Restoration
How would I go around restoring this firearm myself? What products should I use? And What steps should I take?
Do you know what most antique gun dealers do to their inventory when they receive it? They do nothing. Perhaps they might wipe it with a very lightly oiled rag to get the dust off, that's it.
It is your rifle to do with as you wish, however, as a collector I would offer up some advice. You have an antique and it should be approached perhaps a little differently to a regular used gun. A lot of its value is in the signs of age that it has gained over the last 100 years. Resist the impulse to scrub it clean and touch it up to make it presentable. It is a nice antique, it doesn't need restoring yet, just some preservation and TLC.
First and foremost, go get a decent screwdriver with interchangeable tips. Get ones which have parallel ground blade tips, get extra. You will find that the screw slots on this carbine are wider and thiner than most screws found today. Be prepared to go as far as grinding the blade thin to fit the whole screw slot. A screwdriver that is not wide enough will leave tell tale marks in the slot. This is a pet beef of mine often leaving me wishing that previous owners had just left things alone.
Take the barrel band off and take out the tang screw, lift out the barrel. First time around, leave the butt plate and lock in place. If you get adventurous later, the lock will come out (at half ####) if you take the two side screws almost out, except for maybe the last 1/8 inch threads. Tap on the screw heads to release and bump the lockplate out of its inletting. I only suggest that you leave it alone cos the inletting is fairly easy to chip out and the sharp square edge that fits up to the metal is easily comprimised. If not very careful, the plate will never fit as close to the wood ever again. Many lockplates look like they have been taken out, its not hard to tell.
Gently clean off the surface gunge and oxidisation from the metal with extra fine steel wool and copious amounts of gun oil, nothing else. Go gently and don't polish, just a light touch. Leave any flaws, pits, stains, just clean it up a bit. Stubborn rust usualy can be scratched off with the use of the mouth of an empty brass cartridge case, have at her!, brass is softer than steel, it won't harm the metal or blue.
With the wood, wipe it down with a soft rag and laquer thinners. If it has cracks or other problems, you will find them as you clean it. If you want to go further, use antique furnature stripper such as 'Circa 1850' brand. Wear rubber gloves and follow directions. Rinse with water and quickly dry with a soft cloth, don't let the wood soak up water. Dings and dents can often be lifted by holding the ding over the spout of a boiling tea kettle. Or by placing a wet facecloth over the ding and applying a hot cloths iron. Steam will expand compressed wood fibres and amazingly will pop dents right back out. Steaming wont work if the wood is gouged cos the fibres are cut. Woodwork can be repaired with super glue, epoxy or carpenters glue. There are 1001 tips and tricks for fixing things, but unless it effects the safety and shootability, leave it alone, you can always go back to it later.
You will not get a sqweeky clean new looking stock out of it, realise that now. Do not ever have sandpaper in the same room as the rifle, just don't! Regard it like a cross to a vampire. If the wood surface needs help, use medium steel wool wetted with linseed oil, be gentle othewise you will have a clean patch lighter than the rest.
Once cleaned and thoroughly dry, give it several coats of raw linseed oil, which is the same stuff that it was treated with throughout its service life. Some prefer boiled linseed oil which has dryers added. Wipe it on, let it sit, wipe it off. Secret is many, many micro thin layers. Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, then once a year to maintain. After a few coats, the finish starts to build, it'll take only small dab of linseed oil on your hand to do the whole stock. Linseed will start to mellow and darken within a few weeks.
With an antique, less is best. You can easily overclean and cut its value by half without trying. Personaly, I love old guns with honest wear. They tell a story. A rifle with 5% original blue is worth more than one with 100% reblue. I don't touch the finish on any 'new to me' gun other than a light cleaning and inspection until I have fixed it up mechanicaly first and have it shooting. Just my own kind of self disciplin thing to keep me from being too ambitious all at once.
If in doubt, don't. Once something is done, its done. I can't count the number of times I regret cleaning something too much or chewed a screw trying to take it apart to 'improve' something. You can always come back to it another day.
Don't sand the stock. Dyson and Son in England sell Snider parts.
