Remington Revitalization
I spent the afternoon cleaning up the old Remington 870. It was an easy shotgun to tear down and reassemble. This is no doubt part of the 870's popularity. 
It appeared the previous owner of this shotgun had used burned motor oil poured down the barrel as a lubricant and then stood the gun up in the corner to ferment. The stuff was crudded up every where, and in places had to be chipped off with a screwdriver. Breakfree CLP disolved the crud better than brake cleaner. The one good thing about this lubrication fiasco is the shotgun was very well preserved. A twig broken off in the woods somewhere formed the magazine limiter. The neck of the stock is oil soaked, but it will likely be swapped out anyway. I lubed the trigger group, placed a dab of Tetra on the sear, and reassembled the gun for later enjoyment. If I can find a decent deal/trade for a synthetic stock and 18 inch non-ribbed barrel, I will have what I need to make another home defense shotgun.
It appeared the previous owner of this shotgun had used burned motor oil poured down the barrel as a lubricant and then stood the gun up in the corner to ferment. The stuff was crudded up every where, and in places had to be chipped off with a screwdriver. Breakfree CLP disolved the crud better than brake cleaner. The one good thing about this lubrication fiasco is the shotgun was very well preserved. A twig broken off in the woods somewhere formed the magazine limiter. The neck of the stock is oil soaked, but it will likely be swapped out anyway. I lubed the trigger group, placed a dab of Tetra on the sear, and reassembled the gun for later enjoyment. If I can find a decent deal/trade for a synthetic stock and 18 inch non-ribbed barrel, I will have what I need to make another home defense shotgun.
posted by Xavier at 7:35 PM
10 Comments:
All for $70! I just recently found your blog and I can't believe the deals you find.
-A
Oil soaked wood. If you don't find a great deal on a synthetic stock you might try painting a few coats of pigmented shellac (KILZ, etc...) over the wood, sand w/steel wool between coats. Then spray on a couple of coats of 'textured' paint in graphite gray or any other color that suits you. Ought to improve it's trade status.
you can also place the stock in a sack of clay kitty litter or "spil-zorb" for a few days. It will likely draw most of the oil out. It will help if you can (or if the bride allows you to) place the stock in a low oven for a bit (in a suitable pan, of course).
Maybe you already know this, but someone else might not.
I never tried the kitty litter trick...... I'll have to give that a shot!
Just make sure to use *clean* kitty litter. Recyling only goes so far.
I want to know how you afford so many..... granted, 70 bucks is a great buy, but you seem to buy and buy and buy....
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/lowheatmethod2a1/index.asp
Make your own cosmoline (or motor oil) removal system.
$70? What a deal. Man. I need to come hit your pawn shops.. Ours aren't that "good".
haha... I knew you might accidentally spend money on it. I have a set of new synth express furniture I can give you to keep you from spending on it, but I will say that the plastic looks best on the matte express/police finish since the bluing tint is not the same as the plastic tint. mossbergs look ok though, but I like wood myself.
if you sand down the varnish, you can run the wood thru the dishwasher...it works great and the steaming tends to swell out scratches and dings.
if you can deal with the loss of the varnish, you could try soaking it in acetone or mineral spirits for a couple days before attempting the kitty litter drying.
Rimshot, Deb,
Your points are well taken...
I bought the 870 to see what I was missing, and to justify my choices to myself. It may end up going to a needy family or being traded off for a S&W M&P or something.
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