# Stevens Favorite Project on Deck...



## Sharps40

for examination and determination of which direction they will go.

Up top is a 1915 Stevens Favorite, .22 LR Boys Rifle.  Pretty good shape for nearly 100.  Action is reasonably tight and functions.  Tangs are slightly bent and hopefully they will reshape w/o breakage but its cast iron, we shall see.  Heat in indicated in any event.  Stocks are gone, not much good except for patterns.  I have some nice walnut handy in the form of custom Mauser stocks that won't be used due to cracks and breaks forward of the wrist so I have some close measurements to do and see if a new buttstock and matching forend can be carved from this excess wood.  One is very well figured Cali walnut....cross yer fingers.  For now, I gotta scrub the bore and determine if its a shooter as is or if it needs a new barrel....some elbow grease and a bit of bench time will tell the tale.  The future for this one, if sound, is a total restoration to shooter/hunter condition.

Down below, an 1893 Mauser bolt action and its rather poorly executed 1960s style stock.  The action looks good, might need a fireing pin, we'll see, looks a bit short but it is possible to fix that as needed w/o welding up a new tip.  Action is already drilled and tapped for scope and appears to be straight and even, lets hope it is, otherwise, that'll need fixed too or custom scope mounts.  The bolt handle is well executed, appears professionally installed, and it already has the Dayton/Traister 70 degree scope friendly safety on the shroud.  This is a Spanish Mauser and comes with the left side gas vent (which was pretty much absent on most any other mauser than the 93).  Further examination should determine this is a fine action for a custom rifle and I think it'll be classic 7x57 Mauser caliber when finished.  I plan to use a Richards Microfit blank, probably the American Classic style and a 21" barrel for a light handy rifle that can range to 250m with ease.  Unfortunatly, the stock is poorly executed (and pretty much late 60s early 70s square forend and rather clublike overall- the thick clubby shape remeinds me very much of the factory Savage rifle stocks.) with gapped (undersize) maple inlays and heavily oversanded at the heel of the wrist and over the top of the MontiCarlo cheek piece.  In addition, the stock was split thru the wrist at one time with a glue but no pin repair.  Unfortunate because this stock could have been plained down to a slimmer style.  It has pretty nice grain but with the damage, it'll probably serve only as a source of forends or pistol grip/knife grip blanks.

In the meantime, I need to make up my supplies list, complete planning the repair journies for both and offload a couple custom made tables that havn't sold yet and start gatherin supplies.  I spect I'll get started on these in spades near mid Feb after the gun cabinet is completed and the Bat Cave thoroughly cleaned and dusted.


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## Sharps40

Well now...gettin excited....plenty good rifleing right out to the muzzle.  No rust in the chamber.  Some pitting in the bore but I've had much worse shoot just fine.  Patches don't grab or get shredded so some PB blaster and an oversize bronze brush wrapped in 0000 steel wool and its not so dark in there anymore.  It might just be a shooter barrel.  If so, that'll make me really happy, keeps more of the originality on this old Stevens.  Might need a crown, but first step is to dig out the bullet trap and test it out one night this week in teh yard...another night, one of them 70 degree nights that are predicted for early this week.











Fortunatly, rooting around in my stuff boxes turned up an original Stevens Favorite rear sight leaf in good condition.  These are the ones with the lil tiny v-notch in em.  Well, they was made for lil kids vision, they don't usually have to wear bifocals.  But in good light, I can still see it well enough to get an idea if the barrel is good enough to go.  Also rounded up a reproduction Favorite Elevator to match the sight...banged em in and I'll report back (hopefully this week) on the suitability of the barrel.


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## Sharps40

More good news on the Stevens Favorite.  Guts are basically good.






Here arranged in shooting position...at this position, cartridge is fired.  Lower the lever and the triangle between lever and breech kicks the hammer back to half cock.  Simultaneously, the extractor/ejector cams over the breech screw and kicks the spent shell free.  

Critical to these actions are the two pins that connect the breech, to triangle to lever.  The design is such that when the lever is closed, the pins and their associated parts are slightly bound by being cammed just over center.  These pins are serviceable but loose.  I'll replace them for a better fit.  Note, everything but the pins and screws is cast iron (frame) or case hardened steel (guts).  Gentle work is indicated.  Trigger jobs are destructive unless the parts are rehardened.  These are fine, and safe in function...no need for molesting the case hardened skin on the parts.






The extractor face is a bit battered...but it may be salvageable.  If not I'll make an extractor (non spring loaded) by hand from cold rolled steel and case harden it after cutting the lip with a chambering reamer....If at all possilble I'll save this extractor first.  But I've made dozens of extractors for these old fellas and they all are still in service years later with nairy a complaint.






Other than that, there is one screw which is a bit worn.  I will either have to make a new screw or retap and/or bush and tap the corresponding hole in the frame.  

After that, and if it shoots well as is, this will be primarily a cosmetic restoration.


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## cmshoot

Outstanding!  I'll be following along with these projects.


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## Sharps40

Just waitin to hear on a nice piece of walnut already carved into a stevens favorite stock for $30....if available, saves hours and hours of work.


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## Whiteeagle

Sharps40, I restored an old Stevens 101 take down similar to your rifle several years ago. It was a basket-case in a brown paper bag. This little gun was marked as a 44-Shot and has a 2 1/2" chamber. Research showed it as being the fore-runner of the .410. I enjoyed the restoration very much, and I think YOU will also as you put the "life" back in the little gun! Mine is a SHOOTER as well as a display. I am sure yours will be the same! Keep us posted as you go, and if I can help find parts, etc just let me know. GOOD LUCK!!!


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## Sharps40

Thanks.  I'll prolly keep the 1894 Favorite I redid for Mom but all the rest have gone on.  Mostly, I do these projects for fun now...trade into new projects occasionally.  Sold my collection down to only what I use, all the rest was fluff and too much logistics to maintain, it became a burdon rather than a joy.  Now, though, much happier and a better shooter too...very familiar with what I kept and plenty of time left for projects!


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## Sharps40

Good news....figured walnut stock, semi inlet is on the way...$29 and no carving to do on the butt.  I believe it will match pretty well with a chunk I have here for a forend.  I'll know in a week or two.  Standing by with fingers crossed.


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## Sharps40

Just got in and look what was waitin....nice walnut for the Stevens Favorite redo.


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## Knotwild

If you can find a copy of the January 2013 edition of Rifle Magazine (sister publication of Handloader Magazine) they had a great article on the same project you are doing. They replaced the barrel and showed how to make a modification that provides a tight join between the receiver and barrel.


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## Sharps40

Cool, I'll look for it.  Betcha the joint trick is knurling the barrel at the chamber end?


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## Knotwild

Sharps40 said:


> Cool, I'll look for it.  Betcha the joint trick is knurling the barrel at the chamber end?



No. The barrel was shot out, so he ordered an octagon replacement from Brownells. Then he took a piece of angle iron and shaped it so it was the width of a flat on the barrel. The portion along the barrel allowed him to put 3 allen screws in to attach it to the barrel. A short leg fit against the receiver face and it was attached there with one allen screw through a hole that he drilled and tapped. But, before he drilled and tapped that hole, he used a piece of threaded rod to permanently fill the original take down screw hole and filed it to the receiver shape to make it "disappear".  The forearm was fitted over the attachment system. 

Let me know if you can't find the magazine and I will try to scan my copy for you.


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## Sharps40

Hmmm.  I believe I would have just lathe turned the breech to fit the action and spotted for the take down screw.  Would have been a more appropriate way to replace the barrel.


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## Knotwild

Sharps40 said:


> Hmmm.  I believe I would have just lathe turned the breech to fit the action and spotted for the take down screw.  Would have been a more appropriate way to replace the barrel.



His reasoning for attaching it to the front of the receiver is that the steel is soft on those guns and that the original case hardening is very shallow; often worn away over time. Therefore the original setup could get loose again over time. He did it to provide the best accuracy potential, and the least worries about it ever loosening in the future, not to restore it to original configuration.


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## Sharps40

Well, I suppose.  I've always just fitted them up per original design, but with a bit closer fit on the OD of the breech.  None of them are 100 yard match guns, but then the were not designed to be originally either.  Squirrel head accurate at 25m is fine on these, its what they were/are for I think.


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## Knotwild

That makes sense to me Sharps. Plus your gun will still look original. I wish I had the talents and tools to do that kind of work.


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## Sharps40

Thanks.  Just gotta finish up a cabinet and get started on this good old gun.  I'm anxious to get started.


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## Sharps40

Okay, here we go.  Fitting a buttstock is not difficult if you are patient, have good sharp tools and a well carved/inletted stock to start with.  As for sharpeness of tools, if your chisel can't slide thru endgrain leaving the surface looking like it was polished with 600 grit paper, its dull and you need to start by learning how to sharpen them up and strop the edges on a leather belt.


The old oversanded and broken and the new fresh and oversized for fitting.  






With the tangs cleaned I check the initial fit, tapping lightly so as not to split the stock, its tight and the rub marks are carefully sliced away on the edges of the tang inlet with a sharp chisel.






I've sliced the edges of the inletting all the way along either side of the upper and lower tang, checking the fit, still a snug slip and time to polish the edges of the tang inlet with a file for the final slide.






The stock ears are oversize and need releaved to slide into the inside of the action.  Don't take the ears off, they serve to position the wood in the action too.






Simply bevel the ears lightly as seen on the left and then lightly tap into place to check for rub marks.






At this point the fit is about right and note, the lower tang is damaged, bent downward, likely by a fall long ago.






Pull the stock and lightly pair away the rub marks on the ears to a light drive fit in the action...light drive is nothing more than taps from the heel of your hand.






The fit now is at least as close as original, a very slight gap at the rear of the upper and lower tang, it'll close with finishing and snug enough that NO glass bedding will be required....simple sealing with true oil and wax will see this stock well fitted for another 50+ years.






Total time invested -- 30 Minutes.  Much less than the 5 to 10 hours needed for carving a stock from a blank and with time equaling money, a significant savings on a stock that cost $35 shipped.

Next step is to releave the inletting inside the wrist to clearance the mainspring sleeve and rod.

Oh yeah, I revised the shape of the lower tang, its straight and perfect now.


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## Sharps40

A bit of file work to clearance the hamer strut and spring for smooth function. 






Useing an original Stevens Steel buttplate from the parts box (I didn't reuse the home made leather one from the original stock!) First mark out and predrill the screw holes.  Slight counterbores are needed for the flange around the rear of the screw holes in the buttplate.






Note, the angle of the predrilled holes has to align the heads of the screws with the outer contours of this buttplate.  The plate was not a perfect fit but some slight shapeing of the wood later will ensure a perfect fit all around the edges.






And here it is installed, not too tight, still got a bit of shapeing to do down low at the toe of the stock to close a little gap.  There should be contact but no pressure at the toe as pressure is what causes the toe of the stock to snap off later, typically the toe will break when the rifle is grounded a bit hard by the kiddies.  So wood supports steel and steel protects wood..


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## Sharps40

Once the buttsection of the stock is shaped a bit smoother, just some file work, final fit the steel plate.  Progressively pull the screws up tight and tap lightly around the edges of the plate with a brass rod or small smasherwacker to shape the metal closer to the wood.  The last step is to file all around the steel buttplate to remove any unevenness and true up the edges.  The new stock is larger than needed so bring the edge of the plate and the wood closer to final dimension and shape.  For most of the rest of the finish, the plate stays on for sanding and part of the initial finish.  This gets the edges of the plate smooth, keeps from rounding over the edges of the stock where it meets the wood.  I'll seal the back of the stock later in the finishing process.  So, salvaging a nearly 100 year old buttplate to help keep this rifle period correct....not totally original (original was usually a rubber plate) but very close and consistent with what was availalble on many of the factory Favorites of that time.


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## Sharps40

Install the stock, snugly and lightly mark where the holes for the screws are to be drilled.







Top and bottom tang screws marked and dimpled for hand drilling.






Eyeball, adjust the angle of attack as you drill a tad at a time...use a drill matching the diameter of the screw shank at the depth of the thread.  The screws shall be oval head, single slot.  No flat head pillips screws ever allowed.  And, only flathead slotted screws on the buttplate as thats what it came with.






Lube the screw threads, hand soap, spit, greese, bees wax, what ever and carefully screw in the screws with proper fitting bits.  The upper screw is a straight shank modern oval head.  The lower screw is a taper shank oval head original screw, special drilling is required for a heavy tapered shank....






For the heavily tapered shank lower screw, the lower tang screw is drilled progressively with different diameter bits to various depths so the screw dosn't split the stock.  Only the threads are to bite the wood, the shank should not expand the wood.






The screw holes, tapped now, should line up with the tangs with the stock just touching or a whisker short of touching the action.  In this case, the wood just touches, a tiny bit of room for glass bedding later to keep the oil out of the stock end grain.  Oil soaked wood, and it happens to all of them with time, turns black and punkey in a few years.  A touch of glass bed is the best sealer for end grain there is.











Screws in and just a bit snug for now.  Good enough to go to the range with this weekend and determine if the barrel is good as is or needs work.  It'll need crowned for sure, thats next.


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## Gaswamp

wow glad I stumbled onto this thread


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## Sharps40

The original muzzle crown...rusted, worn and the muzzle looks round, that means the most important rifleing is prolly a bit worn.  Bad for accuracy, the most important rifleing is the muzzle as it impacts even release of the projectile preventing it from being tipped by early release of gas to the side.






I was trained by old men...that means handwork before machine work.  Learn to do it right by hand then learn to do it fast or ruin it fast with a lathe or mill.  I was also taught to recognize the differences in weapons and age and potential accuracy.  This ain't no PacNor Barreled Dakota or Cooper so, at 100 years old, hand tools (as proven on several mauser and marlin and rolling block and sharps projects) is suitably accurate with hand tools.  It would be a waste of time to set up a lathe for this recrown.  We want to get to tight rifleing, behind the crown wear.  75 thousands to 1/10" deep should do the trick....lets see.






A few initial turns with a proper pilot on this 11 degree crowing cutter.  A squooch of oil, clear the chips and back to pressing evenly and turning clockwise only to make the smooth chatter free cut.






Approaching 1/4 the depth of the cutter teeth, time to clear chips and reoil.  About 50 to 100 turns in to this part of the project.  Even pressure, not too hard and the cut remains chatter free in this old gal.






Here we are, a measured 80 thousands deep, I can see the pimples of the rifleing around the bore and if I'm past the crown wear on the rifleing, a bullet will be snug in the muzzle and I won't have to shorten this original barrel at all.






Looking good.  A fresh round of .22 LR can't be thumb pushed hard into the muzzle.  The full diameter of the bullet stops firm in the muzzle.  






Here, maybe you can see on the right bullet (unmarked bullet to the left) the slight impressions of the rifleing and a slight ring all the way around the diameter where the slug was marked because the bore is slightly smaller than the bullet diameter now.  With luck, this old gal has a good chamber (it looks quite clean), dosn't leak and will hold a 1 or 2 inch group at 25 yards for hunting and plinking.  We should know this weekend.


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## Sharps40

Couldn't wait.  And, based on an initial test fire and function test at 20 feet, this barrel will be mostly fine as is for a hunting and plinking rifle.  Maybe need to make a new extractor, may be able to fix the original, time will tell.

First two shots...CCI 22 CB Short....






And then 5 more CCI 22 CB Shorts, as good as my myopic vision and tiny v-groove sights will allow...






A better aim point and 10 each of Federal 40g target velocity 22 LR....






Not bad for 100 years old.  Who says Old Gals can't dance?


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## doublebarrel

Sharps40,You did a great job! Where did you order the stock from? thanks,Bobby


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## Sharps40

It was something like classic parts, can't find the receipt.  He only had one of these...I think he's just a fella with a bunch of left overs but I was glad to get nice walnut under $100!


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## Sharps40

The lead in (inside edge) of the lower lever screw has worn threads.  This is from years of improper assembly...first install the lever.  Then pull out the barrel, depress the extracter ejector spring and install the breech block screw.  That way, the screws are not cocked going into the threaded lead in.











Two ways to save it.  Retap the frame to the next larger size and make a new lever screw or simply make the lever screw longer.  Thats easy...and it retains the original screw and its original good threads in the right side of the frame.

To make the lever screw longer, simple increase the depth of seat for the head of the screw.  A scope base screw counterbore does the trick on the left side of the frame....Now the original screw bites into all the remaining good threads and pulls up snug like it should.  And plenty of meat in the left frame to hold the head of the screw...the factory screw head pocket is very shallow for these thin profile headed screws.


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## Sharps40

One each abused fireing pin.  A bit burred and gritty.






Low speed and don't shorten the tip but neatly round it over and smooth it up....1894 favorites had a chisel tip firing pin...1915 saw them switch to round tip.






Remove all the mushroom and flash from the hammer end too.  Might need to reharden this firing pin...it'll make it last a bit better and a lil slicker in the hole too.






After a light cleaning, ready to go back in place till final finishing.






Well, so far so good, still got plenty out front.






Backside looks much better now too.  Guess I'll harden it after all and put it back in with a new cross pin after blueing and finishing everything else.


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## Sharps40

All the early Stevens Boys/Bicycle Rifles were inexpensive to own and inexpensively made.  The Favorite is no exception in any 
original caliber.  Folks to this day persist in chambering them for small centerfires and 22 Magnum and even now, the hot 17s.  
Big mistake in my opinion.  Of the suitable rimfires, only the 22 LR is still readily available and suitable for the action.

As previously indicated, the action relys on two pins and a binding or overcenter relationship between the pinned parts for its
 lock up strentgh.  As such, a well fitted action will snap shut and stay shut when fullcocked.  It requires an unbinding or snap to 
reopen.  When they are worn, and in 22 LR, the fingers of the shooting hand do double duty holding the action closed by the lever 
during fireing.  There are two fixes.  Both implemented by the factory, both dooable at home.  Replace the worn pins with snug 
fitting new ones of lasalle steel or drill rod.  Add a compression spring and plunger to a cavity drilled into the lever boss.  The latter 
is much harder, even the factory only reserved this fix for a few of the rifles refitted when loose...as such, I've only ever seen two 
of the spring loaded levers in my life.  One is fitted on a buddies rifle now.  One is fitted on my mothers Curly Maple stocked 1894 
favorite.  The addition of the spring is a neat long lasting repair and if I had a mill, I'd attempt it here.  But, usually, a simple set of new 
and well fitted pins is sufficient.  


So, 100 year old pins to the left.  New pins of drill rod to the right.  Both pins were clipped long and finished on the ends in a 
drill press with a file.  Each of the corresponding holes in the breech block and lever measured .150".  The drill rod measured .154".  
A bit of polish was all that was needed to fit the new pins to a thumb push fit in the breech block and lever.  
(Incidentally, the original pins measured all over the place, about .135" at the largest...plenty worn and loose.)  
Final dress the pins to length so they are no wider installed than the part they are fitted to...






The new pins installed....they will be staked in place after final refinishing.  For now, an aluminum drift (nail!!!) is used to pess them in and out.






Once the new tightened up guts are reinstalled, the lever in fact snaps shut, stays shut when fullcocked and gives a snap when opened.  So, 
another good repair on another good old rifle, just the way J Stevens Arms Co refitted them way back when.  

Gettin close now.  A test fire.  A decision on whether the extractor can remain as is (tip is a bit rough) and then its all about the refinishing.


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## Sharps40

Looks like I'm loosin photos at the begining of the thread.  I'll have to try to rebuild those entries.


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## Sharps40

Folks typically over sand a stock during refinish and rub away the original features...in this case the bevels at the wrist were removed 
from the original stock.  Plenty of meat in the replacement so lets put the bevels back on.  Like a Marlin 338 the wrist should finish larger 
than a smooth curve drawn around the tangs.

First mark out roughly where the bevels should stop at the full diameter of the wrist...about 1 inch back from the action on both sides.






Carefully, with a sharp chisel, pare away most of the excess wood creating a cone shaped bevel pointing toward the butt.  Leave the
 stock proud of the action.  These were not closely fitted guns, keeps down production costs.  So just like a Marlin 336, the wood will 
finish slightly larger than the action panels.






Beginning to smooth up and refine the left side panel with a file.






Initial chisel work on the right panel.






The rough shape of the panels from above after the tang area of the stock is filed down proud of the tang edges.  
When the file kisses the tang, stop with the pareing down, leave some wood for final shapeing and blending.  
Refinement of the shape and panel angle comes with more file work around the tangs and sanding before finishing.






A look at the right panel and upper tang after a bit more file work to round over the approach to the tang and further 
smoothing of the panel.






The wrist around the lower tang being pared down till the file just kisses the tang, don't remove the SN or other markings!






A bit of smoothing around the nose of the stock at the upper tang to create a smooth transition from the tang up the nose to
 the top of the stock.


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## Sharps40

The view from below after some further shapeing of the wrist around the lower tang.






A replacement stock will usually be 1/16" or more larger than you want it.  Thats good for fitting a buttplate.  
To remove burrs that developed on the inside edge of the buttplate during the initial install and to establish 
the final size and shape of the steel buttplate and subsequantly the stock, reverse the direction of cut as shown 
and lift the tail of the file.  This puts a slight bevel on the cut, removeing the inside burr on the buttplate and 
pareing the stock into a taper that you'll extend from the butt forward during final shapeing.  When finished, 
go around the buttplate parallel with the file to remove the bevel and establish the edge of the buttplate 
perfectly parallel with the line of the wood that will be carried forward to the wrist.  The buttplate will come to 
its final shape at this time and dictate the final shape of the stock.  Strive for a pleasing shape.






The size of the bevel being placed on the buttend of the stock shows how much wood is excess to allow for some 
shapeing and final fitting.






A little finger under the end of the 12" long file is about the right angle for establishing the final shape of the buttplate.






And here, most of the rough work done.  Its pretty much shapeing and final sanding now.


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## Sharps40

This is very dense and dark walnut.  Read that hard.  Hand sanding the initial shape and form is out of the 
question.  Off to jitter bug land.  But we'll start with 120 to move the shape to perfection slowely and to 
prevent lots of swirrlies that have to be hand sanded out later.  The key?  Keep it moveing, use the entire 
pad and don't tip onto an edge and create a gouge.  Nice flat surface running forward from the properly 
shaped butt to the wrist.






Both sides power sanded to final shape and ready for handsanding and whiskering.






If you don't wet the wood, sand off the whiskers and repeat untill the wood stays smooth when dried, it'll 
whisker up thru the finish later with humidity or a rainy day hunt....finish destroyed at that point.  A bit of 
warm water and a low powered heat gun or hair dryer is what is needed to wet out the surface, swell the 
damaged fibers from sanding so they stand up and can be sheared off at the surface of the stock.  If you are 
sanding thru to 600 or 800 grit, waisted time, fibers compressed into the wood, sealer won't penetrate and 
seal and you put in unnecessary hours and still have a lumpy stock on a rainy day hunt.  220 to 320 grit for the 
final sanding is plenty for 90% of gunstocks.






Wet the wood all over and start to force it dry with the heat gun.  The formerly smooth stock will feel like its 
just machined.






Lightly hand sand, with the grain useing 180 or 220 grit paper.  Then wet and repeat.  Remember, don't bring 
the wood down below the tangs or action panels, two repetitions lightly sanded is usually plenty with the water....
save room for one more final sanding before the finish, see below.






This or truoil is for the final sanding.  Rub in a thin coat with yer hand.  Rub hard till yer hand feels on fire and 
the wood feels dry.  Let it set up 4 to 8 hours and when dry, gently cut the surface and any remaing sanding 
scratches that only slowely swell up in the whiskering process with worn 220 grit paper.  After this, yer done 
with sandpaper, all further rubbin is by hand, by 0000 steel wool and finaly with fff rubing compound for a dead 
level finish that feels soft and has a satin glow.






The freezing/sealing coat rubbed in hard all over...we'll seal the inletting and under the buttplate later.






See, couple marks that didn't come up till the sealer coat swelled em, the sealer is thinner than water and 
penetrates better when rubbed in hard.  These marks will come out too.





This buttstock should be done in a day or so.


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## Gadestroyer74

true craftmanship excellent


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## Sharps40

Lets not make a new forend from the buttstock.  Instead, lets save the original and keep this Ol Gal a bit closer to the 
Teens or Twenties when she was first made.

The crack is not too bad...gently open it to inspect for too much oil.  Gently so it dosn't spread before we can stop 
drill the end of the crack.






Not bad, I can see the end of the crack and know where to put my stop drill hole to prevent the crack from 
spreading further.






A 1/8" hole bored thru to stop the crack...yep, another hole in the forend just behind where at least two sling 
swivels previously cracked and tore out of the forend....be patient.






Its good, we stopped the crack before it gets to the forend bolt.  Plenty of strength left in this old forend...another 
100 years at least.






Basic supplies for this repair....if I was doing a wrist or the toe of a buttstock, I'd use Acraglas epoxie for a repair 
stronger than the wood itself.  This use of titebond will be at least as strong as the wood, if not more so for this low 
impact, more decorative than anything else wooden part.  Just a place to put yer hand and control the muzzle after all.  
We won't put a sling swivel back in it either.






I spread the crack a bit more, gently, even with a stop hole, its old, old wood and tender!


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## Sharps40

The glue and the wood at room temperature, let it run into the crack and out thru the other side.  Help the 
coverage with toothpics as needed, coat the entire length of the crack all the way thru.






Finger as a putty knife, force glue in from the other side.  






The wood will spring closed, an indication that the wood is still good, not punky or rotten, just dirty and abused.  
A clamp made of gorilla tape is all it needs. 






I'll leave it set for 24 hours before doing any hole repairs and before sanding out the name Richard carved on the 
Right Side Panel.


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## Sharps40

The foreend work was accomplished last night, posted this AM...plenty of time to dry up solid, so, hole repairs.  

We need some walnut plugs for a 100 year old forend and I have a ruined 100 yearold piece of walnut to cut them from...






The remainder of this buttstock will be used either for old hole repair, ala more plugs or for knife scales.  Either is a better choice than firewood.






I gathered the sawdust from plug cutting and sanding, mixed it with tight bond and used a 1/8" rod to pack the stop drill hole full of nearly color 
matching home made wood putty.  Once set it'll be there forever and reinforces the crack end of the forend.  The plugs are made and the 
counterbored holes drilled in the forend.  This provides a significant surface area in and across the crack where the sling swivel screws tore 
out.  Its also good for considerable additional strength and makes a fair looking repair...no sense tryin to pass this Ol Gale off as  Original or 
Brand New, 'sides, it goes with the character of the gun...some flaws expected in 100 years.






Paint the holes with titebond and paint the plugs and press them in...a twist to align the grain and a tap to seat them well.






A sharpe chisel and a small smasherwacker remove the bulk of the plugs.






After a bit of light file work...once the glue is set tomorrow, this forend will be ready for final sanding and a complete refinish.


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## Sharps40

Third coat of finish is in the wood.  This dense hard walnut buttstock took a bit of wet sanding with very fine paper 
to not only level the first sealer coats but to polish out most of the 220g sanding stroaks from the burled sections near
the butt.  Figured wood shows even 600g sanding marks...specially when its darn hard wood.  Forend is not as pretty, 
and still has some of its 100 years of blemishes but its saved and quite serviceable...its flaws tell of many squirrlies and 
bunnies in the camp pot.  But, finish on, finish dry, finish knocked level with 0000 steel wool and more finish on is the rule.  
I use about 6 drops per side for each coating, rubbed in hard and then allowed to dry before leveling for the next coat.  
Couple days work, mostly waitin for stock goo to dry.  Soon it'll be time to put the wood away in a dent free zone and 
start on the metal.


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## cmshoot

Great project!


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## Sharps40

Just about done with the wood.  Each coat of finish is leveled with 0000 steel wool...






Leveling deglosses, thats good but even though leveling leaves the wood feeling smooth, only rubbing can make 
it feel soft and fff will bring up a warm satin as opposed to a garish browning shine.   I can't explain the soft feel, 
but once you've felt it you know.






Still have to seal under the buttplate and the inletting but here's how it looks....almost good enough as is.


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## Sharps40

Just back from a marathon session of 38 Special loading and time to rust blue some small parts.  I'll get em stripped and started tonight...pics comeing.


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## Sharps40

Metal prep on one this old is a matter of degrees.  Short of a new barrel, it ain't gonna have a master shine.  
Under all that patina (rust) is a very finely frosted set of parts.  So, wire brush in a drill press does a nice job 
blending to a satin finish for rust blueing.

Here the parts just off the wire brush, and staged for the first heavy application of pilkingtons.







About 20 minutes into the first three hour soak and even with the humidity about 50% below where it oughta be for 
fastest rust blackening, some color is starting to bloom evenly on these old parts.  I'll likely move em inside and into a
 damp box for the rest of the weekend just to get the process evened out and moveing at other than a snails pace.






An the barrel?  Also finely frosted with micropits so, rather than loose all the markings, a 100g jitterbug finish to blend 
in a satin finish, clean the metal and sharpen up the old markings.  Blueing will wait for a more humid time of the spring, 
perhaps late march, early april when the garage is overing at least 60% humidity and 50+ degrees overnight.






But in all, a fine working finish for an old gun that will see some use and lots of Eyeball time above the mantel.  The action 
will receive similar treatment and rust blueing as its just a bit too frosted to be worthy of a polished finish.


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## Sharps40

Into the hot water after the first rust cycle.  All the parts nice red brown rusty ready to start becomeing grey and grey black then black...












Lots of fluffly black to remove after the first boil.  Grey and grey black underneath...these are comeing along quickly...






A third rust cycle, parts thinly coated with pilkingtons and returned to the hot iron boiling pot with a cup of hot 
water to raise the humidity....pan does double duty as boilerblackener and damp box on these less than humid days.


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## Sharps40

Old parts nicely blackened....about 5 rust boil card cycles....old steel works faster since there is no chrome or nickle to make the steel stain/rust resistant.






Buttplate installed with a simple coat of johnsons paste wax to seal the metal finish.






Looks pretty good...satiny just like the wood finish....and it dosn't look gaudy sportin gal new either...it shouldn't, its 100.


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## cmshoot

Outstanding!


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## Sharps40

Temps up.  Humidity is up.  I'm home for a week or so...so back to this job - its rust blueing season in the South!  Finally!

Stampings on the frame and barrel are very light...too light for strikeing and polish...the markings would mostly disappear...so, 
derusting in preparation for a nice rust blue.

CLR, Full strength in a bucket.....let the steel soak...It works about like Brownells rust and blue remover...pretty much the 
same stuff...you can run full strength or dilute it for even slower action.  






After a 10 minute soak and a light rubdown with 0000 steel wool, much of the "Patina" comes off.  The surface is very finely 
pitted, it'll look just fine once the rust is out and the steel is reoxidized black.






Gently, gently, its old.  It won't be shiney new but we knew that up front.  It will have all its original markings and it will be 
a fine shooter for potting squirrlies and wabbits from time to time, and even for a bit of plinking in the back yard.


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## Sharps40

About an hour in the sauce and several rub downs with clean hunks of 0000 steel wool.

Most of the pitting is clear, 100 years of rust gone.  About 30 more minutes and a good rinse and then
the first coat of rust bluing solution to begin building the new finish.


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## Sharps40

Finished soaking in CLR and buffing with 0000 steel wool.  Pits and lettering are all cleaned out and the steel looks nice in a dull grey.  
Ready for final rinse.

Hot water, hot as you can stand it, inside and out and get all the gunk and crud off the inside and outside.  Ya could boil it too but use 
a pot separate from the one you'd blue in...no sense contaminating the bluing pot.






As with all rust bluing and bare metal, dry it fast to minimize unwanted coarse grained rust...see, this old iron is rusting right out of the 
tap...it should blue nice and easy.  A hot air gun makes quick work of water in the action ways and screw pockets that could later spot 
the finish.






Clean 0000 steel wool to knock back this unwanted coarse grain rust from the rinse...I only want the fine grained rust that is, the 
ferroferric iron oxide (Black) that comes up on the steel whether you rust blue with water and acid or with caustic salts in a modern 
hot blue tank.  This red rust, is ferric oxide and won't be pretty or durable or fine.  Its gone.






A lil Pilkingtons, wiped on very wet for the first treatment and that good Southern Heat and Humidity converting my garage into the 
Rust Bluer's Damp Box.






First wet coat on and the steel tarnishes and starts to oxidize almost immediately....about an hour I'll come back, put on the second 
very thin and dry coat and a boil tonight to see if I have the start of a very fine battleship grey coming up on the steel.


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## Nicodemus

Incredible!!


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## Sharps40

Coming along quickly and somewhat evenly.  Nicer than I expected for such an old piece.  What you can't see is 
inside the action ways and tang recesses where the bluing actually brings out the original case colors.  Oh I wish 
the action was in a bit better cosmetic shape, it would be lovely to rust blue this frame very lightly and have those
 long faded case colors come back to life where they would be visible...but I think the "Patina" took them away on 
the exterior long ago.


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## Sharps40

I think I'll let this first bite work overnight, perhaps into tomorrow evening before the first boil.  The rust is coming 
on strong though I have a bit of a light spot in the center if the right action panel...could be a hard spot, it looks like an 
outline of very fine pitting.  I'll see if I can't get it to even up some with aggressive rusting.


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## Sharps40

First boil, a good bloom of rust on the steel/iron frame.






Fluffy red converted to fluffy black, most of this will buff off leaving a thin coat of battle ship grey ferroferric oxide.  Just what I want, tightly bonded black iron oxide coming up slowly and beautiful and durable.






A rub out with degreased 0000 steel wool removes the fluff leaving only the strongest bonds in place...overall, just as expected after the first boil, light battleship grey and even and ready for a coating of sauce and rusting till dinner time tonight.


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## Sharps40

The second of 5 to 7 boiling cycles for this old frame...tightly bound black oxide building with each cycle of coat, rust, boil, card, repeat.

Just water...filtered to remove sand and junk in the whole house filter.  If ya have high chlorine ya might want to filter again with activated charcoal to prevent spotting or just use distilled water from the store.  I just use good clean tap water and an iron pot to boil it in.  Into the cool water, bring it to a boil and let it roll for 5 to 10 minutes to convert red iron oxide to black oxide.






Plenty of good black fluff on there...should be nice and even battleship grey under there now...very close to the halfway done point for bluing once a good battleship grey comes up.  Hard metals, rust and blue slower, irons and softer metals faster.  Slowest and hardest in my experience have been Marlin 336 mag tubes and Win 94 receivers.  But with persistence they blue beautifully too.  Plenty of loose oxides, only the ferroferric oxide is retained after carding with degreased 0000 steel wool.






Here half carded...nice deep battleship grey developing underneath.  Very fine grained and durable, only the best stays on the steel with the carding operation.  






Rust bluing is a rusting operation, just like hot bluing...water and heat in both processes convert red oxide to black.  Yes, both are done with bore and actions open...no pressure explosions and spattered hot water or caustics that way...neither harm the finest match grade bore...yer dirty bullets and overheated barrels cause more damage than any bluing operation.

Its rusting again now, should be able to do a third boil and fourth rust before bed tonight.


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## Sharps40

The fourth coat came up a bit more black than grey.  Its good news.  Thurs or Fri evening should see the frame done.  The lever is on its first overnight rusting and should follow completion shortly after.  Then on to the barrel and done.


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## Sharps40

Time to start assembly.  






Lightly greasing all the newly rust blued parts with Rig grease and installing the trigger return spring and mainspring stud.






Loosely install the barrel screw.






The mainspring assembly, the lever is arched, arch go's up.






With the hammer at half cock, install the lever and spring.  The spring sleeve is pressed home and into the groove in the mainspring stud to capture the assembly.






Install the firing pin and its cross pin.  Lightly stake the cross pin on both sides to capture it.  Remember, its old, not a hard smack on the SmasherWacker, Medium smush is plenty to displace a bit of metal at the hole and capture the pin.  Do both sides.






Install the hammer lever/lever link.  Also, gently stake this new cross pin on both sides.  Just a touch to keep the pin from sliding out to the side and tying up the action later if it becomes loose with age.


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## Sharps40

And now its starting to come together...looking good.  This old piece of highly figured walnut has a flaw or two to match the scuffs and pits in the barrel and action...a lil chip trying to come off at the toe of the lower tang...but its tight and I won't pry it out to glue it back in.  To do so will tear good wood and the repair will still be visible after refinishing.  Best to leave it alone, it'll mostly hide under the tip of the lever anyway.






The old iron or low grade steel action blued up a dark battleship grey.  It looks black with grease on it but a good color none the less.  I'm pleased...even the pitting and the scratch on the left panel looks "right" for this old gun.






The very lightly stamped markings are much more visible with the new finish.  Glad I did not polish, I would have lost these key markings and a bit of authenticity as well.






I would love to have the rest of this tree for making stocks with.






Fine pitting on the right action panel, not bad at all.


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## cmshoot

Gorgeous!


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## Sharps40

Looks more like a proper and complete action now with the lever in place.  Same process, install a new cross pin in the lower lever link hole and stake both sides lightly.  Then, after some RIG Grease on the parts, install it in the frame with the extractor.  If ya never fiddled the screws into place on an Old Favorite with the plunger extractor, yer in for a treat, specially with old threads and new blue...but its in and scratch free and all the tender threads in fine shape.






Ya can just see the little chip at the toe of the tang that popped up a bit while sittin and waitin for the metal to be done.  Occupational hazard with old or highly figured wood.  Sometimes they dont' show a flaw till ya got em done.  But its tight and I'll leave it alone.






From the right side






And then with the action open...






Time to get some propane, a turkey fryer burner, a black iron tank and some water...got a barrel needs rustin.


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## Sharps40

Propane, turkey fryer and a black iron tank fulla water....Barrel had its first rust after cleaning it up.  So, now to start the blackening process.






After the first boil, plenty of black fluff to scrub off...there won't be much black underneath this first go.






Mostly a bit of translucent grey after beginning carding with 0000 steel wool.






After the second rusting and boil, a bit more black..deeper, less translucent.  Even though and I can proceed with some confidence it'll blacken nicely over the next 4 or so rust and boil cycles.


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## Sharps40

Lets see...original frame finish was case colors....lost over the years so we rust blued it...some pitting and scratches remain.  Repaired the forend wood in order to retain at least half of the original stock.  Rubber buttplate was long gone but we installed an original Stevens steel plate in its place.  And a new wood stock.  This morning I did the 4th boil cycle on rust blackening the barrel.  The finish, upon carding was a nice light black and a bit translucent...like an old, old reblue.  I set the barrel up with the rifle and looking over the whole package, really fell in love with the look.  Overall, like a well cared for, well used and older restoration.  I like the look so much, I decided this would be the last trip thru the rust blackening process.






Fresh from the boiling water, a beautiful even bloom of black oxides.






After carding, I installed the old stock replacement Stevens style rear sight.






I put the Rocky Mountain Stevens Front sight back in.  The silver blade is long gone, long ago replaced with a hand rounded piece of steel.  I polished the edges of the blade lightly to expose a bright edge for aiming.






Lightly greased with RIG.  Photos don't do the finish justice.  I'll get it assembled and see how it looks in natural light for some final pics.


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## Sharps40

Final Assembly.  Barrel is in, retainer bolt tightened with a well fitting screwdriver.  I checked the lever, it snaps over center and stays closed just like new.  A good fit overall.  When these loosen up to the point that the fall open, its time for new pins....again, the factory fix was new pins and an over center spring and plunger added to the lever.  A rare fix since these were very inexpensive rifles and few could afford to ship them back for repairs.


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## Sharps40

The right profile.











Nice steel buttplate to cover and protect the pretty walnut.






Right action panel and a view of the original forend that was salvaged.











A Squirrels eye view of the working end of the rifle...






Overview of the left profile.






Another look at that pretty new/old walnut buttstock.


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## TrailBlazinMan

Very nice job! After the rust bluing was done did you heat the action up a little to let the oil/grease soak in?


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## Sharps40

Markings and a view of the all original action.  Even the original spring loaded extractor retains functionality.  I didn't get any misfires on the original tests and extraction was positive, so, except for the new action pins, buttstock and buttplate and sights, this one is as close to original as I could keep it.  That's fine with me.






A closer look at the left action panel and its action screws...how these got thru nearly 100 years with out being buggered is beyond me.






Barrel and sights.






From the underside.






Here is the slight failure of the stock we discussed above...a small chip raised up, but still tight, just at the toe of the lower tang.  It lifted in the time between final wood finish and installation of the blued action.  I left it alone, its plenty tight and I won't be prying it out to glue and refinish the entire buttstock.






One more shot of the repaired forend.  Two cracks opened, cleaned, glued and two tear outs from sling swivel screws repaired with walnut plugs.


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## Sharps40

TrailBlazinMan said:


> Very nice job! After the rust bluing was done did you heat the action up a little to let the oil/grease soak in?



Yes, oil or greese while still warm from the boiling.  Or, rewarm with the hot air gun as needed.


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## Gaswamp

one of my favorite threads


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## Sharps40

Glad ya liked it.  I love these old Boys Rifles.


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## leoparddog

how did you handle the inside of the bore?  You carded the outside..do you just run 0000 Steel wool patches through the barrel?  It turned out beautiful for sure!  I've got some old guns and have always dreamt of doing this myself, but I've stuck with cold blues.


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## Sharps40

You do not rust blue the interior of the bore.

But, at the end of the project, you handle the interior of the bore in rust bluing the same as caustic bluing....both boil the parts in water...so,

once the job is done, clean them with bronze brush, patches and hopes 9...then go shoot.

Cold blues are okay for touch up and screw heads but that's about it.  All they do is lay a thin (one or two atoms thick) layer of copper on the surface of the metal and then the acid in the mix reacts with air to blacken the copper.  Overall, any cold blue including Oxpho, is usually a poor looking and not long lived substitute for building up ferroferric oxide via slow rust or modern caustic techniques.

Practice polishing and rust blueing tools and steel scraps...ye'll prolly want to do a gun once you have a technique or three you like to use.


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## Sharps40

Test fire completed.

Here's the target work with CB Shorts first at 10 yards and dead center, then Federal Target Auto, a bit low and left and about as good as I can do with such thin sights.


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## Nicodemus

That is one fine little rifle. I really like that gun.


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## Sharps40

I think it'll be just fine for occasional squirrlies and bunnies and a few soda cans.  A pot rifle for those spring and fall walks in the woods/camping trips.  And, its sort of a wall decoration that ya can actually use occasional.


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## GLS

Great job on a worthy classic.


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## Sharps40

Thanks...goin to its new home this week.  Gotta figure out what the next project will be.


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## ASH556

Beautifully done!  I have to admit, though, I had hoped you were going to case color the receiver.


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## Sharps40

Not worth it.  All the polish and the work and then $200+ on top of it...pretty much way exceeds the value of the weapon.


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## buddy48

Wow.....that was a neat project. Wish I had the talent and patience to pull something like that off!


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## Beretta682

Unbelievable.  Beautiful work.


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## Lightnrod

Great job! Loved reading this thread. Wish I had skills.


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## boneboy96

I enjoyed the thread as well...great job on a classic shooter!


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