unturned & fired cleaning

powderhombre

Hello all: the question for the experts is: I have a 2nd Gen. Colt 1851 Navy, unturned and unfired. Now this gun is 36 years old or so, and is in need of a minor cleaning of the bore and cylinder chambers, as dust and oxidation is present. also needs a little oil on the inside of the cylinder pin, to help keep out the rust. If I remove the barrel and carefully remove the cylinder and do the work, and carefully put the cylinder back to it's original place. If I do all this, can the gun still be considered unturned in original condition? just wondering, thanks AW

mutter

Beats unturned and rusted!

charliemeyer007

I'd bet the person at the factory thumbed the hammer back a few times to verify all was correct at final assembly.

First Big Foot

Lighter oils penetrate pretty well. Why would you want to disassemble it. rub some special gun grease around the cracks you want the grease to penetrate, then flush it in with a bit of WD-40 or Breakfree, which will disolve it a bit, carry it in, then evaporate away and leave the grease in tiny amounts coating the parts.

I have even done this with one of those siphon spray cleaner gizmos that fit on an aircompressor, sucking up paint thinner to move grease.

Just don't do it very long, or you will wash it away.

First Big Foot

nmyers

There are a few problems here.

First, no matter how carefully you work, disassembly & reassembly will cause some wear. You may not see it the first time, or the second, but eventually it will start to show. And, that will degrade the condition from NIB to ANIB. Some Colt commemoratives & repros have plated parts with plating so thin that just a few wipes with a soft cloth will rub it off.

Second, the factory oil on Colts breaks down over the years; you can't prevent that. Eventually it becomes gummy. It can easily be removed with solvents like Break-Free, but the first person to work the action should be the one to clean it internally.

Finally, "oxidation" could be a BIG problem. Oxidation means the presence of ferric oxide; i.e., rust. If that's really what you have, aggresive work will be required, & right now. How severe the rust is, will determine whether or not it can remain in "original" condition.

If you don't really have rust, the best way to preserve it would be wrapped in vapor paper inside a plastic bag, inside your temperature/humidity controlled safe.

Neal

First Big Foot

Please note that I did not recommend using a penetrating oil alone. It must only be used to cary the grease down into the fine cracks.

And Iron should NEVER be wrapped into a plastic bag. Perhaps silicone impregnated gun sock, next to desicant. It must be dry. I suppose you could put it in the plastic bag, with a freshly dehydrated desicant, and vacume packed. Grease and oil are your best protection.

First Big Foot.

Wolf.

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Be careful using WD40 as a lubricant or protectant. Notice that First Big Foot said "flush it in with a bit of WD-40 or Breakfree, which will disolve it a bit, carry it in, then evaporate away and leave the grease in tiny amounts coating the parts." He didn't suggest using WD40 as anything other than a carrier for the grease. Also, there are pentetrating oil preparations such as Mousemilk, that have lubricating properties.

My suggestion to you to keep this gun protected is to follow the lubricating instructions given previously and get a storage bag and some vapor tabs such as those sold by Brownells or Midway USA. Store the gun in the bag with a vapor tab. You may wish to cover the gun with two layers of ladies' panty-hose before you put it in the bag.

glabray

You might want to consider using a crystaline wax instead of an oil. It is a better protectant than oil and last longer. It's available from Brownells.