East India Co. 1814 Flintlock musket restoration?

Panic

Panic

CGN Regular
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Location
Burnaby, BC
Hi guys,
Hope you can give some advice here. My father-in-law has an old flintlock with a pretty unusual stock on it. He wants to restore and sell it...I'm advising against anything drastic but he wants to lightly sand it and use some vinegar on the metal (receiver/trigger group) I'm hoping he'll listen to me but at almost 80 he's pretty stuck in his ways and is hard to dissuade. If I can get him to leave off the wood at least, would vinegar do more harm than good to remove the rust?

Picture of the metal parts below.

Thanks for any help.

UoYXunJ.jpg
 
As a collector I wouldn't touch anything that has been hit with sandpaper. People who want shiny guns buy them new, people who collect antiques want to see the age and patina
 
The patina on a gun is the colour of the years that it has been around, and the 'life' it has led over all that time. Removing ANY of it will torpedo any interest whatsoever. I was present at an auction in Bedford here in UK where a genuine pair of 54 cal Nock flintlock pistols, cased with all the accessories, went to a lucky owner for just under $18,000. A near-identical pair, one of which had been tentatively 'cleaned up' by the son of the owner, was unsold at $6000. Nobody wanted a 'single' gun out of a pair that had been tampered with like that.

Cleaning it up?

Renaissance wax is the stuff - as used by most museums and collection in North America, and those here in Europe who know about it.

tac
 
Been there, done that!!!!

ANY cleaning can potentially reduce the value.

Do you know what most antique gun dealers do with an antique gun when they first get it? Nothing! Maybe wipe it down with a damp rag and then buff it with a soft dry cloth, that's it!

Perhaps in his mind's eye, Grandpa can see his pistol spiffy with clean bright metal and nice wood. If he managed to do this and do a good job, he would have devalued the pistol.

It is so easy to turn a $2000 gun into a $200 gun without trying.

I have untouched antique arms that have patina. The urge to strip them and clean gently with fine bronze wool and gun oil is incredible. However, the guns have dirt and guch in the joints and corners, even the screw slots have crud in them, and this is how they will stay. In this less than pristine condition, I (or any other collector) can tell that the gun is original and has not been touched with as much as a screwdriver in generations.

Explain to him that it is the same deal as with collector coins. A dirty old coin would be worth more with original patina than it would be if it was polished up bright and new looking.
 
in practical terms, if you can restrict his work to the metal parts, I don't think that a bit of vinegar will damage it all that much. Once it becomes yours, you can always leave the metal in the back yard exposed to the elements for a month or so followed by a rub down with oil and paper to somewhat recreate the patina. The inlay on the stock looks quite well done in a mechanical sense but we would have to see the rest of the gun to have a better idea of how much it is worth before any treatment. A lot of guns from India and that area in general have pretty limited collector's interest at the best of times.

cheers mooncoon
 
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