philbert001
Expert
Well, I haven't repaired or restored a firearm in a few weeks now, and was getting bored. I knew my dad had this .22, given to him by a friend who had since passed away. I knew it had some severe water damage, (Rust and pitting), and was given to him, in a gallon ziplock soaked in oil. I called him and asked him if he had plans to restore it, and if not, would he let it go. He told me he'd have to think about it. He called me back, and said that as long as Phil III, (My 4 year old) inherited it, that it was mine! I said, "Works for me!"
He brought it out yesterday. I pulled it out of the bag, and this is what I saw
This was definitely the gun discussed in the thread about gunsmithing for a living. It came to me in a bag, not in pieces, but broken, because someone along the line attempted to disassemble it, and without knowing how to break the gun down properly, managed to break the takedown lever off. In their defense, (whoever it was!), It WAS disassembled/broken, at least 20 years ago, before the advent of Google and Youtube! (Makes me seem more capable than I would be without them!
After a little research, I found out that I can still get factory parts for this 71ish year old pistol! (I was quite relieved!)
Some of the pitting is what I would consider severe. Some isn't too bad. Luckily, the rust around the rollmarks is minimal at worst! I plan to be very gentle with this one. If the metal were restorable, I'd have it re-blued. Unfortunately, most of the pitting is severe enough that it's going to require filler to bring the shape back, therefor, I'll be duracoating this one too.
You can see that the spring lock retainer screw is destroyed. I soaked it with penetrating oil all night, and managed to break it loose with a pair of needle nose pliers from inside the slide this morning. It is now completely disassembled!
As you can see in the next few pics, the damage is all superficial! (Thank God!) The bore, chamber, and breach are perfect, and the inside of the frame is rust free! (Just looks rusty from the flash hitting the old filthy grease and oil!)
And one more, of mine in current state, next to a H-D Military, that a buddy of mine inherited from his Grandpa! (It needs a new recoil spring and a good bath!)
Thanks for looking! I'm new to the High standard .22s, and appreciate any input, advice, or resources other High Standard owners have for me!
I'll update after I get it stripped!
He brought it out yesterday. I pulled it out of the bag, and this is what I saw
This was definitely the gun discussed in the thread about gunsmithing for a living. It came to me in a bag, not in pieces, but broken, because someone along the line attempted to disassemble it, and without knowing how to break the gun down properly, managed to break the takedown lever off. In their defense, (whoever it was!), It WAS disassembled/broken, at least 20 years ago, before the advent of Google and Youtube! (Makes me seem more capable than I would be without them!
After a little research, I found out that I can still get factory parts for this 71ish year old pistol! (I was quite relieved!)
Some of the pitting is what I would consider severe. Some isn't too bad. Luckily, the rust around the rollmarks is minimal at worst! I plan to be very gentle with this one. If the metal were restorable, I'd have it re-blued. Unfortunately, most of the pitting is severe enough that it's going to require filler to bring the shape back, therefor, I'll be duracoating this one too.
You can see that the spring lock retainer screw is destroyed. I soaked it with penetrating oil all night, and managed to break it loose with a pair of needle nose pliers from inside the slide this morning. It is now completely disassembled!
As you can see in the next few pics, the damage is all superficial! (Thank God!) The bore, chamber, and breach are perfect, and the inside of the frame is rust free! (Just looks rusty from the flash hitting the old filthy grease and oil!)
And one more, of mine in current state, next to a H-D Military, that a buddy of mine inherited from his Grandpa! (It needs a new recoil spring and a good bath!)
Thanks for looking! I'm new to the High standard .22s, and appreciate any input, advice, or resources other High Standard owners have for me!
I'll update after I get it stripped!
To me, "To restore", means to bring back into good usable condition! I'm a shooter, not a collector! It wasn't in good, OR usable condition! If the pits were shallow enough, a proper restoration WOULD be my choice, but there are a few pits that are close to 1/8 inch deep! I don't think she can afford to lose that much material!
