Restoring old rifle advice?

[siderman 1,138]

Got an old Mossberg 22 bolt from the 1950's that needs a lot of tlc.Hasn't been used in maybe 50+ yrs. fair amount of light rust, rotted away leather sling and who knows what in the bore . First of all I know theres not much $$ value but it is just about the only thing I have from my long gone dad so thats the value there. Figure if i can get a bore snake thru it it'll be worth the time fixing it up, nice winter project. I'm just not sure about the best way for rust removal/metal prep & bluing. Are there any good bluing places(or smiths) in North NJ? Any other tips for making it a shooter, not going for a purist museum resto just a safe gun to plink with.

[tbtrout 141]

I love old Mossbergs. What model is it? Steel wool and oil will get rid of a lot of the surface rust if not all of it. May even leave the bluing depending how bad it is. For an older shooter, I have cold blued rifles and they look fine. The bore unless it got wet should be ok. I have bought rifles that sat for decades in a closet and the bores were perfect. I normally order my parts from Gun Parts Corp. let me know if I can be of any help.

 

When looking at the bore, as long as the crown and last 1/3 of the rifling are in good shape it will shoot well. It does not need to be a tack driver to enjoy plinking with your Dad's rifle. Because that is why you are doing it.

[kenw 293]

My favorite gun is my dad's 1945 Remington Targetmaster. It's beat to crap, cracked stock, worn finish, a patina from removed rust, etc. Basically, it's a piece of junk, but I'll never part with it, and I shoot it regularly. When the guys show up at the silo range with their scoped and accurized bolt guns, or their AR type .22's. I just sit there and play with my ancient, single shot, iron sighted POS and have a grand old time.

 

For me, it's about the nostalgia and the memories. YMMV.

[siderman 1,138]

Its an S130 with a peep sight

[Old School 611]

PM Sent

[siderman 1,138]

I stand corrected on the model. S130 is for the peep sight only. Found the well hidden barrel stamp and its a model 146B 22-S-LR made in 1949-57. Thanx to Havlin Sales for that.

[MedicYeti 96]

I have an old rifle that I turned into a project rifle. I sanded and refinished the stock. I reblued the barrel and even glass bedded and free floated it. None of this was difficult and the rifle looks new. Take your time and have fun, there are lots of options.

[junkmanted 54]

I have found the paste cold blue works great

[siderman 1,138]

Well I've got the old Mossberg broken down to individual pcs, only pc left to take apart is the bolt but I'll wait on that, enough little pcs laying around already! Found the old cleaning kit to it and was able to clean the bore- nice and shiny with sharp clean rifling thru out, wahoo!Decided to see just how bad the rust actually is so did 3 coats of naval jelly and 0000 steel wool but still plenty rough black spots and patches. Guess its gonna get a series of sandpapering. Front sight ramp un-salvageable and had atough time getting the two screws out from inside the mag tube but got a tip to heat em up with a soldering gun after soaking everything in penetrating oil overnight. The wood is actually in pretty good shape after cleaning it and I think I'll leave it alone as it has only afew light nicks that I'll call charector. Anyway just wanted to get into the nitty gritty real quick and look into the soul of this thing , got a long haul to go.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

I would stabilize it and keep it original. Clean up the stock, clean up the metal (inside and out), oil it good and call it a day. The value to me would be keeping it the way it was left to me.

[vjf915 456]

I would stabilize it and keep it original. Clean up the stock, clean up the metal (inside and out), oil it good and call it a day. The value to me would be keeping it the way it was left to me.

I agree with this.

 

And you wanna talk about old.....my dad has his fathers .22 from when he was a kid. I know its a Winchester, and I think its a model 56 from 1894.

[siderman 1,138]

Well I guess its done! was a lot of work ,mostly cleaning up the barrel/receiver. Actually had to start with my orbital sander 80 grit cause hand sanding wasnt doing it.worked it down to a 400 grit polish. Cleaned, oiled right down to the tiniest set screw and spring. Cold blued what I could and the barrel looks awesome, receiver could darken up a bit more but thats for later again sometime.Was able to save every thing so its all original, except for the dog spring on the peep sight which had rusted apart.Even have the 4 sight reticles working good.Hand loaded some blanks and fired well, put a dozen rounds down the tube magazine and they all cycled/ejected fine also. I'm suprised at how enjoyable the whole project was,and feel good about rescuing an old rusted relic that hasnt been fired, maintained and forgitten about for over 50 yrs. I dated it to 1954 manufacture, pretty sure. Lookin forward to the range.

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

[siderman 1,138]

[siderman 1,138]

Well, I do coincidently have some before, during, after pics BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO UPLOAD THE FRIGGEN THING! Maybe my daughter san figur it out.

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

PM inbound

[siderman 1,138]

i am trying to upload my BEFORE pics, I hope this works:

 

[siderman 1,138]

DURING AND AFTER

 

 

 

 

...NOT GOING TO A MUSEUM BUT HAS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

Nice job!

[siderman 1,138]

Actually made out to the range in Dec to let this old Mossy make some noise for the first time in over 50 yrs. Set up a 25 yard target at the 22 plinking range and after a few quick adjustments on the peep sight was hitting 1", quarter size groups!No bragging rights there but I think its a great start. But after only 8 rnds had a feeding issue. Fixed at home and a few weeks later went back and did well but the further out I went the more my old naked eyes didnt work. So I just picked up an old Weaver 4x scope/rings and cant wait till I get it on and start sighting in with that.

[XDJohnTact 49]

Looks like a great project, thanks for posting the pics!