Hello Again.
Phase-II: Restoration begins..........
I sent the stock to be restored to fellow Forum member Philip Tom for repairs.
Philip restored the grip and trigger guard area as well as added the missing wood around the lock area. You cannot even tell any work was ever done !!
What a masterful job. (Thank You Philip!!!!).
While this was being done, I took the lock and let it soak in Krol Oil for a week. Then completely disassembled it and gave it a through cleaning with brushes and oil. The lock would not hold on full cock. But this was due to hardened dirt, grime, and even a trace of hardened black powder. The lock cleaned up well and functions well. Strong mainspring that still locks positively in both half and full cock notches. And a bit of a surprise that the cleaning exposed: Bot he tumbler and trigger bar (sear) have most of their fire blue finish still intact. Which makes me think that the entire lock may have originally been fire blued before the silver decoration was added. Hmmm. Anyway, very happy with the lock clean up.
When I originally sent the stock to Philip it still had the barrel intact. So after he sent it back to me I removed the barrel to clean it and discovered another issue. LOL There was a splice about 8" long down the center of the forend. DARN. I should have removed the barrel first before sending it to Philip. My bad. Philip could have fixed this also while the stock was there. There was no way to tell this without removing the barrel. Fortunately, it was a clean, lengthwise split and was easily glued together using ZAP Medium viscosity glue. Forend now holds firmly. All is good. Just have to re-assemble everything. I'll post pics of the finished gun next Post. Meantime, here is the cleaned up lock........
Rick
Rick
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