Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Cleaning up a Winchester Model 1906 Pump Action 22

While Looking through my fathers barn I found an old rifle that was owned and used by my great grandmother. It is a Winchester model 1906 standard pump action 22. It is pretty rusty and has not been used in at least 20 years. I would like to remove the rust and make it look nice. Although I would like it to look nice I don't want it to be new looking. I want to see the "History" of the gun. I also don't want to send it anywhere and would rather do it myself.

Tanner Van Curan
only this occurence - North Yarmouth, Maine, United States
September 13, 2008

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September 18, 2008

Hi, Tanner. The first step is to stop the rusting by oiling it, and this should help you see its condition.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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September 20, 2008

You could send the metal parts to a shop which will polish and remove most of the pitting and re-blue the gun as new, and you could (or have done) refinish the wood to factory new or better.

That would cost a good bit of money, would make the gun worth less, and, of course it would no longer be the same gun.

I'd suggest you give the gun to a good gunsmith who can go through it mechanically to make certain it functions safely. He can also clean it up so that it still retains it's character but looks better.

If you really want to do it yourself, remove the wood and go over it with some fine #0000 steel wool [on eBay or Amazon] and turpentine [on eBay or Amazon] , just enough to clean it up but not destroy it's character. Then wipe it down with linseed oil [affil links].

Then clean up the metal with a stiff toothbrush and kerosine, followed by wiping down with a rust preventive like WD-40 [on eBay or Amazon] . A rough cloth like burlap will remove much of the rust without further damage.

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina