Have a Remington 141 in .35 Remington inbound. I got it cheap because the exterior has some pitted areas on the left receiver flat, just forward of the chamber on the left of the barrel and near the muzzle on the right. These will not "lightly polish out," so I am thinking I will just have to live with them. Am I missing any other options besides filing/grinding/stoning?

They can be filled by micro welding using TIG technology by a talented experienced welder.

This may be sacrilege, but you could Duracoat it in their black color that looks like gun blue and it'll fill in the holes and the gun will look "blued".

There is a lot of material to play with on those guns. Odds are it could be polished or surface ground clean and re-blued. You would have to take it to someone who blues professionally and ask them. In days gone by I've reclaimed some pretty horrific looking stuff.

Thanks fellas. Should have it hand in a few days and I will have a better idea of what I am up against.

You'll have to try and find it if you are interested but a while ago I was reading an article and the fellow was refinishing a rifle with duracoat or cerocoat or one of those bake on coats. Anyway, he had some kind of filler he used on the pitted areas and then applied the coating over it. Not traditional in any sense of the word but otherwise the only way to get rid of them is welding or grinding.

totally unsafe to shoot .. you can be charged with reckless negligence, now that you have been informed...

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quote:

Originally posted by drhall762:
You'll have to try and find it if you are interested but a while ago I was reading an article and the fellow was refinishing a rifle with duracoat or cerocoat or one of those bake on coats. Anyway, he had some kind of filler he used on the pitted areas and then applied the coating over it. Not traditional in any sense of the word but otherwise the only way to get rid of them is welding or grinding.

I have done this with a 10/22 receiver that someone had written their name in the side with an electric pencil. I used a JB Weld epoxy "Indestro Weld" because it is rated to 600F or so, anyway just fill in and sand down smooth. I had to fill it twice and as the first sanding I was not satisfied with (don't remember why exactly) but after it was smoothed down, sprayed and baked it didn't look bad.

They make automotive spot putty for filling pits and if you were using a paint type coating it works just fine. My buddy runs a sheet metal shop that make lots of commercial stuff and some of it needs to look good. They use the spot putty, sand it smooth and then powder coat and bake it and it comes out great!

surface grind if you can otherwise polish down to 320 grit and then bead blast unless the pits are really deep it shouldn't be to noticeable after bluing

First you need to get all the rust out of the pits.

Second you need to stop the rusting process.

I had a similar issue - badly pitted 100+ year old Simson M98 Mauser. The photos do not show most of the pitting (80%??), much of it is under the wood but enough is shown in the photos to give you an idea.

I got it rust blued by a guy who worked at Holland & Holland for 2 years as a worker. He learned his basics well!

I recently discover my beautiful K-38 badly rusted. Had 1/16" of rust all over it. Made me sick when I found it. Soaked it two days in vinegar and got the rust off and stopped. Sure made a nasty looking gun though. Various parts had different types of metal it was made from.
Took it to the local gunsmith knowing I'd really wrecked a fine gun and hoped he could save it.

The insides were just as bad he said. Didn't want to polish it out as that would take way too much metal off it. He got it cleaned up and working again like it should. Bore and cyl bores were fine.
He painted it with black duracoat and it looks strange but, real nice frosty looking finish. Never seen a gun that looked like this before but it's sure not unattractive. Wish I could post pictures.

Let's see it when it comes in before and after ok? Hope it's not too bad.

George

Was unfamiliar with Duracoat. Interesting product.

A Rem 141 isn't a high dollar rifle for whatever reason, and its a quality well made firearm, you got a good deal on it so I would probably scrub it with oil and 0000 steel wool, it won't hurt the blue and will sorta clean up the gun and stop the corrosion...cost $1.00 max..and go shoot and enjoy the gun in a neat caliber.

If it must be fixed the last thing Id do is put some modern finish on it..I would expend $300 or a rust blue job, and refinish the wood. Lots of metal to work with, and the pitting is easy fix. I have spot welded pitting with bailing wire as it blues to match the original finish, take lots of time, but really works..I did that for Robgunbuilder on an original H&H, a gun he was the middle man on a trade for a double rifle for me..I won't discuss the rest of that trade but it sure worked out well for all of us.