Refurbishing


After soaking for two days in a rust dissolving solution the metal looks like shown in the picture on the left. Now grease and rust have been removed the damage is clearly visible. Proof mark, inspector marks (spangled Y) and partly illegible engraving (THE B*** AMERICAN ***) will be lost when deep pitting is removed by grounding, sanding and polishing. Given the fact that no marks of a craftsman can be found on this gun it isn’t of special value so losing the proof marks and engravings is acceptable.


Aligning the tool bit took quite some time since the cylinder is slightly tapered and the depth of pitting varied along its surface. Severe pitting and corrosion made this gun unsuitable for shooting but in order to maintain maximal strength and original appearance as little steel as possible was removed.

Polishing was performed as described earlier.
As mentioned above all springs and some screws were broken. The extractor pin, it’s spring and screw and the lanyard ring were missing and had to be recreated. The extractor pin was milled on a lathe form a large bolt and the spring securing it was made from the blade of a scalpel.

Below two pictures of the final result: