Another one bites the dust...

[Mongo59]

A neighbor lady thought her Winchester 62A would make a good cheap gun to keep in the barn for varmits. This was, in the sense of 'use to be', a like new out of the box Winnie that she bought for a mere $100 back in the day. Keep the tissues close...




It was a real rodeo getting it this far as she had jammed it with one in the pipe and another round in the carrier. So I had two loaded rounds in the weapon with the slide fully back and no way to get the bolt home to take down the rifle.

 

[Mongo59]

I rubbed the tips of my fingers off with steel wool, I didn't remove anything but rust as no sanding was done to the surfaces. I wasn't trying to make it "like new" as it already had that chance. I hope you can see past the rust in the last post to note just how beautiful this gun was...




So this is the same weapon with all rust removed, all pits remaining and new cold blue applied over the blemishes.

 

[Mongo59]

Some of the conditions I did this for her was it never goes back in the barn and every time she open the safe she has to kiss it and tell it she is sorry...

 

[indyblue]

It looks nice. The slight pitting wouldn’t bother me at all as long as it was fully functional.

 

[Mongo59]

Fully functional as the factory intended save the little pin that keeps the takedown screw from coming all the way out rusted to where it came out in flakes so I used a piece of a straight pin. The trigger is a bit stiff with the new bluing but I will work that out.

 

[Mongo59]

And a FYI, when taking the mag tube out, get a brass punch the same diameter as the nose of the loading port on the tube, stick the punch in at a right angle and pull away from the receiver. If it is too tight then gently tap on the side of the punch, not the mag tube, to get it to work free.

 

[Mongo59]

Oh, and a stuck takedown gate on the left side of the receiver, use a plastic mallet and tap on the plate at an angle in the direction it should go. It will take time but there will be no idiot marks when you put it back together.
I put the barrel down with the right side of the receiver flat on the palm of my left hand and tap the gate at a 30-45 degree angle until it comes free. Think of your self as a flint napper, how hard is not the goal but the placement of the blow.
If your already has idiot marks I place a piece of emery cloth on a flat surface and using 2 fingers gently rub it back and forth until the blemish is removed. It is the bottom of the angled sides that keep the gate in place so this will not harm the fit of the piece. Of course, rebluing will be necessary.

 

[shootersix]

I saw a armalite ar180 once sell for 1200 bucks after all the rust had been removed, it was kept in a hard plastic case, with egg crate foam touching it, stored under a bed…I wept at the sight…

Probably a 2 thousand dollar gun before the rust!…the funny thing was, the guy bought it to prep for y2k…and after nothing happened he just left it under the bed till he died!