very rough crome .455 MK VI

[Peter Laidler]

Pitting........ you ain't seen real pitting on pistols yet! It's a military pistol and that's how they get........ rusty and pitted. We used to see them like that every day of the week. In the tropics and salt water swamps they were pitting from day 1 Through the bead blaster to remove and neutralise the rust, phosphate (or chemically black, your choice) and you've got a perfectly satisfactory pistol again. No concourse prizes but a) looks a zillion times better than it did, b) it ain't going to rust no more and c) worth a lot more too

[read6737]

Thanks for the advice.
Would soda worl instead of glass beads?

Just too a few pics.
You can see the croam over the rough surface.

What is used to phosphate?

[Peter Laidler]

I have seen Brownings going through that are worse than that. What had made it worse than the pitting/corrosion is the sheer butchery with a file and coarse sand paper. That was criminal! If you want to stop the rot and start the improvement you need to strip it and have it bead blasted. Ask a local engineering works for their advice re the processes you have there. Same as protecting it further. They will have details of phosphating facilities or chemical blacking.

[read6737]

Thanks Peter it has given me an idea.
I did write a harsh email to the seller to tell him where he F***ED up.
It was cheap ish,
but when you cannot fing a MK VI you have little choice.
They are all cat D2 here and that means free to buy if you are over 18,
and no requirements on storage or transport, as long as you have a good reason for having it in the car.
It was sold as a webley, but it could be an enfield, is there any way to tell as there are no markings.

[mrclark303]

Good grief, someone really attacked that poor thing! Bit of a catch 22 that one, it needs more careful work to the metal to cosmetically square up the damage, prior to refinish, but quite a lot of material has already been removed...

[read6737]

Yes it has had a T**T work on it.
The frame and barrel look bad but are useable.
The cylinder realy needs replacing, it is now a little smaller in diamiter than a MK 1.
By about 0.6 mm at the worst, and 0.3 mm bigger at best
It still works, every thing is tight, a little too much play at firing but lines up.
I have shot light loads and it works.