The Down Range Forum

Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Hazcat on October 11, 2008, 09:39:29 AM

Title: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Hazcat on October 11, 2008, 09:39:29 AM
I have some old rifles around.  One is an old Springfield 84 C- (yes that is the way it is marked).  It is a .22 that has been in my family since I can remember and came from my Granddad.

It it a heavy bolt action.22.  I imagine in it's day it was the cat's meow. ;)

Here are some pixs

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p78/hazcater/Guns/100_1090.jpg)

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p78/hazcater/Guns/100_1091.jpg)

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p78/hazcater/Guns/100_1092.jpg)

I have shot it many times since I was a youg'un.  Yes I always 'cleaned' it.  You know, run the bore, brush the bolt, wipe it all down.

Well it had a really crappy 6 stage creepy, gritty trigger.  The gun is VERY accurate and if ya learned to shoot on it you also learned how to overcome BAD triggers.

Well I have never been one to tear down guns as I don't know a lot about 'em.  That is until I bought a milsurp Ishapore that came in cosmoline and had to be ripped down and scrubbed.

Sooooooo...... I figured 'what the heck' give it a bit of a try on one of my favorite guns.  So I separated the stock from the gun (one thumb screw) and got out the mineral spirits and a tooth brush.  Took all of 10 minutes to scrub it up well, blow dry and reassemble.

The trigger now has some 'free slop' (even when cocked) and is MUCH smoother.  Yes, still  a little grit and creep but it is much better.

So bottom line to 'newbies' (like me).  Don't be afraid.  Don't 'over do' it by disassembling things ya don't know (getting out a punch scares the hell out of me!) but go ahead and get it to the lowest level and maybe even one lower than ya ever did before.  CLEAN IT with some mineral spirits or break free etc., dry, oil and you will be AMAZED how much better that old gun feels!
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: MikeBjerum on October 11, 2008, 09:58:27 AM
Nice job, good advice, and trim them claws before you tear up the furniture  ;D

Oh yea ... Nice gun.  There is no better or more valuable gun than the ones passed down in the family.
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Rastus on October 11, 2008, 10:07:13 AM
Nice job, good advice, and trim them claws before you tear up the furniture  ;D

Oh yea ... Nice gun.  There is no better or more valuable gun than the ones passed down in the family.

Exactly....

Guess I'm gonna have to pull out the old 513-T and clean it down.  Still has 3/4" scope on it.  Seems like a good time for 1 inch rings and a new fixed 4x scope.
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Hazcat on October 11, 2008, 10:11:51 AM
Ya know.  I put a Bushnell 3x9 on the 22 and I have a fixed Tasco 4x on my 30-06.  Think maybe I should swap them?
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Rastus on October 11, 2008, 10:19:46 AM
Ya know.  I put a Bushnell 3x9 on the 22 and I have a fixed Tasco 4x on my 30-06.  Think maybe I should swap them?

Back when I was 17 and squirrels were scarce, I put 87 squirrels in the pot one season with one miss....well, not really...just it was a shoulder shot that took a bit to finish him off.  All that with a 3/4" tube fixed 4x scope on the 513-T Matchmaster I was given using cheap gold Remington ammo...it shot the best.

I'm up on the fixed for the 513T because it truly makes 1 hole groups...not keyholes...very slighly wallowed 1 hole groups.  I don't want to have a POI shift with a power change...foolish of me or not...I need all the confidence I can get these days.   I had it zeroed at 44 to 45 yards and, as I remember, always held dead on at normal distances.  So...I'm looking for a 32 MM tube and fixed 4x....fixed gives you a better picture too...fewer changes in the light path.
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Hazcat on October 11, 2008, 10:29:00 AM
Well in general that is why I put the fixed on the 30-06.  It is a hunter and I wanted to know that I could take that quick, close shot without 'fooling around' with the power setting.

I had heard and read too many stories about having the scope set at 'mega power' and all of a sudden the game was close and they couldn't find it cause all they saw at 30 or 40 yards was fur up close.  So I figured a fixed would eliminate that and as the chance of me needing to shoot more that 100 - 125 yards was VERY slim a 3 or 4x should do just fine.

On the other hand my 22 I use more for target and my old eyes need all the help that can get for a bulls eye at 100 yards. ;D
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: PegLeg45 on October 11, 2008, 02:32:27 PM
I have some old rifles around.  One is an old Springfield 84 C- (yes that is the way it is marked).  It is a .22 that has been in my family since I can remember and came from my Granddad.

It it a heavy bolt action.22.  I imagine in it's day it was the cat's meow. ;)

I have shot it many times since I was a youg'un.  Yes I always 'cleaned' it.  You know, run the bore, brush the bolt, wipe it all down.

Well it had a really crappy 6 stage creepy, gritty trigger.  The gun is VERY accurate and if ya learned to shoot on it you also learned how to overcome BAD triggers.

Well I have never been one to tear down guns as I don't know a lot about 'em.  That is until I bought a milsurp Ishapore that came in cosmoline and had to be ripped down and scrubbed.

Sooooooo...... I figured 'what the heck' give it a bit of a try on one of my favorite guns.  So I separated the stock from the gun (one thumb screw) and got out the mineral spirits and a tooth brush.  Took all of 10 minutes to scrub it up well, blow dry and reassemble.

The trigger now has some 'free slop' (even when cocked) and is MUCH smoother.  Yes, still  a little grit and creep but it is much better.

So bottom line to 'newbies' (like me).  Don't be afraid.  Don't 'over do' it by disassembling things ya don't know (getting out a punch scares the hell out of me!) but go ahead and get it to the lowest level and maybe even one lower than ya ever did before.  CLEAN IT with some mineral spirits or break free etc., dry, oil and you will be AMAZED how much better that old gun feels!

Good advice. And nice rifle.

Reminds me of the first time I ever took a gun apart. This was 20 years ago, and it was a Ruger Mini-14 and I really took it apart.
I got a little discombobulated and couldn't get it to go back together. So, I swallowed my young pride and took it to the local gun shop / gunsmith (I miss those days) and he took me back to his work room and instructed me on the proper way to disassemble and reassemble the Mini-14. I thanked him profusely, and became a regular customer up until his death.

The thing I learned was to be cautious.....but don't be scared.

Now I take guns apart just to have something to do.... ;D
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: TSB on October 11, 2008, 02:50:24 PM
I have my granddaddy's squirrel gun, a Savage Model 1903 .22 Pump,  ca 1908.  He passed it to my dad (youngest son) and he passed it too me (youngest son).  I haven't loaded it since about 1982 but I clean it yearly and admire it's simplicity.  The breech and chamber cone are worn badly and the firing pin is home-made by dad when he was a tool maker at GM.

I can only imagine how many squirrels and bunnies met their fate at the hand of my gramps and my father.  I've never actually fired it at a live animal in the thrity years I've had it.  I'll take a pic and post it later.  It's nothing special and I think it's a knock-off a Winchester of the era but it's cool anyway...I found an add once and I think new, it was about $8.00.

tim
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: tombogan03884 on October 11, 2008, 02:57:18 PM
I have my granddaddy's squirrel gun, a Savage Model 1903 .22 Pump,  ca 1908.  He passed it to my dad (youngest son) and he passed it too me (youngest son).  I haven't loaded it since about 1982 but I clean it yearly and admire it's simplicity.  The breach and chamber cone are worn badly and the firing pin is home-made by dad when he was a tool maker at GM.

I can only imagine how many squirrels and bunnies met their fate at the hand of my gramps and my father.  I've never actually fired it at a live animal in the thrity years I've had it.  I'll take a pic and post it later.  It's nothing special and I think it's a knock-off a Winchester of the era but it's cool anyway...I found an add once and I think new, it was about $8.00.

tim

You need to ding a squirrel or 2 with it, keep the tradition alive, 100 years of use.
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: TSB on October 11, 2008, 03:02:13 PM
You need to ding a squirrel or 2 with it, keep the tradition alive, 100 years of use.

Some day, maybe!

The funny thing about that gun.  Where I live, because it's magazine fed and holds more than 5 rounds in the mag, you need a "High Capacity" LTC to even own it.  Doesn't matter that the manufucture date preceeds the law...

Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Rastus on October 11, 2008, 03:28:23 PM
You need to ding a squirrel or 2 with it, keep the tradition alive, 100 years of use.

Tom's right.

I'm dang sorry for you that there is a problem with mag capacity in a 22 where you live.
Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: TSB on October 11, 2008, 03:37:40 PM
Tom's right.

I'm dang sorry for you that there is a problem with mag capacity in a 22 where you live.

More of an anoyance than a problem.  I'm legal to carry anything short of full auto!

Title: Re: Cleaning old guns is GOOD!
Post by: Big Frank on October 11, 2008, 08:25:22 PM
I wish I could post pics of my dad's 2 old .22s I have. One is a Winchester Model 60 23" (1930-1933?) that he inlaid with pieces of cow horn. The other is a Remington Model 34 (1932-1935) with most of the hand-checkering worn off of the non-finger-grooved stock. The safety/cocking piece, whatever is supposed to be on the rear of the bolt is broken of. I made a pin to hold the rest of the bolt together but I don't think it shoots. I think the Model 60 still shoots but I'm not brave enough to try it. I remember my dad talking about the bore of one of these old .22s being so fouled that instead of bullets shooting out, it had lead wire squirting out.