Remington Model 33 fixer upper completed! Pics!

[tractorshaft]

Hi,

I picked up a sad looking Remington Model 33 .22 S, L & LR bolt gun for $50.00, it needed a trigger spring and some TLC, the stock was dinged up and there were a few rust spots, not a candidate for "Restoration" but certainly had potential for a good "Cleanup". A bic ink pen spring was a perfect replacement for the trigger return spring with two coils cut off! I am teaching myself to checker and am going to finish off the pistol grip with a simple 20 LPI diamond pattern and it will be really finished!

Here are some before and afters for you!







I slimmed the stock down and formed a pistol grip, made a forearm tip and grip cap out of a scrap of ebony I had laying around and installed a "Faux" recoil bolt. I also used another piece of Gaboon Ebony for the butt plate. Here is what I came up with. It is a real shooter and I am happy with it. It will make a some kid a nice first gun. I did an "Antique Oil" finish on the stock and it needs a couple of more coats and a rub out to finish filling the grain. Its getting close to finished.

On the metal; I used gun-kote to refinish the bolt and cocking knob, along with reshaping the trigger, refinishing the trigger guard and action screw in satin black GC and a thorough, I mean thorough! Cleaning the bore of 80 years of lead and closet lint it shines like new , finally!.


I hate to "Bubba" up old guns but this one had little or no collectors value in its
"As found" condition.





Here birdy birdy birdy!


Homemade Ebony Grip Cap


Loooooong Barrel!

 

[Chawbaccer]

That is just the cat's meow isn't it
Nice job, that looks real good.

 

[nicholst55]

I'm impressed! It looks very nice, and you'll enjoy shooting it so much more now - pride of ownership!

 

[nitetrane98]

That little cove routing on the grip cap is a very nice touch. Much classier than just a flat piece. Is that a reflection or some kind of inlay in the grip cap in the last picture?
Very sweet. Who says you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear?

That ain't Bubba'n up a gun. Now if you had put an elastic shell holder on the cammo painted stock, trigger guard laser, flash suppressor, bayonet lug, bipod and chromed the barrel.........

 

[smokey262]

You are an artist and a craftsman. Beautiful work

 

[tractorshaft]

Thanks!

Thanks for the positive comments guys, this was literally my first try at this sort of thing. Hi Nitetrain, no inlay there, it must be a reflection, the grip cap does have a hex head screw inlet in there, I was surprised at how good the camera was at making little flaws JUMP out at ya! Ha Ha!

I have glass bedded and painted a few synthetic stocks, recently I became interested in checkering and bought a couple of books, some old blocks of walnut that of course dont have the compound curves that a gunstock does! I found out that the only benefit to practicing on relatively Flat stock is 1911 grips!

I thought I would buy some old beater guns from the local gunshops and practice on the real thing, well, you know how one little thing leads to another, ha ha! It was a fun, cheap project that I very much enjoyed. Truthfully, if I can do it anyone can, give it a go!

The real pleasure was shooting it for the first time, to tell you the truth I did not have a lot of faith that it would be a straight shooter. I was very pleasantly surprised that at 50 yards it put all of 5 round groups into less than an inch and a half with open sights, younger eyes would have done better I am sure!

Best regards,

Jerry

 

[BBBBill]

Very nice! I'm impressed and jealous of your natural skill.... But it is a happy jealousy. How about a shot of the butt plate?

 

[nitetrane98]

"I was surprised at how good the camera was at making little flaws JUMP out at ya! Ha Ha!"
I missed it but I think I know what you're talking about.

I guess it must be human nature. Whenever I do something like that my eyes go straight to a flaw I made that nobody else ever notices.

That ebony is fun to work with isn't it? Getting hard to find good black stuff.

 

[tractorshaft]

Hey Nitetrane,

I can see a few scratches where I should have sanded it out a little further, man, I must have been over that danged thing 5 times from 180 grit down to 320. On a "Real" stock I would probably sand it to 600. This is the first time I have worked with ebony, youre right, it is "Fun" to work with, the dust it forms when sanded is real odd and fine, almost "Fluffy" huh? I also found it kind of hard to determine the grain direction it is so black! Having said that, it does sand out and polish like nothing I have ever seen!

 

[nitetrane98]

Now what about that nice old settee? Any chance that used to have a cane back? I restored one very similar to that and had to learn hand caning. Turned out very nice but never again on the caning.

 

[tractorshaft]

Sure enough! They did a nice job of covering the back of it with the same material but I can feel through the covering that there was in fact an opening that would have probably been caned! I will be darned! We got this and a matching chair from the mother-in-law who got it from a neighbor friend. When she asked if we wanted the set I commented "Looks like it came out of a New Orleans Whorehouse! Ha Ha! She appreciated that remark for sure....

 

[krs]

VERY nice work!

There's a goldmine of old .22's that nobody wants much, and the Remington company made some of the finest rifles ever made in this country.

You get one of these old finish gone pieces and you also get good steel, solid walnut, and usually a great bore.

Give it the effort that you have and the result can be a nicer rifle than most any of what's available in today's market.

Congrats on a real keeper!

 

[samudj01]

Tractor-

What products, finishes, bluing did you use on this gun...it looks great and is a project I am planning to start soon on an older Winchester 74.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

I've got a Winchester 56 in about the same condition as your Remington was. I would love to do this to that little rifle.

-Steve

 

[Loggerlee]

That's a beautiful weapon,excellent work.

 

[Tophog]

Very nice job.
I was just given one, but without the bolt. If I can find one, your's is a good inspiration to get mine going.
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Where is the serial #. I can't find one on mine? Thanks.