CapnMac
Member
Unlike all too many of the "restoration" videos on YT, this one appears to be by a sensible person.
(I do question why they did not lever the mag out first.)
(I do question why they did not lever the mag out first.)
A 1903 Restored
- Thread starter CapnMac
- Start date
AlexanderA
Member
1. The internal parts (such as the springs) were in remarkably good condition.
2. After bead blasting, he should have Parkerized rather than blued. The pits would have been less evident.
2. After bead blasting, he should have Parkerized rather than blued. The pits would have been less evident.
3. The top of the magazine had to be exposed (by removing the slide first).
Dave DeLaurant
Member
Fascinating!
Since the external finish was completely toast, I personally would have started in with a liberal application Kroil instead of Ballistol or vinegar before attempting to drive the pins, though this dude's method obviously worked.
I don't know what he poured into the pilsner glass, but it looks enough like beer to give me the willies! I no longer leave solvents and drinks on the same table at the same time (ask me why!)
My first M1903 had a pitted finish under a layer of nickel-plate. The markings had been partly obliterated (the rampant Colt was completely gone) and the bore was sewer pipe, however the rest of the innards were almost like new. I replaced the barrel and coil springs, and had Ron Mahovsky remove the finish and replate with electroless nickel. It shot great -- I kept it for more than a decade before selling to a friend, complete with a spare .380 barrel and mag. He mostly shoots it in .380. It still functions well and holds a decent group.
I love my remaining Pocket Hammerless and shoot it whenever I can find replacement boxes to refill my .32 ACP ammo cache.
Since the external finish was completely toast, I personally would have started in with a liberal application Kroil instead of Ballistol or vinegar before attempting to drive the pins, though this dude's method obviously worked.
I don't know what he poured into the pilsner glass, but it looks enough like beer to give me the willies! I no longer leave solvents and drinks on the same table at the same time (ask me why!)
My first M1903 had a pitted finish under a layer of nickel-plate. The markings had been partly obliterated (the rampant Colt was completely gone) and the bore was sewer pipe, however the rest of the innards were almost like new. I replaced the barrel and coil springs, and had Ron Mahovsky remove the finish and replate with electroless nickel. It shot great -- I kept it for more than a decade before selling to a friend, complete with a spare .380 barrel and mag. He mostly shoots it in .380. It still functions well and holds a decent group.
I love my remaining Pocket Hammerless and shoot it whenever I can find replacement boxes to refill my .32 ACP ammo cache.
AlexanderA
Member
The only two Colt pocket pistols I have (Models 1903 and 1908) are issue General Officers' pistols. Too valuable to shoot.
SSN Vet
Member
Kroil is king!
OP
OP
CapnMac
Member
Made me wonder, too. Like maybe it had been electroplated, so a copper undercoat under a thin coat of nickle or chrome.
Mind, we are seeing this through several "filters" of color recording and rendering, too. "True rendering" is its own rabbit hole.
Jim Watson
Member
The bluing solution was shown only as sodium hydroxide in water.
When a commenter asked if there were any nitrate in the mix... as there should have been, it was just lined out and not answered.
When a commenter asked if there were any nitrate in the mix... as there should have been, it was just lined out and not answered.
OP
OP
CapnMac
Member
Yeah, I thought that, too. But that may be because he had the bluing to hand. Dunno.
Yeah, but, I probably would have put a drift through the witness holes, and tried to get it out, lest one find a "surprise!" round in the mag.
As a guess (and, from the shape of the bottle, too) it was CLP, a calcium/lime/scale remover.
OP
OP
CapnMac
Member
Now, I feel compelled to go read the Comments (which can be dangerous territory for one's brain cells).
YT has automated features to "moderate" comments, and, being robotic, have no nuance. YT also has some arcane notions about what is permissible, too. There was a recent "summit" meeting and creators were told that they'd get a Strike if they showed the loading--insertion--of a "thirty round magazine" (empty or full). They make rules on things they know nothing about.
1KPerDay
Member
Whaddayaknow, another gun with the exact same, even, greenish rust coverage, without grips. Maybe it came from the same “flooded cabin in Yellowstone.”
jar
Contributing Member
I do like my 1903s.
MachIVshooter
Member
Yeah.
I would have moly resin finished SOCOM black like I did my very worn Remington 51 .380 (on the right; the model 51 on the left is an unfired. 32 ACP in 99%+ condition)
Jim Watson
Member
Good job, hard to tell a difference onscreen. That .32 is the less common caliber; Mr Pedersen and Remington started out in .380 and emphasized it all along.
I know, all of these look hokey.
The videos must be very profitable to make it worth intentionally rusting something as expensive as a pistol to sand back out; not like a piece of hardware junk.
I know, all of these look hokey.
The videos must be very profitable to make it worth intentionally rusting something as expensive as a pistol to sand back out; not like a piece of hardware junk.
AlexanderA
Member
I do like my 1903s.
I find it very interesting that your commercial M1903 pocket gun is Parkerized. If this is the original finish (and it looks like it is), it has to be rare.
The Colt pocket pistol production was taken over by the government in WW2. Up to that point, the finish of the pistols was blued. In fact, the earliest government contract pistols continued to be blued. For the most part, these were M1908's (.380 cal.). The overwhelming majority of .380 General Officers' pistols found today are blued (such as the top gun in my picture, earlier in this thread). These were also the first to be issued to the generals.
The government production then shifted to the .32's (M1903), the overwhelming majority of which were Parkerized. These were generally held in reserve, and not issued to generals until after the war. My example (bottom one in the earlier picture) was issued to a named general in 1965. Also note that the government-issued pistols universally had wooden grips.
Your pistol doesn't have the "U.S. Property" mark, it has the synthetic grips, and also the slide marking is different. So it's clearly not a government-issued gun. Yet it has the Parkerized finish. Something doesn't add up. (If it was a refinish, it was extremely well done.)
Dave DeLaurant
Member
Neither of my remaining 1903s is fully restored. As far as I know, my Colt is all factory except for a new barrel from Numrich and a pair of repop grips.
My Swede (1907 Husqvarna version of the FN 1903) was an arsenal rework. I gave it the new wood grips, and since the front sight was missing I fitted a 1911 replacement. The lanyard loop is missing from the flip side.
My Swede (1907 Husqvarna version of the FN 1903) was an arsenal rework. I gave it the new wood grips, and since the front sight was missing I fitted a 1911 replacement. The lanyard loop is missing from the flip side.
jar
Contributing Member
Yup, it's a puzzle. There is no indication that it is or is not a refinish but all the markings are crisp with no signs of a rework. It is a 'tweener; post war but just barely, 1920. I haven't been able to determine if the early production commercial Colts were ever Parkerized. If this is a later Parkerization it is really really well done. My other 1903s are blued or one in white. The 1906 Type 1 still has the ghost of the original bluing.
AlexanderA
Member
Monac
Member
When I started gun collecting in the early 1980's, I was told that bright nickel plate was the usual technique for covering up pitting, like the example Dave DeLaurant mentions. It was said to be a "self-leveling" finish. I had no idea Parkerizing was good for that too. Learning things is why I come here!
silicosys4
Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
- Messages
- 3,692
These guys make millions of views per video. Thats easily $10k dollars in profits per video.
Totally worth ruining a thousand dollar gun for.
Jim Watson
Member
I will quit looking at them, then. Not much but all I know to do.
Tallball
Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 7,814
This one was nicely refinished. (It looks better in person.)
IIRC, someone had scratched their initials on it and the grips were ruined. I can understand wanting to fix it up a bit.
Whoever it was put a lot of effort into refinishing a pistol that already had no collector value.
After they finished, it still had no collector value.
I felt kinda bad getting it for so cheap. The owner appeared to think that refinishing it and replacing the grips would make it worth some $$.
IIRC, someone had scratched their initials on it and the grips were ruined. I can understand wanting to fix it up a bit.
Whoever it was put a lot of effort into refinishing a pistol that already had no collector value.
After they finished, it still had no collector value.
I felt kinda bad getting it for so cheap. The owner appeared to think that refinishing it and replacing the grips would make it worth some $$.
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flightsimmer
Member
Just a question for my personal education and information but wouldn't it be better to run the entire pistol assembled through electrolysis to remove all the rust first?
Looks very much like someone used browning solution on it. Danglers makes a very green rust that looks just like that when you card it off before it is neutralized and oiled.
https://www.logcabinshop.com/catalog.php?path=185_179_56&product_id=25925
Honestly that gun might have looked better if they would have hit it with a brass brush and some boiling water than what the "restoration" did
OP
OP
CapnMac
Member
Dunno. You need to get the electrolytic fluid in-between all the surfaces, which is complicated if any two given surfaces have rusted "to" each other.
During oxidation, the oxide crystals will form "out" as readily as "in."
As with electroplating, the "carrier fluid" needs to be in contact to get the deposition to occur.
Water is a rather large molecule as such things go. The reason pipe threads "work" is in having enough surface area to be affected by surface tension to resist water ingress at a given pressure. That's why we use soap, and similar solvents, they act a surfacents. Which makes them more "slippery" to get into small places.
Which is likely why they waited until the parts were out before dunking them in the beer glass full of EvapoRust. Maybe. Perhaps.
