Cleaning "friends" gunz....

[fpgt72]

In another post someone talked about a real gookey gun his father gave him to clean and it made me think of these two stories. I did not want to side track that thread any more then it already had been....some places take a pretty dim view of that, don't think this place does as it is pretty open, one of the reasons I like it.

My stories are around two guns, one an Auto 5 in 16, the other a Western Auto Revelation (marlin 60). like the other person talked about in his thread.

Story time:

The Auto 5 belonged to my wifes uncle, not a real good dude and he had a blonde Auto 5 and the father in law did not want, he asked my wife if she wanted it, and naturally she said YES (no she does not have a sister)

I get this thing and give it a quick once over, fore end cracked, yea they do that, low SN#...need to look that up, and I carry it home. Turns out to be a pre war auto 5, cool. I start to take this thing apart, and it is fighting me tooth and nail, get the fore end off and the barrel will NOT COME OFF...hmm I have taken these things apart a time or two don't think I am forgetting anything.....watch youtube, nope, pull harder, watch video again, rubber hammer, watch another video, BIG rubber hammer and it is free. Wow it is not looking good in there. Screws out and again the thing will not come apart, There has to be a screw under the butt plate, nope, video again....no it should just pull off, but they say it could be tough....yea, not this tough....and a hard smack gets it free.

To cut this short, ever see those kitchen nightmare shows where they never clean the fryer....yea this poor shotgun. I could scrape gook out by the spoon full...it was horrid. Taking this thing apart I ruined two punches. Lots of soaking and scrubbing.

During the summer we have the in laws and kids out and we do stuff on the grill and shoot shot guns, this 16 sadly is the one everyone wants to shoot now it is just nice and fun to shoot....the sadly part is 16G shells are a bit expensive and hard to find.

I asked the FiL just how often Frank cleaned this thing, he said he does not think he ever did, if it stopped running he would just pour some motor oil on it and it would work again....ahh.

Pic of the innerds of said shotgun after some digging of crap out.

The second one is the mother in laws 22, the Marlin branded by Western Auto. I don't remember the year but it is a pre '68 rifle as no SN#.

It will not even let you pull the bolt back.....ok, is it loaded, don't think so....this is getting better and better. I get it home and a lot of soaking gets the bolt open and there is a round in the chamber that will not eject, fine dig it out, a bit yucky. Nothing else coming out of the magazine, so guess only one in there....not a good guess.

Just old and gooky like the shotgun and a general tear down and cleanup was all it needed, when I went to pull the magazine tube it sounded and acted like the spring was under pressure....I take my cleaning rod and poke it down the magazine tube and 16-ish round are pushed out.....well how about that. They are so sticky and gross they will stick to your hand, grab them turn your hand upside down and they don't fall....gross. Another life lesson learned. Clean it up and I have to get a new follower as this one is just done for. Nice shooting little gun, they won't take it back.

One last one. Several years ago I went under the knife for some surgery, I was down for roughly 5 years of not wanting to do a single thing. I decide I am going to try this shooting thing again, and start to ease back into it. Ever forget about a gun, yup. 1930's colt police positive. I had it loaded and laying in a hide in the house, I go to get it out and think to myself, I really soaked this thing will ballastol before putting it up. Take it out to shoot, BANG, bang, pfft....ahh that was not right. Squib. What the hell I am anal in my reloading, no way. Bullet stuck in the barrel, at least I could open the revolver, drill out bullet, lead is pretty soft, and pull down the last of the rounds in that gun. The powder inside looked like tar. Just thick and sticky.....and I crimp pretty heavy on this stuff. Humm.....guess the ballastol got past the bullet or primer, another note to self.

So those are my stories, do you have any to share?

 

[Boon20]

From the guns i have cleaned for people its almost always people that neglect their guns for 30 or 40 years that want me to clean them. I always tell them its ok to take them apart once a year and wipe it down.

No cool guns on my list just some old hunting rifles.

 

[Big Bo]

My aunt called and asked if I could come by for a bit and clean her gun. I had cleaned it a year earlier. I said ok. It had a bit of dirt and lint on it, and I did a bang up job of cleaning it up. I asked if she shot it? Yes, she said. Her boyfriend decided to place hands on her and she shot him. I asked if he was ok? Aunt said he hollared to her, you shot me. She told him don`t hit me and you won`t get shot. I dropped by a week or so later and asked about the boyfriend? Aunt said he is ok, he left before you got here.

 

[UKDslayer]

My aunt called and asked if I could come by for a bit and clean her gun. I had cleaned it a year earlier. I said ok. It had a bit of dirt and lint on it, and I did a bang up job of cleaning it up. I asked if she shot it? Yes, she said. Her boyfriend decided to place hands on her and she shot him. I asked if he was ok? Aunt said he hollared to her, you shot me. She told him don`t hit me and you won`t get shot. I dropped by a week or so later and asked about the boyfriend? Aunt said he is ok, he left before you got here.

So, your prints are on it?

 

[Aftermath]

My aunt called and asked if I could come by for a bit and clean her gun. I had cleaned it a year earlier. I said ok. It had a bit of dirt and lint on it, and I did a bang up job of cleaning it up. I asked if she shot it? Yes, she said. Her boyfriend decided to place hands on her and she shot him. I asked if he was ok? Aunt said he hollared to her, you shot me. She told him don`t hit me and you won`t get shot. I dropped by a week or so later and asked about the boyfriend? Aunt said he is ok, he left before you got here.

I saw that same episode on Pornhub.

 

[Naaman]

I was the only one in my squad in Iraq who performed maintenance on weapons at all. After every mission I spent an hour and a half breaking down and cleaning an M2, a 249, a 590A1, an M4 and an M9.

One day, I offered to clean another gunner's .50 cal. Took it apart after God knows how long since last it had been gone through. The lube and dust accumulation in that thing was like thick frosting on a cake. Pissed me right off to have to be in the same squad with that level of neglect.

 

[Dot3]

My dad finally decided go over an old Remington 512 22 that he inherited from his own father. The backstory there is that, while serving in the US Navy, my grandfather was mugged and killed by some lowlife over a watch. This happened when my dad was young, 11 or 12. Needless to say, I never met my grandfather.

Well, when my dad took the barreled action from the stock, he found this:

I can only imagine the feeling that came over my dad when he saw that. His dad had written his name inside the barrel channel (the scribbling is mine), as well as “this is not yours” behind the front action screw. You never know what you’ll find sometimes.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Love the A5 and have put rebuild kits in several of them. Friend has one pre-WW2 and a magnum that were given to him which I went completely through. Also rebuilt a Rem Model 11 which is basically an A5. Key to breaking them down is having the right screw drivers.

 

[MarshallDodge]

When I was in my late teens, a friend wanted to go shoot trap with us on a Saturday. Friday night he brought by his dad's old 1897 Winchester for me to check out. It had no bluing, lots of patina, and the action was sluggish.

We were in my bedroom, which was a remodeled garage. I dry fired it a couple times and wanted to see if it would load a shell from the magazine tube. With the gun pointed at the ceiling, I racked a loaded round into the chamber, and it went off

We never diagnosed why that happened but I tore it down and cleaned many years of dust and grime out of it. He took it shooting the next day and it ran like new.

 

[Maser]

I still have a fishing/hunting/shooting friend who believes that rimfires don't need cleaning.

 

[hlee]

When I was in my late teens, a friend wanted to go shoot trap with us on a Saturday. Friday night he brought by his dad's old 1897 Winchester for me to check out. It had no bluing, lots of patina, and the action was sluggish.

We were in my bedroom, which was a remodeled garage. I dry fired it a couple times and wanted to see if it would load a shell from the magazine tube. With the gun pointed at the ceiling, I racked a loaded round into the chamber, and it went off

We never diagnosed why that happened but I tore it down and cleaned many years of dust and grime out of it. He took it shooting the next day and it ran like new.

1897s don't have a mechanism to disconnect the trigger. Racking the slide with the trigger pulled will drop the hammer. That it would do it with the trigger not pulled would be some sort of malfunction. But, it would not be too out of bounds to suggest that the trigger could have been depressed when you loaded the gun.

My son is going to use his great-grandfathers 1897 at the NSCA Nationals pump gun event this year. Before he took the gun to practice, I went over the special care he needed to take when loading the gun- This is not your over/under, this gun is trying to kill you...

 

[akmike47]

I still have a fishing/hunting/shooting friend who believes that rimfires don't need cleaning.

Must be the only person who thinks that

 

[hlee]

Must be the only person who thinks that

I bought a 17 hmr several years ago and the manual said that due to the “micro rifling” (I think that is what they called it, the barrel didn’t need to be cleaned.

 

[MarshallDodge]

1897s don't have a mechanism to disconnect the trigger. Racking the slide with the trigger pulled will drop the hammer. That it would do it with the trigger not pulled would be some sort of malfunction. But, it would not be too out of bounds to suggest that the trigger could have been depressed when you loaded the gun.

...

Considering I was young, it isn't out of bounds, but I was pretty safety conscience. I had been shooting bb guns, 22 rifles, shotguns and handguns, and an 03A3 and AR15 by that point in time, and had never had a negligent discharge.

 

[acudaowner]

that must be a hell of a good friend or he's paying you more than the jobs worth
lol

 

[Jgunner]

Had a libtard customer who had a rifle bag next to his dryer for years and years, dryer was in the garage, dryer had no ducting. It was pretty rusty, some pitting, offered him 50 bucks for it. Stripped the Ithaca model 37 down and cerakoted it. Did tan and black on the small parts.

 

[Aftermath]

1897s don't have a mechanism to disconnect the trigger. Racking the slide with the trigger pulled will drop the hammer. That it would do it with the trigger not pulled would be some sort of malfunction. But, it would not be too out of bounds to suggest that the trigger could have been depressed when you loaded the gun.

My son is going to use his great-grandfathers 1897 at the NSCA Nationals pump gun event this year. Before he took the gun to practice, I went over the special care he needed to take when loading the gun- This is not your over/under, this gun is trying to kill you...

LOVE me some Model 97

 

[Halfnutz]

In another post someone talked about a real gookey gun his father gave him to clean and it made me think of these two stories. I did not want to side track that thread any more then it already had been....some places take a pretty dim view of that, don't think this place does as it is pretty open, one of the reasons I like it.

My stories are around two guns, one an Auto 5 in 16, the other a Western Auto Revelation (marlin 60). like the other person talked about in his thread.

Story time:

The Auto 5 belonged to my wifes uncle, not a real good dude and he had a blonde Auto 5 and the father in law did not want, he asked my wife if she wanted it, and naturally she said YES (no she does not have a sister)

I get this thing and give it a quick once over, fore end cracked, yea they do that, low SN#...need to look that up, and I carry it home. Turns out to be a pre war auto 5, cool. I start to take this thing apart, and it is fighting me tooth and nail, get the fore end off and the barrel will NOT COME OFF...hmm I have taken these things apart a time or two don't think I am forgetting anything.....watch youtube, nope, pull harder, watch video again, rubber hammer, watch another video, BIG rubber hammer and it is free. Wow it is not looking good in there. Screws out and again the thing will not come apart, There has to be a screw under the butt plate, nope, video again....no it should just pull off, but they say it could be tough....yea, not this tough....and a hard smack gets it free.

To cut this short, ever see those kitchen nightmare shows where they never clean the fryer....yea this poor shotgun. I could scrape gook out by the spoon full...it was horrid. Taking this thing apart I ruined two punches. Lots of soaking and scrubbing.

During the summer we have the in laws and kids out and we do stuff on the grill and shoot shot guns, this 16 sadly is the one everyone wants to shoot now it is just nice and fun to shoot....the sadly part is 16G shells are a bit expensive and hard to find.

I asked the FiL just how often Frank cleaned this thing, he said he does not think he ever did, if it stopped running he would just pour some motor oil on it and it would work again....ahh.

Pic of the innerds of said shotgun after some digging of crap out.

View attachment 7940714

The second one is the mother in laws 22, the Marlin branded by Western Auto. I don't remember the year but it is a pre '68 rifle as no SN#.

It will not even let you pull the bolt back.....ok, is it loaded, don't think so....this is getting better and better. I get it home and a lot of soaking gets the bolt open and there is a round in the chamber that will not eject, fine dig it out, a bit yucky. Nothing else coming out of the magazine, so guess only one in there....not a good guess.

Just old and gooky like the shotgun and a general tear down and cleanup was all it needed, when I went to pull the magazine tube it sounded and acted like the spring was under pressure....I take my cleaning rod and poke it down the magazine tube and 16-ish round are pushed out.....well how about that. They are so sticky and gross they will stick to your hand, grab them turn your hand upside down and they don't fall....gross. Another life lesson learned. Clean it up and I have to get a new follower as this one is just done for. Nice shooting little gun, they won't take it back.

One last one. Several years ago I went under the knife for some surgery, I was down for roughly 5 years of not wanting to do a single thing. I decide I am going to try this shooting thing again, and start to ease back into it. Ever forget about a gun, yup. 1930's colt police positive. I had it loaded and laying in a hide in the house, I go to get it out and think to myself, I really soaked this thing will ballastol before putting it up. Take it out to shoot, BANG, bang, pfft....ahh that was not right. Squib. What the hell I am anal in my reloading, no way. Bullet stuck in the barrel, at least I could open the revolver, drill out bullet, lead is pretty soft, and pull down the last of the rounds in that gun. The powder inside looked like tar. Just thick and sticky.....and I crimp pretty heavy on this stuff. Humm.....guess the ballastol got past the bullet or primer, another note to self.

So those are my stories, do you have any to share?

Years back, a coworker had an old A5. It would not allow more than 1 shell in the magazine. It did not have a plug. I told him I'd look at it.
Took it home and completely disassembled it. My God J.M.Browning was a mad genius to fit so many parts in one place like he did. Gun looked like someone pumped it full of grease and grit. Cleaned everything, With the mag tube removed a shell would pass normally. Once I figured out how to reassemble it. The shell would catch again. Eventually figured out the "magazine retention" screw had been replaced with one that was too long.
At one point I didn't care if it would load more than one or not. Putting it back together was the challange. Visualizing how it worked and the interaction of parts was the fun part. Much respect to J.M.B, for his engineering abilities.

 

[Mudburner]

Years ago when I lived in East Tennessee, I went to Greenback to look at a used Toyota car for sale. It was the sort of place where the grass around the trailerhouse was so long, it hid dead refrigerators, etc. The car was trashed, so I asked if he had any other stuff for sale... like guns, for example...

He says, yeah, I got a .22 but you don't want it... it jams up every shot. Lemme see it, I say.

$20 later, after I CLEANED IT, I had a nice little autoloader 16 shot that served me for years & years.

 

[fpgt72]

Years back, a coworker had an old A5. It would not allow more than 1 shell in the magazine. It did not have a plug. I told him I'd look at it.
Took it home and completely disassembled it. My God J.M.Browning was a mad genius to fit so many parts in one place like he did. Gun looked like someone pumped it full of grease and grit. Cleaned everything, With the mag tube removed a shell would pass normally. Once I figured out how to reassemble it. The shell would catch again. Eventually figured out the "magazine retention" screw had been replaced with one that was too long.
At one point I didn't care if it would load more than one or not. Putting it back together was the challange. Visualizing how it worked and the interaction of parts was the fun part. Much respect to J.M.B, for his engineering abilities.

I also have a "thing" for the Remington 8 and 81. The A5 is simple next to that crazy thing. All kinds of little levers on the sides of the Rec.

That Police Positive I got from Rock Island Auctions years ago, when it came in the gun was fantastic LOOKING. However the cyl. would not turn, again just locked in place by old lube.

Fun little revolver.

 

[fpgt72]

I bought a 17 hmr several years ago and the manual said that due to the “micro rifling” (I think that is what they called it, the barrel didn’t need to be cleaned.

In the marlin micro groove they said the same thing....but it is a lie. I have a lever marlin in 38/357, just a hoot to shoot, but it will fall off and after it does it is a real pain to get it clean again....better to clean it after a go or two.