Restored - Plinker
Background
A neighbor brought me his 1903 Marlin Model 20 pump-action 22 that he had used as a boy to learn how to shoot. He had loaned it to one of his family members who left it outside in the rain and weather for months. The action was rusted shut. He really wanted to see if the rifle could be repaired enough to display in his house if it could not be repaired enough to shoot.
The rifle looked like it had been left out in the rain. The boiler plate nut and bolt holding the frame together foretold of "creative" tinkering. No telling what else had been done to it until it had been disassembled. The rifle's condition coming into the shop is shown to the left.
Preparation to Restore
Before any restoration effort was started, the gun was completely disassembled and the parts cleaned. Missing and non-firearm parts were ordered. The picture to the left shows the water damage observed as the frame was opened.
The owner took the stock and pump handle to his workshop for refinishing. The bore cleaned reasonably well after all of the mud was flushed out. (Sorry, no pictures)
Restore
Once washed, all parts were rinsed and dried. The internal parts were lightly lubricated with Break Free gun cleaner and set aside for later assembly. Parts such as the frame and barrel with external surfaces were sanded smooth with 400 grit paper. Much of the surface rust and pitting smoothed out with sanding. The smoothly sanded parts were cold blued using the Birchwood Casey bluing system. The blued frame parts are shown in the pictures to the left.
Here is the inside of the blued frame halves with the cleaned and lubricated parts reassembled. Notice also that the barrel responded well to cleaning, sanding, and bluing.
The Operational Stumbling Block
When the rifle was reassembled, all parts operated properly with snap caps except the firing pin. Someone had taken a carpenter's hammer to the rifle's hammer and flattened the end of the firing pin until it would no longer strike a loaded cartridge rim. I worked with a specialty parts shop for early 1900's firearms to order a replacement firing pin. After a couple of order/reorder attempts, I found the closest replacement firing pin to the original that was available and modified it with a hand file.
The semi-similar replacement firing pin was trimmed to resemble the original, installed in the frame and seemed to work correctly with snap caps. The only way to confirm correct operation was to test fire the rifle.
Results
The rifle was taken to a shooting range, strapped down to a shooting stand, and covered so that it could be fired remotely with a lanyard for safety.
At first, the owner and I thought the rifle didn't fire. On closer inspection, the rifle did fire and load another round correctly. The problem was not with the rifle, but with our ear protection that worked too well. A second shot with our ear protection off confirmed that the rifle worked correctly. The protective cover was taken off and the rifle fired a third time remotely to observe any problems masked by the cover. No problems.
I took the gun out of its strappings, pumped another round into the chamber, and fired it from the shoulder with hearing and eye protection on. Sweet shot. The owner then fired two rounds and his face broke into a big smile. He now had his childhood rifle that was both operational and pretty enough to display. The finished rifle is pictured to the left.
Restore
Once washed, all parts were rinsed and dried. The internal parts were lightly lubricated with Break Free gun cleaner and set aside for later assembly. Parts such as the frame and barrel with external surfaces were sanded smooth with 400 grit paper. Much of the surface rust and pitting smoothed out with sanding. The smoothly sanded parts were cold blued using the Birchwood Casey bluing system. The blued frame parts are shown in the pictures below.
