1897 Project No. 1

[Surpmil]

Doesn't look it hit the buffing wheel too hard on the last reblue, which is a good thing. Some careful work with emery boards could restore the sharp edges somewhat. Cleaning rod damage on the bolt face(?)

[ssgross]

Cleaning rod damage on the bolt face(?)

yes. a bit worse I thought - someone put a rod in the muzzle and beat on it trying to get a stuck action open.
Here is a quick summary what the damage was when I found it to save some reading.
1. extension (original serialized one) was broke in the usual place by slot for the slide arm, what looked like a hammer mark on the outside. maybe bubba had a hard time taking the forend off,
2. barrel was dented on 2 sides, maybe 6 inches from the breach. Over tightening of a barrel vise perhaps?
3. barrel had a bow in it midway.
4. mag tube was oval shaped at the rear, and had a few dents in it
I think maybe it suffered a fall before bubba gave up?

Doesn't look it hit the buffing wheel too hard on the last reblue

Thanks. Last reblue was me, unless you mean what it was when I got it. I don't use a buffing wheel...lots of time with paper backed by file or wood block, and slow rust blueing. It's not perfect, and on a project like this I rarely remove all the age. A few dots of where the worst exterior pitting was on the receiver can be seen if you look really close in good light. I like my projects to look their age, but also look well cared for. I wanted to be careful to keep the edges as they were when I got it, so I was particularly careful to "do no harm".

[ssgross]

My kitchen is finally getting renovated after a dishwasher hose disintegrated back in April and flooded the kitchen and basement ceiling. Don't tell my wife that while she is downstairs I'm using her just installed new countertop for final fit-up and function test before bluing the forend I can't help it. The colors she picked just makes the perfect match.

Dummy shells stick slightly at the base - that is they do not drop in the chamber freely, but sending the bolt home seats without effort, and they extract without effort. I may need to stone the tabs that that keep the magazine from spitting out rounds. I have a new mag spring to try first. Haven't touched the wood yet. Blue tape is just holding the sleeve retaining key in place while I clean up it's locking screw.


The Numrich bayonet adapters fit the cutback barrel pretty well. I still haven't heard from Mr. Schwartz at partsforantiqueguns.com. Sept. 27 was the stated 16 weeks. He emailed me back then saying he was 4 weeks behind. He isn't responding now. I was going to use his on another shotgun, even though the Numrich ones are much cheaper.

[browningautorifle]

Dummy shells stick slightly at the base

Not so unusual for dummy ammo to be a bit out of spec. If live are a problem then I'd worry. I just made new dummy ammo when mine got a bit mushed.

[ssgross]

Got my bluing finished over the weekend. Wood had been in progress these last few weeks too, so it all came together...mostly. In my parts bin I noticed I was short the magazine plug screw. The company I bought the Norinco plugs from sent me the wrong screws (they were still in the bag) and I didn't catch back when I was scrounging. Oh well. not a show stopper. I also need a new felt spacer behind the large screw that locks the forend onto the slide tube so it times correctly as well as sits tight.

I had to fiddle with the trigger screw as the hammer wasn't falling unless I was pressing up on the carrier. It's perfect now. Carrier locks very tight behind the bolt. Everything cycles with ease. Wood came together nice. Can't even my splinter repair on the wrist (5th pic, right lower side). I may go back in and push the shoulder on the butt back a touch to make sure it doest split somewhere else what with 100 yrs of shrinkage. Next stop then is to get it outdoors and pull the trigger with a string from a safe distance on a few hot-load factory shells. I'm confident all is well, but have thought twice about putting my face next to something after I filed grooves in the barrel. No harm in a safety check. Im in no hurry.

[browningautorifle]

Looks good now.

pull the trigger with a string from a safe distance

Have confidence, they're stronger that you anticipate. It'll be fine.

[ssgross]

I finally got to shoot this. I fired 3 hornady critical defense buck from a mechanical rest just to be safe. Everything was fine, except that the slide stuck and needed some force to open. Fired a fourth from my shoulder, stuck all the same. Had me worried a bit. Then I put in a few federal power-shot buckshot. Cycled like butter. The difference was ~300FPS slower according to the package, and the brass felt thinner and more elastic in my fingers. The difference in recoil was very noticeable. We then threw in some federal power-shok slugs. These had the hardest recoil - way more than the hornady, but cycled like butter too.

[browningautorifle]

needed some force to open

Some of that stuff is just over the top, maybe having the autos as their ideal consumer? Sounds like all was well.