Anyone refurbish a K11?

[Zedbra]

I was cataloguing my rifles today with updated pics, descriptions, etc and I spent more time than all the others with my K11. I just love this K11 - shoots great, feels good in the hands while off-hand shooting - and it is deadly accurate - all the while being over 100 years old (mine is made in 1916). So, I want to keep it running and looking good; I want to reblue it as mine is at about maybe 60% bluing condition now.

Has anyone here stripped and reblued their K11? Is it a simple strip down? I've never looked into it. I can't see these rifles being a such a collector's item that I should leave "as is". I have a few K31s that will eventually go to my boys, but this one is staying with me. Also, it looks like one of my plastic knobs on the bolt has a small crack - does anyone know where to get new ones?

Get in here, Carlos.

 

[Eaglelord17]

The real question is how to turn a 600$ rifle into a 300$ rifle with only putting time and money into it. Your rifle do what you wish, but you likely won't get much of a favourable response on the milsurps part of the forum, as myself and others will recommend leaving it alone.

 

[BlackPowderBurner]

Corwin Arms has replacements. For reblueing you could do it the "right" way and rust blue it to get a very nice result. A rust blue solution specifically for the steel composition of your rifle is available here:
ht tp://www.rustblue.com/shop/bluing/rust-blue-swiss/ it takes a bit more work but it looks so much better than cold and won't absolutely destroy value. As to being a collector's item, they actually are. Compare production numbers of the K31: 582,230 to that of the K11: 184,200.

 

[Zedbra]

Thanks for the Corwins tip - just ordered a replacement. Ironic - I was on his site earlier but didn't think to look for the K11 piece.

I know the purists will say leave it - and I might, but I sure think it would look good dark blue again. I shoot it, and will continue to shoot it until I'm done with this earth - so it will be out in the rain and cold and I don't want to see rust or pitting forming. I took one of my K31s hunting last year, might do that again this year as well.

 

[diopter]

I do have a couple spare red knobs for future use..
I used Brownell's Oxpho-blue on mine for touch-ups and works great if you heat up the metal first. Will need repeats to get the depth and even coverage.

 

[Zedbra]

I do have a couple spare red knobs for future use..
I used Brownell's Oxpho-blue on mine for touch-ups and works great if you heat up the metal first. Will need repeats to get the depth and even coverage.

So in your opinion, it isn't sacrilege to bring back its beauty via blueing?

 

[diopter]

Ok if done tastefully, not to make it seem mint for resale. My 1915 made K11 was in VG shape to start.

Before

In the White and after steaming stock dents.

After

Strip down is easy, but it is a lot of work.

 

[Horilka]

The only case I would consider tasteful rebluing is when you need to restore the rife, i.e. original bluing was removed by bubba. Any wear over the service life is original to the rifle and need no fixing. Other than this - as soon as any modern mod including rebluing is spotted by collector the rifle is considered "messed up with" and value goes down. I'm not saying you won't find a buyer who needs a shooter and doesn't care. I'm talking about preserving rifle history. You want to protect the rifle - clean and lube it. At the end of the day - your rifle, your money, your mistakes to make. I just feel sorry for the rifle...

 

[The Kurgan]

Just leave it alone and enjoy it. 60% bluing on a 100 year old rifle is pretty good. A little honest cosmetic wear is attractive on these old war horses. Just keep a light coat of oil on it and you won't see any rust.

 

[Zedbra]

Thanks for all the feedback - I'm more on the fence now than before. I will take it out, get some more pics and think on this some more.

 

[Mayday_]

The only case I would consider tasteful rebluing is when you need to restore the rife, i.e. original bluing was removed by bubba. Any wear over the service life is original to the rifle and need no fixing. Other than this - as soon as any modern mod including rebluing is spotted by collector the rifle is considered "messed up with" and value goes down. I'm not saying you won't find a buyer who needs a shooter and doesn't care. I'm talking about preserving rifle history. You want to protect the rifle - clean and lube it. At the end of the day - your rifle, your money, your mistakes to make. I just feel sorry for the rifle...

^ plus one