Ecuador 88 Commission Rifle Carbine Conversion

[Aragorn243]

1 inch copper pipe proved to be too small to do anything other than getting temporarily stuck at the dent.

[browningautorifle]

Well, when using a mandrell you need to drive it in to get it lodged and then pound the dents flat from the outside. Then the mandrell will move. They don't pop out voluntarily. Personally I'd make one from steel to about four inch length and tight fit, then thread a hole in the center for a solid rod. Then carry on a just described, I think copper pipe too dainty.

[Aragorn243]

The problem is the barrel is still attached so it has to be a pipe. I just tried the copper as I thought it would be a good fit. It wasn't Not tight enough to pound out the dents. Probably a good 32nd of an inch all the way around. I'm a carpenter, so my house is not a bastion of metal or pipes for that matter. I do have a set of pipe clamps I could check the diameter. It's bathing in vinegar at the moment.

[Eaglelord17]

My recommendation for getting the jacket off the receiver if you haven't already is to apply a bit of heat by the threads with a propane torch. Nothing ridiculous (i.e. colour changing), but it should be able to cause the jacket to expand and the threads on the barrel to stay the same size (provided you don't heat it for eternity). Just put the action in a vice, and try turning the jacket off well heat is being applied, it should cause it to go.

[Aragorn243]

I may try that. I would like to ensure no rusting on the barrel. Exposed portion looks good now, no pitting at all but that bottom 10 inches I'd still like to know for sure.

[Aragorn243]

I never could get the full jacket off. Front half came off, barrel looked good, sprayed a tone of Remoil in the other half. Not sealing it back together so I can monitor it. This is the near end product. The stock had three treatments of citristrip, then was steamed, then sanded a bit, then two more treatments of citristrip and one of wood bleach. It has one coat of BLO on it. Metal was all put in an electrolysis bath which got the rust off but left a coating of grey on it. Polished the metal a bit with fine sandpaper, packed the bottom half of the shroud in PC7 which dried a dark grey. Bare metal with the exception of the receiver and bolt were cold blued and then steel wooled to a light uniform color. The PC7 blended in pretty well. I did not attack the dents in the shroud, may at a later date but for now I'm OK with it. Located an old Spanish type mauser sling for it that looks age appropriate and here it is for your viewing pleasure, still a bit harsh on the eyes I'm afraid. My main goal became stabilizing the rust rather than the full restore which would have proven difficult anyway due to the condition. I did sand the stock but not heavily, main reason was the stock bolt which was rusted very badly and sticking way outside the wood line on the left side. I also evened the two sides along the barrel channel between the two bands as it was choppped up very badly. I still need to get a screw and fix the end cap.



Before





Before







Before

[mmppres]

Well I am happy that it came out great. Knowing full well all the time an effort you put into that wreck. Will give you $20.00 over what you paid for it now.

[browningautorifle]

I'd have cleaned it up too. Looks much better.

[Aragorn243]

Update. Son in law worked with a welder to fill the oversized holes I drilled through the nosecap with 50% success. The large hole on the left was filled with no problem. The hole on the right side ended up being filled with flux along with an accidental burn through. With lessons learned, he thinks we will have full success with a second attempt. I also was not happy at all with the light color fill I used. So tonight I experimented and mixed the filler with some dark stain. It's been two hours and it does seem to be getting hard. Wasn't sure what the combo would do together but there are no more light spots on the stock now which I like. I'll probably sand it up this weekend and know for sure if it worked or not. I have no BLO on this yet. I had thought I put a coat on but did not knowing that I still had one area behind the tang to fill. It has darkened up a bit. Oil continuing to come to the surface. On a side note, I wrapped the fore end of the rifle with scotch tape when I glued in the small piece of wood in the cleaning rod channel. The tape drew out and lightened the wood. It has since evened out and I don't know what the practical application would be but scotch tape seems to draw out oil.

[Aragorn243]

Stain mixed in with the PC7 met with only limited success. It did not fully harden. Thin areas did not adhere well. Deep areas did better and hardened better, not sure why. Could simply be my perception of the hardness and the thicker mass simply is more cohesive.