unfunnyryan Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I am looking at rebluing my great grandfathers Colt 1903. The gun is in fine shape cosmetically, very superficial surface rust, and just about zero pitting. What does it take to reblue a handgun? Is it worth it to have it professionally redone, and if so, how much does it cost? Can anyone on here do it? I can have the gun completely disassembled beforehand and reassemble it my self (1903 is a pretty simple gun) I have already refinished the grips and hit some of the slightly rough spots with some steel wool and soaked it in mineral spirits to get rid of any nearly 100 year old gunk. I'll post picture tomorrow, but would love to present this to my dad one day as a gift to him, so that one day he will hand it off to me. Story about the gun: Found it in my grandmothers house, she had no idea it was there. Was found in a shoebox so old when picked up the bottom fell out. Original magazine(s) have not been found. Great grandfather was a taxi driver in NYC, and he carried it along with a revolver with him. He had a concealed carry before it was cool . Talk about original gangsta. disclaimer: yes I know I am not 21 but I am not possessing the gun and if it is fully disassembled is it really a problem? EDIT: Shit, how did this end up in the back counter? Meant to put it in gun crew. Move please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 if i remember this week, i'll call my girls grandpa...hes one of the gunsmiths for vances (except he goes in and picks up guns to take them home to work on them), and he has a guy that can do it...i had my grandpas turkey shoot gun blued, and that thing has a ~52" barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bruh Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 First off never try to refinish a gun yourself. The gun has lost value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 if i remember this week, i'll call my girls grandpa...hes one of the gunsmiths for vances (except he goes in and picks up guns to take them home to work on them), and he has a guy that can do it...i had my grandpas turkey shoot gun blued, and that thing has a ~52" barrell I was thinking of taking in the slide to vances to see if anyone there could get me some info on how much work would need to be done, if you could get the info for me that would be excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bruh Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 if i remember this week, i'll call my girls grandpa...hes one of the gunsmiths for vances (except he goes in and picks up guns to take them home to work on them), and he has a guy that can do it...i had my grandpas turkey shoot gun blued, and that thing has a ~52" barrell Lol Turkey gun with a 52" barrel huh. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 turkey shoot gun, but yeah...hang on. i know LJ took a pic when he came over for something years ago...let me try to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 First off never try to refinish a gun yourself. The gun has lost value. I have hardly done anything to the gun other than strip it of old oil and whatever dirt has mixed in with it. The grips were only re-stained, and turned out fantastic. I don't care about the guns value, as it is not going to be sold, but I still want the best refinishing possible on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/evan938/DSC02978.jpg?t=1225581406 im probably 5'10-5'11 barefoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 off topic: where in the flying fuck did you find that thing? Is that barrel really necessary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 its my grandpas gun...he bought it off one of the other guys at the turkey shoot we used to go to and i worked (running targets, cleaning up shells) saturday mornings when i was like 10-12. but yeah, its pretty necessary. if you ever go to one of the shoots, on a 15 man line, 12+ (if not more) of them will have them that long, and they're choked way they fuck down. i *wanna* say like .620" (turkey choke is .660), but for some reason, .580 is also popping into my head. but basically, you're shooting at like a 6x9 cardboard target thats 30 yards away, and theres 2 crossed lines, and its closest BB to the X. with my 870, 28" barrel and turkey choke, i was happy to put 50 BBs on the card. with that gun, its not hard to put 200+, and this is shooting either 7.5 or 8 shot head up to the turkey shoot one morning and check it out...its on agler road just outside of gahanna (east of stelzer rd) at the achbar grotto. get there early (7am) if you want to shoot competition early and not have to wait until later in the day. later people usually have to wait until the second rounds which might be 1030...practice starts at 8, you can get 3 shells and a target for $1 (last time i was there a couple years ago. i doubt its much more now), and money rounds start at 9. you can do regular lines, 15 man, like $1.50 or $2 to get on, win $10 or a couple other prizes, $5 money shoots, 9 man line, $25 1st, $10 second, $10 money shoots, $50 first, $20 second (IIRC), some lines you pay $3 or so and win a huge roast, or some big boxes of bacon, etc. they do it all for charity and everything extra after they pay for supplies and shit goes to it. just bring your gun, gun rest if you want (theres 2x4 cross bars you can set one on)...ammo is provided for each round, and you cant use your own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bruh Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Lol. You ain't got a shotgun boy, that there be a musket lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Lol. You ain't got a shotgun boy, that there be a musket lol 12ga! its fun to shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furloaf Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Definitely have it professionally done. A poor bluing job looks horrible. A good bluing takes precise concentrations and consistent temperature as well as proper surface preparation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty2Hotty Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 I'd check on the value before having it blued. Is this the Colt 1903 pocket pistol per chance? Last I saw one, they were in the $600+ range if all original. Check out midway USA for some cleaning products. I'd soak the slide again in some gun solvent and lube. You may get it pretty clean and clear up some of the rough spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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