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To refinish or not?
Has any one tried to refinish Martini Henry? I have complete NA&A MKII made in 1880, with small b's on everthing. The sight, breachblock, lever, barrel and receiver are matching numbered. The wood is solid, and not badly beaten up, but alot of the oil finish is missing, giving it a mottled appearence. The metal is mostly devoid of blue/black having I been cleaned into the white. I will no doubt strip the stock and refinish it. (There is a light cartouch that may be the NA&A manufacturers mark. All that I can currently make out is the central Broad Arrow and WD. Hopefully the antique finish stripper will allow it to be deciphered after the heavy coat of oil is removed.) What to do with the metal? Thought about browning it? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks much.
Nelson
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04-10-2009 09:41 AM
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I appreciate your response and I agree with you about detriying history.
I'll be more specific with what I am facing. This is the condition that I recieved the rifle in and I have done nothing to further destroy the history of it. The patina/finish was cleaned off to the white, or bare metal, by a prior owner. There is lttle or no finnish left. If there was even a little bit left I wouldn't even consider messing with it. I may even leave it as is,in the white, even though it was stripped. Any browning, the controlled oxidation of the metal, a very old technique indeed, would be only a a means of preservation. If a restoration of the original finish was possible I might even consider attempting that. May be logistically impossible though.
As to the stock there are thick areas of old finish and there are areas with no finish. The wood is mostly smooth with only a few knocks and dings that I can llive with. The finish that reamains is very thick in spots, maybe up to a 1/32nds or so of an inch and it detracts more that the dings and bumps. Mineral sprits didn't touch the stuff. I don't wish to use any abrasives on the stock at all so as not to deteriorate any of the remaining marks.It may have an NA&A cartouche but it is partly covered with the think shinny finnish.The wood which is mostly smooth is a relief map because of the finish. There is actually less "finish" on the stock than there is clear wood. I will try and soften it with BOL as you suggest and see where that gets me.
I got the idea for the antique furniture finish remover from a different MH forum. Don't know if it will work or not, and I haven't rushed in to try it yet.
I picked up the rifle on account of the originallity of it, matching parts and numbers, and the fact that the wood, with the exception of the mottled finish was sharp and clear. I am just trying to give her back some of her former luster.
Thanks again,
Nelson
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(Deceased April 21, 2018)
Wonder if some klutz VARNISHED the stock?
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Seems more like varnish than old oil. Beats me though?
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The other thing you can do is set the stock our in the sun to soften the finish.
It's not so much "protecting history'. It's the end result. Hot dip blue and true oil on a 125 year old rifle that has little to no finish left looks worse than left alone....The old movie star with plastic surgery effect. The result is bad.
The best results are to use the least intrusive procedures first. Then work progressively using more and more aggressive measures.
Keep in mind if you remove metal and wood, metal and dead trees don't grow.
Malcolm Cobb in his book the Martini-Henry Note-book says it best. "That isn't your Martini you have. It belonged to others before you and will belong to others after you are gone. Look after it and pass it on with pride. It deserves it."
Bottom line however is it is your gun right now , you do what you want with it.
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I am not looking to hot blue it or put poly on the stock. I want to do nothing more than protect the bare metal and to clean up the stock. I am by trade a preservationist, although my side is with a badge and a firearm, so I got the stewardship thing down pretty well. If there is no way to clean the thick finish off the stock without using abrasive, then I'll rethink the whole thing. As to the metal I am asking about the original finish. Is it the oil dip that was used with the MLM ,MLE and SMLE rifles? Probaly can't be done, but why not ask?
Thanks
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Th original finish was called browning and the formula for it is simply a rust bluing solution. Not the same as Lee Enfields.
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It was varnish. Zip Strip took it off immediately with no harm to the stock. Underneath the wood was still in nice shape, with most of the imperfections having been in the thickly applied finish. Except for reapplying BLO nothing else was needed. The cartouche appears to be an NA&A but I will need to look at it with some better light and magnification.
I have no idea who put that varnish on it or why?