doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Jeffery Re-finish Advice

First do no harm… I’ve found that it’s easy and cheap to make a tired gun look a lot better by doing a few simple things.

Stock – I remove the stock and soak it for 12 to 24 hours in acetone, then after I let it dry, I rub it down with 0000 steel wool and start wiping on very thin coats of True Oil. I let it dry between coats and then lightly rub the stock down with steel wool again before I wipe on the next coat of True Oil. I repeat 10-15 times and I always rub the stock down with the 0000 steel wool after the last coat to remove that cheap lacquered-look shine. Be sure you only wipe down the checkered areas 2 or 3 times as the True Oil tends to build up in the valleys.

Metal frame and barrels – I rub it down with light oil and 0000 steel wool to remove rust and grime. I’ve also found that soaking the action overnight in Coleman Lantern fuel will clean out must accumulated grime and goo. After I pull it out of the Coleman fluid I use a bottle of high quality spray lubricant and one of those long red nozzles to spray lubricant into the recessed areas of the action. I let it set overnight in a standing position so the excess oil can drain out, then I use my air hose again to blow out any remaining excess oil. Usually that treatment will get the action working briskly without having to take it apart.

Barrels(assuming black and not browned barrels) – I take the barrels that I’ve cleaned with a 0000 steel wool rub and hose them down with automotive starting fluid to degrease them (don’t be smoking when you do this!), after degreasing I rub the barrels down with a good quality cold blue treatment. Cold blue doesn’t hold up as well as a rust blue, but it’s simple to do (and redo the next season) and won’t hurt the barrels if you want to rust blue them in the future. Overall, while not nearly as good as rust bluing (especially in a side by side comparison) it will typically make the gun look a lot better than it did.

Be sure when you take the gun apart that all your screw drivers tightly fit the screws so you don’t bugger them up.

So that’s my free advice for the day and worth every penny.

Steve

Thanks a lot for such a wonderful blog. Seems that I will get answers to many questions.

It is estimated to be manufactured between 1924-30. Have e-mailed the current owner of Jeffery records for date of manufacture.

Cheers Saad. I'm actually one for mild restoration. Others say leave it as it is and with some validity. I'm learning how to bring guns back to the way they might have been. I pay for the guns so I feel I can do how I wish.

Anyway, you have some great advisors here many with more experience than I. But I am trying to do things properly and learn on the way. I post my mistakes as well as my gains so that others can pick up on that too.

Good luck and feel free to contact me any time.
Regards,
Tony

Guys,
Thanks for very sound advice.

I am not an expert anyway to do restoration my self. Just wanted to have enough knowledge before taking this gun to a professional gunsmith. But usually the gunsmiths available here, don't care much about following the right procedures, so you have to guide them what to do and what not to do. For example, while doing a re-blue they excessively buff the barrels and ruin the edges and stampings. Some guys do the same to action and blue it!!

The most I may want to do myself is clean the action and try re-finishing stock, if I get the proper oil finish. Looking for answer on re-cut checkering?

Absolutely no intention of using 3 inch ammo in it. Have got a box of 2-3/4 40 gram no. 4s. Are they safe for this gun? Usually, will be using standard 2-3/4 loads.

It is difficult to ascertain the grade (0000) of steel wool available here. Is it ok to use fine wired brass brush instead for rust removal?

Do any parts within the action need greasing?

Saad
0000 steel wool is very very fine, almost like cotton. I'm not sure what to say about the fine wired brass brush, try it on the metal under the forend first and see how it works. After you've sprayed light oil into the action as I've directed you shouldn't need any grease. There was a discussion about using grease before on this site. Several people were of the opinion that sticky grease collected abrasives (sand and grit from the environment) and didn't recomend using grease, instead they recomended always using oil.
BTW you might find that your checkering will look very nice after you've thoroughly cleaned the old finish off the stock.
One other thing, be careful about sanding the stock while it is off the gun, if I were you I'd try not to sand it at all. It's very easy to round the edges of the wood where they meet with the metal, a sure sign that the guns been messed with by inexperienced hands.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Steve

Check out the brass brush in a more hidden place on the gun. I have had brushes that worked fine , and yet another that marked the steel like pencil lead would. It was somewhat difficult to get the brass marks off of the barrels.

Thanks guys!

Learned a lot by reading and re-reading this thread. What are the recommended cold blue treatments?

Brownell's Oxpho-Blue seems to be the one mentioned most often when discussing cold bluing. I have used it for years when doing touch-ups. Cheers!

Saad,
I use a Birch Wood Casey, Super Blue that I purchase at WalMart. I'm sure there's better products but I've found this works well.
Here's exactly what I do:
1. Don't remove the old finish, just any rust spots that you can see and feel when you run your finger tips over the barrels.
2. I beleive that the bluing chemical reacts with the original rust bluing and turns it black again (one of the things that happens with age is the original rust bluing turns brown), as well as bluing any areas where the original finish has been removed. Anyhow, it'll turn the entire barrel a nice dark blue again, just don't polish it down to bare steel.
3. I use automotive starting fluid (ether) as a degreaser. It degreases well and drys very fast, but nearly any good solvent should work well as a degreaser.
4. after cleaning any surface rust patches off the barrel and getting it smooth to the touch, I take a rag and soak it in the bluing compound and rub down the barrels, rinsing, degreasing and then repeating several times until the barrel has a nice evenly blued finish. Make sure you wash all the bluing off when you finish, it's a very powerful corrosive and will pit the barrel if left on too long (just follow directions on the product).
Steve

If you value the gun you'll stay away from cold blue treatments and screw drivers.