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Rusted Western Field

Link

Silver $$ Contributor
My neighbor gave me a old Western Field 22 and it has a lot of surface rust.
I would like to do a cheap restoration, maybe wire brush and paint. The finish on one side of the stock is bleached out and pealing.
I want to save this rifle because of sentimental value.

What would you do with this rifle ?

Thanks Link
 
Kroil and a small brass brush . Wet it with kroil and then us a small brass brush in a circular motion Brass brush normally don't remove the blueing like steel wool .Larry
 
If the rust is heavy take an old cartridge case and flatten the bullet end with a hammer. Then use light oil and literally scrap it down going in one direction only. It wont take the remaining bluing off but does a great job removing the rust only and then steel wool it.
 
Just scrub it down with Kroll on 0000 steel wool. You have to get very aggressive to harm existing bluing with this and where there is rust, the bluing is gone anyway. This is and has been the accepted and most common way of doing this for a very long time and it's still best. A bottle of cold blue will make it quite presentable for a while, when done but is no replacement for hot bluing. Of course the stock will need sanding down and refinished.
 
Bronze wool and a light oil will remove the rust. Bronze wool is strong, soft enough to minimize damage, and unlike steel wool, will not leave behind the little stragglers that rust.
 
If it's rusted badly on the outside I would be very interested in what the bore looks like inside. dedogs
 
If it's just surface rust and you would like to re- blue, then I would suggest using muriatic acid to remove the rust and bluing. After rust and bluing removal, do a rust blue, and the rifle will be restored to its original finish. I have done this on several guns, some never even polished after the cleanup with the muriatic acid.

Just my 2¢
 
I haven't done anything with it yet however I think there will be pitting.
My son is a good wood worker being he worked restoring wooden boats
for a few years. He is 47 now and we still like to do projects together. We do a 6 pack night once a week LOL.
thanks Link
 
I haven't done anything with it yet however I think there will be pitting.
My son is a good wood worker being he worked restoring wooden boats
for a few years. He is 47 now and we still like to do projects together. We do a 6 pack night once a week LOL.
thanks Link

I like the 6 pack evening. Wish I could get one of my grandkids interested in this as a hobby.
 
My neighbor gave me a old Western Field 22 and it has a lot of surface rust.
I would like to do a cheap restoration, maybe wire brush and paint. The finish on one side of the stock is bleached out and pealing.
I want to save this rifle because of sentimental value.

What would you do with this rifle ?

Thanks Link
Basic electrolysis, cathode and anode rust removal. Simple and effective.

Adam
 
Look it up. That's certainly an interesting little rifle. I wonder how many young shooters got one of these under the Christmas Tree.
 
You can see where the ol girl sat in several inches of water for who knows how long. It was hard to get a picture of the rust, but you have a idea.!

Linkcohen +W.F. rifle 007.JPG
 
Looks like your first concern should be the bore, interior of the action, bolt and internal working parts.
 
Ive seen worse Link those boat guns take a beating.
check the bore and see if you can clean the inside up as suggested, unless you want to use it as a wall hanger.
 
My neighbor gave me a old Western Field 22 and it has a lot of surface rust.
I would like to do a cheap restoration, maybe wire brush and paint. The finish on one side of the stock is bleached out and pealing.
I want to save this rifle because of sentimental value.

What would you do with this rifle ?

Thanks Link
Flitz does a nice job on surface rust..... Can still preserve some of the existing bluing.
 

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