Refinishing my shotgun, worth it?

[Pinned&Recessed]

I have one of those $85 NEF single-shots from Wal Mart. I bought it as a learner gun and it turned into one of the best trap guns I've ever seen. If you miss, it's your fault. That gun is eerily accurate.

The problem is the finish is a VERY cheap with thin bluing and color case hardening. It rusts very easily unless you keep it almost dripping with oil. I am wanting to possibly take this gun into the field and want a more durable finish.

I am considering parkerizing it, as I want a working gun, not a beauty queen, (not that it'd win any constests right now anyway). How expensive would it be to parkerize it and would it be worth it? Who would be the best guy to do it? Is there a better finish available?

I have some Norrell's Moly-Resin left over from refinishing one of my AR-15s. Norrells claim that the Military buys their products for refinishing. Is this finish durable for field use? Would this work as a cost-effective solution?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Dave McCracken]

It's worth refinishing is you think it's worth refinishing, this is a totally subjective area.

Brownell's carries a couple phosphate finishes, I believe they require about the same level of work to do.

Let me rephrase my first statement. You have a good shotgun that's eerily effective at trap,capable of fulfilling several roles, will last a long time and is quite inexpensive. You like it a lot.You'd like to pretty it up, and can do so for a small investment in time and cash.

Connect the dots....

 

[VG]

There are a lot of outfits that parkerize firearms, because U.S. military firearms were finished that way for most of the last century. The charge from $65 to $150 for a complete gun. If you take it apart for them, it is often cheaper.

I see you're in Texas. West Texas Ordnance reparks military rifles and may be able to help. He has an excellent reputation among Garand owners.
http://groups.msn.com/WestTexasOrdnance

You have so little into this gun, though, that one of the bake on finishes may be worth a try.

 

[9mmMike]

I used these guys for an 870 receiver. They did a very good job.

HotFlash

They're in Kali.

Mike

 

[Al Thompson]

Nothing wrong with refinishing - if you have the skills, the spray on finishes seem to be pretty good.

Before you do that, you may want to try a couple of coats of wax. Johnson's floor wax seems to be the best choice, but I've had good results with plain old car wax.

 

[SapperLeader]

If you want it to look prettier, I say go for the refinishing, those brownell sprays seem rather easy to do and I am looking into giveing them a try myself. If rust is your only concern, I can recomond blue wonder armadillo. It wasnt very expensive, and Ive used it on all my magazines, carry guns, and both my 870s. Its a waxy coat that acts like a raincoat and drylube. I really like it, and a little bit goes a long way. If the gun works for you like yo usay it does, Id stop worrying about what you paid for it, and consider the fact that its a very effective tool in your hands, that needs some rust protection so you can take it out in the field.

 

[anapex]

I just did a BPS receiver in GunKote from Brownells. As long as I didn't overspray and get it running it came out good. I think it was maybe 8 bucks for the can I got.

 

[mnrivrat]

It is highly unlikely that whatever you do to the finish will increase the value of your shotgun . So from an economic standpoint the answer to your question is NO .
If you want to spruce it up for your own satisfaction then go for it !

There are also a number of good rust preventitive ways to help if you decide not to refinish. A couple of them have already been mentioned.

 

[Kestrel]

P&R,

It's worth refinishing if you like the gun. You evidently get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It's worth more than just adding up the cost of the gun and the cost of refinishing...

After you have it refinished, you'll enjoy it even more.

Steve

 

[Pinned&Recessed]

Thanks for the feedback.

I think I'll try the spray-on finishes first. I have some of the moly-resin, so I'll try it first. The gun will be Colt Gray (think early AR-15 Gray), but I don't really care.

The other problem is that I let my brother go shoot a match with it, and when he gave it back, there was some light rust inside the chamber. I cleaned it and scrubbed it, and the rust is gone, but what in the world would cause rust inside the chamber? He wasn't shooting corrosive ammo either.

Is there a treatment for the bore to prevent rust in it?

 

[SapperLeader]

The bore needs oil just like the outer finish. Is it possible that the match was outside and the gun got wet or something?