restoration of a Model 11 with pitting

J

Jim

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This is my first post on this forum as my passion with guns is with original kentucky rifles and my techniques probably wouldn't work with modern firearms alloys. Anyway I met a guy who wanted to restore his father's model 11 which needed to be reblued and had "extensive" pitting. He mentioned adding molten nickle to the pitts and rebluing over that.

I have restored muzzleloaders missing a lockplate by welding additional metal onto old lockplates, filling any pits with additional nickle rod and shaping/draw filing the plate to fit the lock mortise. He concluded I didn't know what I was talking about and stomped off. He's right. I know nothing of modern gunsmithing or modern firearms. (The latest addition to my collection is a Mossberg Brownie.)

What was the guy talking about? Can one nickle plate a pitted receiver and reblue over that or can one use black nickle plate to cover pitts and emerge with a new looking gun? Any additional knowledge would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim
 
I would be surprised if that would look decent. Of course Nickle won't take blue, and black nickle plating won't match bluing.
As for proper technique, I'd suggest one of the dedicated gunsmithing boards for more expertise.
 
I'd have serious doubt about coming out with a new looking gun if the pitting was serious. Molten nickel, eh......hmmm. I can't see it. In the first place, if it was welded, depending of course on where it was welded, the distortion could cause serious problems just to get the metal in there. If it were plated, which wouldn't create enough heat to cause problems, the precision of the slides, if any were affected, would be ruined unless they were masked off (common practice, actually). And to do nickel, you normally flash a little copper to give the nickle something to stick to. Then you'd have to remove it from everywhere except the pits, by some means. Doesn't sound very practical, but I'm just a machinist, not a smith. The gun should have been taken better care of.
 
If you see him again remind him he will need a new fiber cushion, and someone with the tooling to install it. You're better off when people like that stomp off, you probably could not have pleased him anway.
 
Thanks guys. Actually his remark about molten nickle prompted me to recollect that I used Bronell's nickle rod with gas to add some metalto my mild steel lockplates which I blurted out without thinking about heat distortion, compromising temper, etc. Certainly my remark indicated my lack of knowledge about working with modern weapons. On the other hand I'm not certain his idea was viable either for the reasons you all cited. I may contact a dedicated gunsmithing forum and see if his idea has any merit.
Jim
 
The only proper way to do that job (if the pits are really severe) would be to weld in the pits and than do an extensive repolishing/contouring after the fact. It will take a good hand with a tig, or oxy acetylene to do that job. For a gun that in decent shape wouldn't sell for much more than $300 in most parts of the country it really isn't worth the $1000+ it would cost to get this work done right. If he was really dead set on the job it might make more sense to find a parts receiver of the same vintage and simply do a swap on the other (better conditioned parts) and than save the original receiver for posterity. You probably could find another receiver for $100 or less.

Of course if he has the money and doesn't mind paying $1000+ to build a $300 gun than I say go for it.
 
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