation. Call it creative laziness, if you like!

And I will not hide it from you: dismantling such an old rifle without causing any damage can be a tough job! Take your time. It has been waiting for about 180 years for some careful maintenance. A few days longer won't hurt. If something is horribly stuck, do not force it, but post the problem here.

One question: about 1/2" from the left end of the top barrel ring in your pictures (i.e. the ring that is clear at both ends) - is that a deliberate marking, or just accidental scratching?

Patrick

[Patrick Chadwick]

No, creative laziness is not good enough. I'm cutting corners because I'm tired. Very bad habit. Modify last message!

The RB articles are fine for the techniques, but if you are a beginner at this sort of thing, I do have to be a bit more specific. Please post pics of as much of your rifle as you can. All attachment points, please. Then I can advise you better. The great danger is that screws will be so tight and corroded that screw heads will be twisted right off or a screw shank breaks. The rifle needs to be dismantled so that the wood and other parts can be cleaned without a nasty mess remaining in the cracks and gaps to cause more trouble later. BUT better to make compromises here than ruin something.

So pics first please, and I will try to talk you through it. If you feel at any stage that I am leading you into a situation that you can't handle, please stop and say so!

G'night, I'm whacked (00:41 here)

Patrick

[DaveN]

I hope you have a barf bag.

I'm not sure I have the ability to do this. My biggest worry is the pins are very rusty. Is penetrating oil called for (a few drops left to do its thing ) and once they are out I fear they won't go back in. I do know I could get the replacement pins, but once I have to replace to much stuff it may take the charm(as ruff as this is) out of this really cool rifle.