Colt 1903 - restore or not?

[javaduke]

^^^
Your pic is a bit dark. Try taking a pic outside in shaded sunlight. I'm interested to see how this looks in natural light.

Is this better?
Sorry, this is the best my phone camera is capable of. In reality it does look much nicer than on the picture.

[SkyHawk]

Still not a great photo but it looks good! After this sort of treatment (rust blueing/carding) - I like to either boil these parts in fresh motor oil or heat the parts up with a heat gun then dip them in a pan of used motor oil and let them soak for a few days.

[javaduke]

Yes, that's exactly what I did, soaked (not boiled) in motor oil overnight.
Next step is to polish and blue the tips of all the cross pins I wish I had setup for nitro bluing, but if I do it in my kitchen, my wife will kill me with her bare hands I'll try to heat them up with torch and see if they get any blue color.

[M1NM]

No collector value. Too many nice ones around. Send it off and get it finished in black oxide.

[Bigdog68]

I would look at this guy's stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXj_SaE8Z08

Think conservation and refurbishment, not restoration.

Don't do the steel wool, but this guy does some stuff with boiling water and buffing to get rid of the surface rust. It won't refinish the piece, but will stop the rust and may improve the look of the weapon.

[Bainter1212]

I would drop $180 on a barrel if it gets it back into operable condition.

It's only too much money right now. The way the market for C&Rs works, it will be worth it in a decade or so. In the meantime, you'll get to shoot it.

You can also prowl ebay and GB for a replacement barrel but I doubt it'll be much cheaper

[javaduke]

I would look at this guy's stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXj_SaE8Z08

Think conservation and refurbishment, not restoration.

Don't do the steel wool, but this guy does some stuff with boiling water and buffing to get rid of the surface rust. It won't refinish the piece, but will stop the rust and may improve the look of the weapon.

This is exactly where I got the idea of boiling from I don't have a buffing wheel like he has (nor I have a buffer of any kind), but gentle rubbing with 0000 steel wool did just fine. I really like the way it turned out.

Still trying to solve the barrel problem. Ideally what I would want is to reline the original barrel, but apparently no one makes barrel liners in .312 (or at least my duckduckgo-fu has failed me ) I guess I'll have to be patient and wait till something shows up on eBay (and then there's no guarantee that the replacement barrel rifling will be any better).

[SkyHawk]

This is exactly where I got the idea of boiling from I don't have a buffing wheel like he has (nor I have a buffer of any kind), but gentle rubbing with 0000 steel wool did just fine. I really like the way it turned out.

Still trying to solve the barrel problem. Ideally what I would want is to reline the original barrel, but apparently no one makes barrel liners in .312 (or at least my duckduckgo-fu has failed me ) I guess I'll have to be patient and wait till something shows up on eBay (and then there's no guarantee that the replacement barrel rifling will be any better).

Usually if the bore is bad, in addition to a bore liner you also want a new chamber cut, headspaced etc.

Here is a replacement barrel for $96 (C&R price). But it is for Type 3/5. You should call the mfg and see if they have plns for a Type 1 or if there is any way the Type 3 could be modified (by grinding off the bushing maybe?)

https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/barrel-parts/barrels/colt-1903-barrel-32-acp-prod104838.aspx

Here is one in stock for $61!! (or $55 C&R price). Has 1/8" extractor cut, could be for S/N 72001-95800
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1862390


This looks like a Type 1 barrel for $122 (probably less with C&R). But it shows out of stock, but it says 'new' so I wonder if it was a repro? You might call Numrich and ask

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/553740

They have several listings for various serial number ranges

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/553750

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/553760

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/14962604

[javaduke]

Yeah, I checked with Numrich, they don't have what I need - type 1, 4", 3/32" extractor cut.

In the meantime I polished all screws and pins and blued them with torch and quenched in oil. They turned out just amazing, I tried to take picture but phone camera is just not good enough for this.
I started reassembling the frame and wad wondering why the disconnector looks just like 1911. That's because it is a 1911 disco! So no wonder it doesn't protrude from the frame when pushed up. I went and bought the correct part. This project is becoming expensive!

[SkyHawk]

I wonder if anyone has ever welded in a shim or something to convert 1/8 to 3/32 extractor groove. I guess by the time you pay for welding and machining, probably cost as much as a new repro barrel.

[sierrahiker]

None of the things you want to do to that firearm will improve it's performance. So, if you do not mind shooting an ugly but one of the sweetest shooting firearms made, leave it as is.

[M1NM]

I wonder if anyone has ever welded in a shim or something to convert 1/8 to 3/32 extractor groove. I guess by the time you pay for welding and machining, probably cost as much as a new repro barrel.

That gun came in .32 and .380. If you need a new barrel I'd look at going to .380. Easier to get ammo and a better round. You'd probably have to open up the face of the slide a little.