OT: Wet Beretta- a user?

Ad Astra

Ad Astra

Joined
Jul 30, 2004
Messages
3,833
I posted this in The High Road yesterday. Over 50 people viewed it, but I got no help. So I'm throwing it out here- where the people are known to be helpful. Thanks, guys. My point is, guns get wet or water damage sometimes. When is a writeoff? Or is it just fuggly til blued? It seems fine.... lemme know your .02.

Flood damaged Beretta 950 BS- how risky?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A neighbor whose house was wiped off its foundation (hurricane Ivan) salvaged 2 pistols from his scattered belongings. He's not a gun guy, they were given to him. One was a Colt 1903 .32 hammerless- was in a zipped gun case, soaked in salt water for days. Though heavily pitted, when I took it apart the innards seemed OK. He's trying to figure its value before deciding to restore or sell.

He wrote off the other, as it was in a holster. Said I could have it. I wasn't hopeful- looked pretty bad- rust, sand, crud. He'd wrapped these two in a rag with WD-40; may've done some good.

I thought I would try to save this little Beretta 950 BS .25. Quick search on the net said people liked them. Took me 4 hours, a lot of Ballistol, and rags. Now slide seems ok, hammer/firing pin go click, barrel tips up with a "sproing".

It LOOKS like heck, with no finish, but seems mechanically OK. Surface rust? There was. Springs, internal parts? Cleaned of sand & rust now.

Did I just get given a new shooter? Any risk in firing it? .25 is so anemic anyways. HP''s don't expand in .25 do they?

Did I waste my time cleaning it up? Or not?

Thanks for any input,

Ad Astra
 
ferguson said:
How's the bore look?

Steve
Click to expand...
Bore is fine- owned by a lady who bought it for an imagined self-defense need. Bet it was never shot. Had sand & crud, but now clean & OK. Lands, grooves seem undamaged, unpitted. Chambers a round OK.

Tx, Steve.


Ad Astra


Bruisee seems OK too.
 
If the bore and chamber are ok, and the action cycles ok, I'll bet it will be a good shooter. You could do like I did as a kid with my Springfield trapdoor .45-70; tie it to a tree, and pull the trigger with a string. :rolleyes:


Steve
 
ferguson said:
If the bore and chamber are ok, and the action cycles ok, I'll bet it will be a good shooter. You could do like I did as a kid with my Springfield trapdoor .45-70; tie it to a tree, and pull the trigger with a string. :rolleyes:


Steve
Click to expand...

That's a better idea than I had, I was gonna say give it to an Ex girlfriend/spouse to try first. :D
 
Thought of that... stick my hand around the corner of the building.

If the chamber & barrel are OK, no pressure worries, right?

The tip-up barrel feature is neat. You can safely unload it that way... makes one-in-the-chamber a safer prop. I'm 90% certain it's gonna be fine. Ballistol is great stuff. That and a wire brush...


Mike
Ad Astra
 
i don't know the first thing about guns, but i know that lil' .25s can be fun to shoot. My father, also not a gun guy, was given a little junkie .25 by my grandmother to protect my mother and I (yeah, i know. a .25 would probably do more damage to a bad guy if you fed it to him). Anyway, my dad just used it to target shoot. My dad's one of those people that is good at anything he tries. In no time he was popping match boxes off of a split rail post at several yards back with the junkie little saturday night special. I guess placement is everything. I would be willing to say that he is more dangerous at 40 feet with a .25 than i am with a shotgun at 20 (of course i suck). Mouse gun be damned, i think the .25 would be a neat little firearm to play around with. Heck, the mafia used to use the .25 in the days before firepower was an issue. .25 in the pocket, walk up behind your hit, pull the tiny gun and put a round in behind his ear. Just a small pop and a guy is dead in the street. Not noble or romantic, but efficient to be sure.

jake
 
Well, Jake... For fun only... but instead of junky, these lil' Berettas were well made, supposed to be reliable. Hitting anything with a .25 brings up practice vs. luck, the hole-in-one argument.

I can say this thing is so small you forget it's in your pocket. That doesn't happen with my almost-equally small AMT BackUp .380 or Colt .38.

More anybody on water damage or the .25 in general? They MAKE hollowpoints but at 650 fps they can't possibly expand, can they?

Frame is aluminum- no damage there.


Ad Astra
 
I'd look into a new spring kit for it...just in case.

I'd go ahead and shoot it...not much worry about the .25 going kaboom on you. Sounds like you got a nice mouse/pocket gun at the right price.
 
It sounds like it should be fine. While ratty looking, it will make a fun "toy". If you want, have it re-blued. Or, better yet, get some Brownell's Oxpho-blue in either liquid or cream form and hand blue it yourself. The cold blue will make it more presentable and help protect the metal a bit. Sure...it won't look like new, but maybe you don't want to spend many bucks on it either.

Beware the ricochet potential of .25acp ball. I cought a round in the belly once from a 950 that had ricocheted off of a tree stump. Stung a bit and glad it didn't hit me in the face. I figure I'll get that 950 back from my mother someday to play with again.

Jeff
 
The Jetfires are overbuilt Mike...no worries as long as the bore and chamber are fairly decent. They were never made for 25 yard target practice anyway (although mine will easily hold with 3-4 inches all day).

It sounds like a perfect pocket piece in that you don't ever have to worry about the finish since it's already trashed. Even better...if you ever have to use it and lose it.

As for hollow points...forget them...mouse guns were built (factory, not some of the little hot rods custom worked) for ball ammo and at the low velocities involved, you want as much penetration as possible and accurate shot placement. Some .25 ball is a bit hotter...but make sure you function test it well before you trust it for carry.

I have one of the older Jetfires...dates back to the 60s...as well as a .32 KelTec P32. Neither would be my first choice for a fight, but it's a lot better than nothing.

.
 
Thanks, nasty. Great to hear. It's completely in the category of better than nothing. Glad you like yours.... Will get some ball... Clip holds 8? 8+1 is a lot in something the size of a Zippo.

After I test shoot it I will refinish it- already have the stuff. Have cold blued several guns- best/cheapest facelift. This sucker will need a lot of steel wooling, but oddly isn't as badly pitted as the .32. Newer steel maybe.

Any links for the Jetfires? I haven't had to much time to look.

Thanks.

Mike
Ad Astra
 
AdAstra?

If springy parts spring, and pin parts pin, and bore and barrel are clean and un-pitted, and top clicks down on bottom tightly, you got a neat little pistol. Down there, you need to blue it, cuz you insist on having salt in your water.

Only real concern I'd have would be to make sure that you got every-damned-trace of salt residue/powder/flavoring/memory off the metal...through soaking in something (I don't know what...gun cleaner, whatever...so that you don't have hidden corrosion the next humid day you take the pistol out. THEN blue/brown/parkerize it.

I love those little guns...they are made to make you smile.

How is the new life-style working for you?

Be well and safe.
 
Kismet said:
AdAstra?

If springy parts spring, and pin parts pin, and bore and barrel are clean and un-pitted, and top clicks down on bottom tightly, you got a neat little pistol. Down there, you need to blue it, cuz you insist on having salt in your water.

Only real concern I'd have would be to make sure that you got every-damned-trace of salt residue/powder/flavoring/memory off the metal...through soaking in something (I don't know what...gun cleaner, whatever...so that you don't have hidden corrosion the next humid day you take the pistol out. THEN blue/brown/parkerize it.

I love those little guns...they are made to make you smile.

How is the new life-style working for you?

Be well and safe.
Click to expand...

Kismet? Thanks for looking...

All the springs work fine- dirty, not much rust. Submerged Beretta in Ballistol first, then used Hoppes spray and some Remington crud cutter. Lots of sand came out of it.... it got wet, but not submerged. Sadly, I do know what happened. It was in the peoples bedstand, and when the house washed away all the... well everything... would up in a wet debris pile. Actually not a pile, was spread out. They left a house, came back to a concrete slab, and the car they left there was found 90 feet away. 15 feet of water took it out. I only had 10 feet of surge where I am, and a house on half stilts.

New lifestyle is great... 5 weeks sober. I credit the Campral and the support from everyone, yourself included. Thanks. Having sworn an oath on my khukuris... :eek: the path is clear. Enjoying finding more money to spend and getting more work done.

Going to shoot this toy later. I guess they are good for nothing but fun. Intrinsically better than a job-related gun, I guess.


Mike
Ad Astra :footinmou
 
Mike, you will inevitably get a wave of .25 caliber sneerers if you mention the caliber anywhere...

except from a person you are pointing it at.

Yes, there's a bunch of better, bigger, faster, harder-hitting....etc. calibers, but NO ONE wants to be shot by a .25 caliber pistol.

And, you can carry it anywhere, from pocket to a clip on case.

One site I looked at, but didn't save, had a reviewer talking about hitting 9 out of 9 with the .25, versus 6 out of 8 with a Kel-tec .32. I dismissed it as just more internet nonsense. But, he had a point: he hit with it.

It is a well-made, dependable, and efficient pistol.

Congratulations on your on-going recovery.

Now, stop smoking.
 
There's a product out there called the 'Dunk-Kit', basically a bucket full of cleaning fluid/lubricant. Field-strip a pistol and leave it submerged for a day or three, removes even the worst fossilized crud (the finish too, if you overdo it, not that you'd lose much in this case). Works great for my BP Remington revolver "Auld Sootie". Might be more than you want to spend for a free gun, tho. A Rubbermaid pan full of WD40 or engine oil would be a decent substitute.
As mentioned above, the .25 will kill a man just as dead as anything else, close-up and smartly aimed. Have you considered frangible loads? Glaser and Mag-Safe make 'em in .25; another outfit 'Sinterfire' makes bullets out of compacted powdered copper. Don't know anything else about them but worth taking a look.
 
Kismet said:
Mike, you will inevitably get a wave of .25 caliber sneerers if you mention the caliber anywhere...

Now, stop smoking.
Click to expand...

I would like to immediately state I don't want to be known as a ".25 shooter". Uggh. No matter what. That's up there with mopeds and fat girls. I'll throw the Beretta back in the bay before that happens.

Bury me with my SIG P229 in .40, pls. Or my 1911 A1 WII vet.

Speaking of my burial, I will go on Zyban or Wellbutrin or something to stop smoking. Maybe accupuncture or hypnotism.

Wandering threads ARE traditional.... but at least I'm getting some answers on the toy gun. Finally got one hit on THR, and 70 views.


Ad Astra
 
Ad Astra,
I too prefer the larger calibers but I like my wee Erma .25 too and feel no unease in having everyone know it. As for mopeds, I have a Tomos I'm very fond of for buzzing the back roads, and I like my wimmins to have some healthy extra padding in the right places. Your remark obliges me to require satisfaction, sir :mad: .25s at 10 paces, rubber chickens full o'buckshot, take your choice and appoint your seconds. *hands over his card*
 
qubehead said:
..Your remark obliges me to require satisfaction, sir :mad: .25s at 10 paces, rubber chickens full o'buckshot, take your choice and appoint your seconds. *hands over his card*
Click to expand...
Well... I forgot to finish the line,

"... are great, but you don't want your friends to see you with them."


How about some rep points and my word to be more thoughtful in the future?


A .25 auto showdown is probably the equivalent of shooting bottle rockets at each other, something due to go down on my street in a couple of days....



Ad Astra :footinmou :footinmou
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top