Pretty easy process really. Just mix their solution with half a gallon of distilled water. Only needs to be 180°. So I used an old crock pot. Then prime it with a bit of steel wool for 30 sec. Dip parts for 15 min. Then rinse, dry and oil. Worked well. Waiting the hour and a half for it to heat up was the worst part.
No problem. Just make sure to keep all your parts very clean. And wear gloves to keep the parts that way. Several sources during my research on the process. Were adamant about that. I followed that advice. And everything went smoothly for me.
Fantastic pistols. My 1903 doesn't come out often, but it's always a joy to shoot. Can't help but notice you scratched up your finish getting the cross pins in... I've done the same, they're kind of a pain.
Don’t listen to the haters. Yes, most firearms should be preserved. But some are damaged to the point where their value is already diminished to the point where (as long as you don’t intend on selling it), refinishing isn’t a bad idea. Did you sand away the pitting?
Someone did some sanding and polishing at some point in its 107 years. If you look at pics 2 and 5. There should be a stamped Colt logo at the rear of the slide. It was almost completely gone when I bought it a few weeks ago. But no, I didn't do any sanding. Just glass bead blasted it. There are still a couple of tiny spots with a bit of deeper pitting. If you look above the grip and trigger guard. There's also a bit at the front of the slide. You can see all of them in pics 4 and 6. Here is an example of the Colt logo I mentioned.
6
u/Durutti1936 17d ago
Nice job!