help needed on restoring no4 mk1

kevwat

kevwat

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Guy's i have saved this 1942 Savage no4 mk1* from the rust heep and now i would like to know what i should do to the metal for protection purposes. I managed to find this rifles action, barrel and bolt ( all matching ) that was half burried in the crawl space of a house and it was completely covered with dirt and who know's what else and honestly i thought with the condition of the bore it would be a hopeless project but after a little elbow grease, the barrel is actually pretty good, it's still shiny. I have played with it on and off for some time now and i recently decided to have a better look at it since i was able to come up with a very nice Savage stock. Upon looking at it further i noticed that the suncorite finish was bubbling over most of the metal and to my shagrin i noticed that underneath the suncorite it was covered with surface rust and was starting to pit ever so slightly so i completely removed all the finish down to the metal. I'm not looking at this as a collectors item because even though the action, barrel and bolt match, nothing else does, it's a mix of LB and British bands and so forth, it will be a shooter so that is about the extent of what kind of durable finish i am after even though the oil dipped process would be nice but i want to be reasonable here and maybe do something along the lines that an amateur could do.
savage002-1.jpg
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Take the stock off and rub it down with boiled linseed oil. I remember an expression: oil once a day for a week, oil once a week for a month, oil once a month for a year. Add them up and you'll have a very deep coat that will gleam in the sun.

The suncorite paint is available, but in 50 gal drums and it is pretty rough to work with. It has some toxic elements, and needs particular handling. The alternatives are high temperature BBQ or automotive header paint, or Brownells sells black gun paint. The guys on the Lee Enfield boards talk about either of the paints as a good surface coating, without the pure hassle of redoing the suncorite.
 
Suncorite was/is a British finish. Your rifle was in all likelihood blued (Dulite process) when it left Savage.
 
If it were mine, I'd get it tossed into the blueing tank as-is once you remove all the rust. It will then have that "FTR'd at Longbranch" look.
 
kevwat said:
Guy's i have saved this 1942 Savage no4 mk1* from the rust heep and now i would like to know what i should do to the metal for protection purposes. I managed to find this rifles action, barrel and bolt ( all matching ) that was half burried in the crawl space of a house and it was completely covered with dirt and who know's what else and honestly i thought with the condition of the bore it would be a hopeless project but after a little elbow grease, the barrel is actually pretty good, it's still shiny. I have played with it on and off for some time now and i recently decided to have a better look at it since i was able to come up with a very nice Savage stock. Upon looking at it further i noticed that the suncorite finish was bubbling over most of the metal and to my shagrin i noticed that underneath the suncorite it was covered with surface rust and was starting to pit ever so slightly so i completely removed all the finish down to the metal. I'm not looking at this as a collectors item because even though the action, barrel and bolt match, nothing else does, it's a mix of LB and British bands and so forth, it will be a shooter so that is about the extent of what kind of durable finish i am after even though the oil dipped process would be nice but i want to be reasonable here and maybe do something along the lines that an amateur could do.
savage002-1.jpg
[/IMG]
Click to expand...

One of those home parkerizing kits would probably come up pretty nice...a nice grey parkerizing. I see them for sale at the gun shows. I can get the guy's name if you want.
 
Thanks guy's and i do believe i may just get someone local to throw it in the bluing tank for me, the do it yourself parkerizing kit sounds interesting though. What about that gunkote stuff has anyone tried it with good results?
 
Bead blast

If you have access to some beadblasting service, have the whole gun beadblasted with very fine beads.
It will give the metal a very smooth finish you can parkerize or blue without any problem.
If you want to try a painted/baked finish (Armacoat or other), have the gun parkerized first, this will give paint a very good base to adhere to.
Good luck!
PP.:)
 
I was trying to find the post from the old L.E. page at gun&Knife.com but can't find it for now.

At any rate, IIRC Savages had their receivers and some other small parts parkerized while the barrels were done in Du-Lite.

Since this is a restoration project you could do the same. Dip the barreled receiver in the park solution with the barrel sealed off as it will etch the chamber and bore. Then finish the barrel in Oxpho blue if you can get it, or cold blue solution that has been warmed along with the barrel. Supposed to help the solution go a wee bit deeper into the metal.

You can get park solution here http://www.pjsproducts.com/

I have a Savage barreled receiver in the same shape as yours with almost new wood that I have been meaning to restore when I get the time and that is my plan. Just a matter of finding the time.
 
You could have John Pullen re-do it in matte blue. While you're at it have him check the headspace for you, you never know he might be able to swap some of the mismatched parts for you.
 
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