Restoring a Little Scout

Big Daddy Badger · #1 02-08-2014, 11:26 PM

I picked up a Little Scout 14 1/2 22LR today at auction.
I got it for a song because the wood is just about done... it has basically zero bluing left and ... it has lots of surface rust.

I'd like to restore it.

I can takle care of the woodwork easily enough/

My thought is that I might as well strip the metal bits right down and soak them in some vinigar to remove all of the surface rust.
Then... send it to someone to have it reblued etc.

I've used the vinigar trick on old jacks and things like that and I did do some reading about using it on firearms.
Seems to be OK... unless you are trying to prtotect blueing.

Thoughts?

Anyone in particular I should send it to for the blueing and restoration of the case colouring?

Any idea of what the butchers bill might be?

Thanks in advance.

achtanelion · #2 02-09-2014, 08:21 AM

I'd use evaporust or phosphoric acid for the rust removal, leaning more towards the evaporust.

The little scouts sure are cute guns, aren't they? Although I have to admit I prefer the favourite.

J

For re-casing it seems like it'd be hard to go wrong with Oskar kob in Nova Scotia. I've never heard a reasonable complaint about him, and seen a lot of nice work he's done.

bat119 · #3 02-09-2014, 08:49 AM

Duracoat is a good finish, I just did a Mauser 96 last night turned out really good.

Its easy to do, just rough up the surface with a Scotchbrite pad then spray with a air brush (Princessauto $15)

hillbillyreefer · #4 02-09-2014, 09:04 AM

Evaporust and dura-coat or Arma coat. Easy peasy.

Big Daddy Badger · #5 02-09-2014, 11:01 AM

I'll try evaporust... who sells it...Crappy Tire?

But... I want to restore it so a coat of paint isn't an option this time.

Course I'll probably do that with one of the others in the bundle.

I also picked up a sweet little Ace for my soon to be grandson... just like his big sisters.

The little scout will be for a some day in the future grandkid...I'm trying to get ahead of the game...lol

Hunter1602 · #6 02-09-2014, 11:32 AM

Dont use dura coat or armacoat or anything coat on your metal. The finish scratches fairly easy. Blueing is the way to go, and really its only a little more. Send your metal to Armco. Its a shop in BC. Cost is around 250 to 300 depends on disassembly and prep. Wait time depends on how busy they are, typically 8 to 10 weeks. I have sent them around a dozen barrels and parts over the years and their work is always second to none. They use the traditional hot bluing techniques. PM me if you would like some pictues. Enjoy the project!

Cheers.

achtanelion · #7 02-09-2014, 05:44 PM

I buy evaporust at busy bee. I believe bc bearing also carries it.

If you have the time to do it, a rust blue would look great, especially if you fire blued the pins and hammer.

I'm still at the stage where I'm spending time to save money, if you have grand kids you might prefer to spend money and save time. If so I haven't any advice on rebluing.

SkytopBrewster · #8 02-09-2014, 07:04 PM

Why bother with the chemicals. Whoever does the metal can just bead blast off all the rust and old bluing (whats left of it), then depending on how bad the pitting is it can then be polished you whatever degree you want. Keep in mind that if pitting is more than a few thou deep it's probably a write off. The pitting can be polished out on a buffing wheel with 140 grit. If there is pitting around any of the numbers or lettering best to leave the pitting or you ususally scrub out any trace of letters along with the pitting (amateur job). If you just want to keep it as is and clean it up and re-blue it, you could just leave minor pitting and re-blue it. Depends on what you expect from something in this condition. If just the barrel is pitted, you can put it on the lathe between centers and take a file to it at high RPM, then work your way down through all the grits to clean up the file marks, I have had to do this many times, doesn't work to well on octagon barrels though. A lot of carful hand filing went into the gun below.

Here is an old Marlin 27S in 25-20 RF I just did, had to do like I said and leave some of the pitting. If you polish it all out you will notice uneven surfaces every time you look down the barrel. Sometimes it is just best to clean it up, blue it and be happy.

[IMG]

[/IMG]

[IMG]

[/IMG]

Big Daddy Badger · #9 02-09-2014, 08:33 PM

Hmmmm..... decissions....

Oh... and thanks for the PMs as well guys.