Greetings everyone,
The great material continuum has brought a Winchester Model 1883 Bolt action rifle into my possession; for the most part it's all there, the safety lever on one side is missing and so are 2 or 3 of the screws that go through the action (Safety doesn't work either). I think with a bit of scrounging I can find the missing parts. I have two questions for those that would know:
1. The bolt grip has been bent down at a 90 degree angle, all the pictures I have seen show it as a straight bolt; if I were to attempt a restoration, would it be possible to bend it back the way it belongs or would I need a replacement?
2. At some point in the rifles life, someone took the wooden stock and fore-grip off and attacked the exterior metal with what I assume is Tremclad Flat Black spray paint. I would like to get this off of there; I was thinking of using a paint stripper to get it down to bare metal and re-bluing it - would this be recommended?
Thanks
The great material continuum has brought a Winchester Model 1883 Bolt action rifle into my possession; for the most part it's all there, the safety lever on one side is missing and so are 2 or 3 of the screws that go through the action (Safety doesn't work either). I think with a bit of scrounging I can find the missing parts. I have two questions for those that would know:
1. The bolt grip has been bent down at a 90 degree angle, all the pictures I have seen show it as a straight bolt; if I were to attempt a restoration, would it be possible to bend it back the way it belongs or would I need a replacement?
2. At some point in the rifles life, someone took the wooden stock and fore-grip off and attacked the exterior metal with what I assume is Tremclad Flat Black spray paint. I would like to get this off of there; I was thinking of using a paint stripper to get it down to bare metal and re-bluing it - would this be recommended?
Thanks
