Cleaning/preserving a civil-war era gun?

FoxholeAtheist

FoxholeAtheist

Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
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Okay, I know I don't have enough information right now to give you folks all you're going to want to know, but I'll have more tomorrow and I wanted to get the ball rolling on this.

My new stepdad wants to hang his grandfather's civil-war rifle (?) on the wall as decoration, but he'd like to "clean it up" a little before doing so. I've not seen it yet, so I don't know what condition it's in, but I understand that it was formerly kept in a basement for a long time and has some rust on the barrel/mechanism and that the stock has already cracked some from drying. What I'd like to know is what we could do to either clean it up some or at least to stop it from deteriorating any more than it already has. We've heard recommendations of lemon oil for the stock, and a rub-down with Rem Oil for the barrel, but I'm very hesitant to do anything that will make it worse, so I thought I would ask for recommendations.

So... whatdya think?
 
If the stock is damaged I suggest you head over to the makers section and ask R Linger about it. Before he became a full time knife maker he used to make rifle stocks.
 
No disrespect to anyone involved, but I'd strongly recommend taking it to a professional.

More guns are ruined by unskilled, over-enthusiastic "repairs" than are spoiled by Father Time.

Think "Sandpaper."

Think "Spray paint."

Think "A bucket of 3-in-1 oil."

Think "Screws destroyed with 99p screwdrivers."

:barf:

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
No disrespect to anyone involved, but I'd strongly recommend taking it to a professional.
Click to expand...

Let me second that. You wouldn't mess around with a 200+ year-old painting that suffers from dulled colors or something yourself either, now would you?
 
And make sure she's not loaded! There have been a number of cases of muzzle-loaders of this era being hung up fully charged, and the black-powder, if dry, is still quite capable of firing.
 
Definitely find a professional, and not your local gunplumber either. You're looking for a specialist in the preservation of antique firearms. Failing that, you're better off doing nothing at all to it. Your stepdad can always tell people that the rust is the dried blood of a yankee/rebel soldier his grandfather killed.
 
Well, my first comment when asked about it was that I wouldn't want to do ANYTHING that would make the current situation worse, and suggested finding a pro. I don't know if they want to put that much effort/money into restoring it, but I'll pass on your advice. I think the "hang it on the wall as-is" camp will probably win out.

Thanks much!
Fox
 
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