Belgian 1889 Project

[Aragorn243]

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.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

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.

[henry r]

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.

[browningautorifle]

Busted one screwdriver tip and bent three others.

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.

[Aragorn243]

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.

[browningautorifle]

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

[Aragorn243]

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.







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.







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.









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.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

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

[browningautorifle]

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

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.

[Aragorn243]

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.