Jump to content

Colt 28 Navy Gun Disaster


Recommended Posts

One of my customers transferred this 28 Navy Colt to me a few days ago. While he had it stored in his vault, it was set up against a bag of junk silver. Only the rear sight was touching the bag. As you can see by the attached jpeg's the rear sight became heavily rusted. I don't know if there was some moisture in the cloth bag that did this or was it because of the contact with the silver in the bag. A dissimilar metal thing? Whatever caused it did a lot of damage to the rear sight. Now what to do? Any ideas on what course of action to take? Overall percentage of the weapon is very high. Well into the high 90% range. I think I have an original Colt rear sight around here somewhere but is there anyone out there qualified enough to replace it correctly? I don't see anyway of correcting the rusted area because of the pitting. You 2 cents would be appreciated.

Lyman Left.JPG

Lyman Right.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nick sell it. why bother with new lymans, rivet replace,and there might be now rust under the lyman which is receiver and that will have to be cleaned up. they are blue under the site. no polished or unfinished. and who does that for a storage sold gun.

 

waiting for delivery. {YOU PROTECT IT}

 

YOU ARE FORGIVING.... i would have said you own that buddy and refused it. And even Doug Turnbull can't help it needs to be replaced. YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING WITH IT ON GUN. rivet removal. better check barrel for rust also. You asked for some answers. Good luck with it.RON K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iron will sacrifice itself to silver. The temp change in the vault may be enough for condensation to occur (is the vault temperature and humidity controlled?).

 

As far as what to do with the gun.... I maintain your only virgin once (exceptions noted...!) so maybe just take the red oxidation layer off with 0000 steel wool and leave it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iron will sacrifice itself to silver. The temp change in the vault may be enough for condensation to occur (is the vault temperature and humidity controlled?).

 

As far as what to do with the gun.... I maintain your only virgin once (exceptions noted...!) so maybe just take the red oxidation layer off with 0000 steel wool and leave it.

+1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My guess is replacement of the rear sight with an original with similar finish wear. Sad.

I'd vote for that.

A correct original replacement would be what the gun deserves.

It's not a numbered part; not that much different than replacing a bolt, actuator, or some chrome trim on a vintage car.

Except, of course, for the rivets, but careful work could probably even reuse the originals.

Edited by mnshooter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Iron will sacrifice itself to silver" - very interesting information Mike. Thank you!

 

I think the rear sight will have to be replaced. I agree with mnshooter that the rear sight is really a "bolt-on" part. If a nice replacement can be found and installed correctly, no harm, no foul. I like the idea of possibly using the original rivets. PK at Diamond K Companies would be my first choice. PK enjoys a challenge and appreciates the fine craftsmanship of the Colt Thompsons.

 

I do agree with Ron that a very detailed inspection is in order. Given the number of Colt's that Nick has owned, I am sure he has already done this.

 

If you have a very nice rear sight, probably from a years ago cut Form 10 gun, Nick may be interested. Based on his posts over the years, I know he has stuff to trade!

 

Nick, if you have the rear sight removed and replaced, try to get a high-resolution picture of the area beneath the rear sight. It would be interesting to know how this small area compares to the bluing on the receiver that has been exposed to the elements for the past 100 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was surprised to see Silver and the other precious metals group to have that high of potential.

Here's the chart. I don't think it's rust as much as a physical transfer of ions from the anode to the cathode.

Galvanic_Series.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or you can remove the sight and electrolyse it. After that you can assess the rust damage and eventually reblue if neccesary. So at least the sight remains original to the gun.

Agreed, it may be salvageable. if it is not, a Colt era replacement sight may take forever to find. The other option would be to clean up and smooth out a '28 sight as a replacement, although I know purists would frown upon that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A galvanic reaction requires 3 things... dissimilar metals with large differences in their galvanic potential (we have that), some sort of salt (maybe from handling years ago) and H2O (from condensation for example).

 

If you put away a wet gun with inlays, and wait a while, I'm sure you would be seeing galvanic corrosion. Please do not test.... LOL!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frank,

You are welcome. I have learned a lot from his videos. I've done the hot water on a few small parts and been very impressed with results. If it was an old 22 bought at flea market I would say bring it on over. We'll try it. 🤣🤣🤣 A Colt 28 is another matter.

 

In chemistry class years ago we learned even a good stainless will oxidize with electrolyte and dissimilar metals.

 

I have underused electrolysis over the years for restoration of rusted metals. I think it will be acceptable to show inert CW 24 pounder before and after. Not painted after restoration. Just waxed.

 

I will use steam and boiling more in the future.

post-265-0-35351800-1639158551_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...