Some people....

Discussion in 'Firearms' started by Pax Mentis, Nov 5, 2011.


  1. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    Make me crazy(er)...

    I have a habit of picking up pretty much every Marlin Model 60 I see at a reasonable price...I just like them better than the popular Ruger 10/22 as a plinker and rabbit gun. They are capacity limited, but who really needs more than 18 rounds for a plinker...it's not like I'm gonna use it for a firefight.

    Anyway, I was in my favorite pawn shop the other day and the owner called me over. He had a Model 60 that somebody had decided needed to be camo'd...with burlap, rags and strips of some kind of plastic stapled from one end of the stock tothe other and taped (with black electrician's tape) to the barrel. The takedown screws were even buried and my best estimate after getting it apart is that it was last cleaned some time in the 80s...the action was crudded up beyond belief.

    I offered him $75 out the door (included the $10 to the state for NICS check) and he took it (he's made enough off me over the years, he sometimes lets me have the odd ones for what he has in them).

    Once I got all the crud off of it...removing probably 100 staples and 1/4 mile of tape...I found it is an old one with the walnut stock, and now has about 200 tiny pinholes all over it. I spent about 2 hours getting all the crud off and out of it and it shoots great...even has a fairly decent low power scope (haven't gotten the paint off of it yet to find out the brand or exact power). Now I just need to get some new pads for the mouse sander and try to bring back the beauty of the walnut.

    Why do people do silly $#&* to perfectly good guns?

    [rnt]
     
    weegrannymush, Cephus and GrandpaDave like this.
  2. Opinionated

    Opinionated Monkey+

    It has been my observation that humans are seldom the smartest animals in the barn yard. [dunno]
     
    CaboWabo5150, Dropy, Cephus and 2 others like this.
  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    PM, you and I share some interests. I too prefer the Marlins - one reason I own nine Marlin .22 rifles (of different models) and only one Ruger .22 rifle.
    I also am addicted to 'rescuing' old abused firearms and restoring them to good looks and function.
    Still hoping to one day find the parts to rebuild an oldMarlin A1 semiauto - need a complete bolt assembly - a scarce item!
    Unfortunately the local Gun&Pawn think ALL guns are collectors' items..... the crappiest and dirtiest .22 rifle starts at $150...... and they don't let me talk them down anymore. So, I seldom go there these days.
    My best deals lately have been at the shooting range.
    I bought a rusted junked relic of a Mossberg - the Model 146b - the kid's Grandad had left it under his trailer! The old boy dies and the family found guns stashed everywhere..... that'll be ME in another twenty years...... :D
    That old Mossy cleaned up well, turned out the bore was mirror bright, and it looks and shoots as good as the day it was made.
    Sometimes, we can profit from the stupidity of others.
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
  4. munchy

    munchy Monkey+++

    Reminds me of the time I used that camo tape on an old shotgun for turkey hunting. I left it on for over a year and when I took it off it left nasty glue residue all over, took forever to clean it off.
     
  5. GrandpaDave

    GrandpaDave Monkey++

    On rifle stocks I like to use Birchwood Casey's Truoil.
    If the holes are big enough you can use a filler... then burnish the wood... I've used grits up to 1200 for that... very nice to see aged walnut...burnishing will bring out that glow... a real crime putting staples in it so do me a favor if you ever run into the "Who-done-it" Smack him upside the head for me (once for every staple) k?

    SeaWolf... check out this for parts for your old A1 Breech Bolt, Complete (w/ Firing Pin & Extractor), NI $58.10

    Numrich Gun Parts Corp. - The World's Largest Supplier of Firearms Parts and Accessories

    yup when in doubt always ask your friendly neighbourhood retired gunsmith
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
  6. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    Steaming will take creases out of most stocks i wonder if it will help close the pin holes?
     
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  7. Cephus

    Cephus Monkey+++ Founding Member

    To close the pinholes use a moist cotton cloth and the wife's iron .Place it over the holes and apply the iron ,it takes a little time to get the time to hold the iron but if ya start slow it will take 90% of out completely. Just an old trick I learned many years ago.
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
  8. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Many thanks, GranpaDave! I had checked them before with no result. Glad to see they have what I need now! May get that old gal shooting yet. :D
     
  9. CraftyMofo

    CraftyMofo Monkey+++

    In the past, I've used the dishwasher to take dings out of a Garand stock. Might be worth a shot!
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Might be wet heat will do the trick at that. Staples displace the wood rather than remove it. Worth trying any of those type solutions.
     
    Pax Mentis likes this.
  11. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

    "The two most common elements in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity, tragically, you can not regulate the latter." A. Einstein
     
  12. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    Thanks people...great ideas.

    I'll start with the iron and go to the dishwasher of needed...maybe stop at the clothes steamer on the way.
     
  13. Hispeedal2

    Hispeedal2 Nay Sayer

    I've become a sort of gun grave yard over the years for anything that someone didn't take care of. *Usually* I can do simple repairs and refinishing to end up with an end product that has another 100 years of use.

    I can't say I understand why people do the things they do.
     
  14. GrandpaDave

    GrandpaDave Monkey++

    I understand... Numrich has been... shall we say...Elusive... in how they list parts for older weapons... but I've been ordering parts from them and other places I've become somewhat of an expert on they gobbly-gook search options...

    in other-words I knew Marlin A1's came in three flavors the A1 is just the standard over the counter model but the same gun with a different stock was sold as the Ranger 34A the other model is the 34AA ... all three use the same action the only diff is in the stocks they ship with... so when you cant find parts listed for one model... look up parts for the other names :rolleyes: told ya they don't make it easy... LOL
     
  15. CraftyMofo

    CraftyMofo Monkey+++

    Another thought on the dishwasher trick...i was doing this on an oil-finished stock. When it was all done, all traces of the finish was gone, leaving me with a brand-new looking piece of wood to be refinished. The only prep i did was to wash it a bit by hand with some orange/shop soap.
     
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