Free shotgun refinish

Jayne

Jayne

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I was given a NEF single shot 12 gauge for free as the owner didn't want it. It was fairly rusted but I thought I could clean it up. I didn't want to spend much (or any) money on it so I bummed some scuff pads and once the rust was knocked off I hit it with some BBQ black krylon. When rubbing the stock down with linseed oil I got some on my hand and it ended up on the barrel when I picked it up. That changed the matte finish of the krylon into a more satin look... and I liked it better than the flat. A few passes with a super lightly oiled cloth and it almost looks like a blued gun again.

One of the buttplate screws is stripped (the wood stock is very cheap) so I'll need to putty that in and start over but I have the putty on hand.

With a little work and no outlay of cash, I got it from this:



to this:



The stock came out pretty well I think with just some oil and time:

 
Wow. That was a lot worse than it looked on your phone. Still, no pitting, and that's good.
 
Looks good .I am not sure that's even wood that use on those NE shoguns. Feels and works more like cactus root. I tried several finishes on one for my daughter. Never was satisfied with it.
 
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A recommendation for the stripped screw hole...don't putty it.

Drill it out and glue a snug fitting piece of dowel rod in its place. The screw hole can then be restored to full strength, just like new wood...because that's what it is.
 
If the wood is stripped out for the butt plate screw, push broken wood tooth picks in it and glue them in the hole and let it dry. Or drill it out and insert a piece of wood dowel. Once the glue is dried, install the screw. Wood putty will sometimes chip out when you re-install the screw.
 
That thing looks good! If the original owner sees it he'll want it back.
 
Red Cent;n6696 said:
That metal finish is excellent. Seems to be but did the entire barrel come out even? Will it smear?

You are aware that you have to pay someone to shoot that neat gun;)
Click to expand...

I've let it sit for about a week trying to dry/cure/whatever, and it seems like it's done. It's maybe 80-90% even and doesn't seem to smear. I don't think it's very durable though, it just doesn't feel... hard (?) like a real gun finish would. Probably look good enough over a fireplace.

As for shooting... I dunno yet. It seems rock solid, and there aren't a lot of pieces that can go wrong. The firing pin moves like it should, I'll probably load up an empty hull with a primer and see if it touches it off.
 

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RetiredUSNChief;n6717 said:
A recommendation for the stripped screw hole...don't putty it.

Drill it out and glue a snug fitting piece of dowel rod in its place. The screw hole can then be restored to full strength, just like new wood...because that's what it is.
Click to expand...

I like that idea, seems a lot more 'solid' than the putty. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a dowel scrap, if I had to go buy one my cost of goods would go above the current $0 I have invested so far.
 
Temporarily assembled it again to see if I could get a good picture of it. Stock needs to be re-done, the oil job was OK but there are some gouges in there that need addressing.

 

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I'm really diggin' it. It's cool you decided to try to restore it , cause really, " what did you have to lose!";)
 
Have to keep us updated as to what happens when/if you decide to shoot it!
 
beamernc said:
If the wood is stripped out for the butt plate screw, push broken wood tooth picks in it and glue them in the hole and let it dry. Or drill it out and insert a piece of wood dowel. Once the glue is dried, install the screw. Wood putty will sometimes chip out when you re-install the screw.
Click to expand...
That was going to be my suggestion...
 
Outstanding job. I love these simple break-action guns and have a couple of singles and doubles.
 
We test fired it the other day, no one died. I used one of my lightly loaded trap loads, but I forgot that I hadn't done a resize on the shell base on these loads (they work perfectly in my O/U). So... the first round fired and then got stuck in the chamber. We didn't have anything to pop it out with so that one shot was all we fired. Doh. At home I tried a few factory loaded shells and they all extracted just fine, just like the snap caps did.

Next time I go to the range I'll bring some factory loads and try it again.

Also, I can't call it the free or $0 shotgun project anymore, I just spent $4.99 at midway getting a stock sleeve for it to hold some rounds on the stock.
 
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