Firearm Restoration Projects by Jibz

[Jibz]

From time to time, I get an opportunity to work on different firearms to restore them. I thought to start off with a fresh thread and post details (mostly pics) of the restoration projects which I completed. Please note that some of these goodies belonged to me and some were of my friends and family. Let me start with this Colt Official Police 38-200. I was offered this about an year back and as the price was right so I didnt waste any time and grabbed it. Allow me to share it was in a very Average Condition, so to speak. The resolution of the BEFORE pics are as bad as they get so kindly bear with me.











The Colt was full of rust and pitting in several spots however the good part was that they were not too deep and could be buffed out easily. Other than that the barrel was quite dirty which after cleaning I came to know also had pitting and it needed some serious cleaning. So first thing first, It was completely disassembled.







The internals were full of gunk. The restoration included a very detailed process of De-Greasing, sandblast of some parts, buffing of the receiver and outside barrel, cleaning and then polish of the wooden grips etc. The end result was something like this.

[Jibz]

I bought this French Lebel 1886 Model M93 Rifle as a Wall-Mount.

There were several alterations that had been done to it before it landed with me.

I observed that it's internal feeding mechanism had been completely changed. Its supposed to have a tube fed magazine system however it had been converted to the internal Box mag mechanism like that of the K98.

As the feeding mechanism had been changed so the Magazine Feeding Cut-Off lever was there but in fact useless.
The design of the front sight had also been changed somewhere during its life.

It was supposed to have a straight bolt handle like that of a Mosin Nagant M38 or M44. The bolt on the one I got was bent like that of a Lee Enfield or K98.

Now thats not the end of it; it is supposed to be in 8mm Lebel Calibre but when I tried inserting one in it, it didnt have enough chamber space. Upon close inspection I found out that it had been re-chambered. Now I have a hefty number and types of 8mm Calibers in my collection, I tried them all and none seated. I was pretty sure that the barrel was genuine and had not been altered anywhere else but the chamber was not that of 8mm. So the next logical way ahead was to try all the probable calibers and hurrah there it was; it had been converted to .308 Win. I removed a bullet from the .308 round that I had and checked to see if it moves through the barrel with groove imprints on its sides or not and I found out that the bullet passed through the the barrel effortlessly so from accuracy point of view this rifle is as good as crap (please note that that was not the intention in the first place. It was supposed to be a Wall-Mount).

Here is how it was when it landed with me.

[Enigmatic Desires]

I am a wordsmith my profession Jibz sir.. But I am at a complete loss when it comes to the before and after pics of the Wheel-gun. Suffice to say that I have been watching the pics enraptured, for the fast few minutes.

As for the French Lebel 1886 Model M93, what do you plan to use it purely as a wall ornament? Or do you have something else in mind?

[Imtiaz Shah]

@ Jibz
I have an inherited 12G DBBL shotgun from, Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault (MAC),the maker of your fantastic Lebel M93rifle !

[Fraz]

Jibz bhai, MA SHA ALLAH, the interesting about your projects is that most have them are in a not so good condition when you acquire them, but you do you a very thorough job on them and turn them into very fine pieces of art. The attention to details is always great. Love your dedication. Kudos

[Jibz]

I am a wordsmith my profession Jibz sir.. But I am at a complete loss when it comes to the before and after pics of the Wheel-gun. Suffice to say that I have been watching the pics enraptured, for the fast few minutes.
As for the French Lebel 1886 Model M93, what do you plan to use it purely as a wall ornament? Or do you have something else in mind?

Cheers ED.
I was fortunate that the Colt had not been worked upon by anyone else in its past and due to that it was fully receptive towards whatever finish I wanted to give it. If you notice, you will find that it is in two tone; I gave the cylinder a Matte finish and the rest of the body a semi-gloss by buffing it out. Also I checked the serial number of this particular unit on Colt’s website and it turned out to be made in 1941 so it is a pretty historical unit based on being made during WWII. https://www.colt.com/serial-lookup

The Lebel will be a Wall Mount, definitely; but something tells me that it may see a range session because it is in perfectly fine working condition and I would want to see how it behaves despite the calibre alterations that have been done to it. Wish me luck.

@ Jibz
I have an inherited 12G DBBL shotgun from, Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault (MAC),the maker of your fantastic Lebel M93rifle !

That's very interesting; I am assuming that it would be a box-lock. Please do feel free to share a pic or 2 here; would love to see these oldies. Stay tuned for the AFTER pics of the Lebel.

Jibz bhai, MA SHA ALLAH, the interesting about your projects is that most have them are in a not so good condition when you acquire them, but you do you a very thorough job on them and turn them into very fine pieces of art. The attention to details is always great. Love your dedication. Kudos

JazakAllah Khair Roor. Time bhi acha pass ho jata hy aur dil lagi bhi ho jati hy. hahahahhaha
Stay Blessed.

[Jibz]

And after spending almost 2 weeks on the Lebel, it turned out to be something like this.



The stock was given a simple lacquer based polish to make it as period correct as possible; otherwise normally I prefer the BLO polish.









The serial number on the stock was preserved during the sanding of the wood.












All the markings were kept intact despite the fact that there was some deep pitting in some of these spots.

[Imtiaz Shah]

That's very interesting; I am assuming that it would be a box-lock. Please do feel free to share a pic or 2 here; would love to see these oldies. Stay tuned for the AFTER pics of the Lebel.
@ Jibz
Yes Sir, the MAC 12G SxS shotgun is a box-lock. Bought NIB, circa 1960 (via VPP, from G.M.Dossul & Sons, Karachi) for several hundred rupees ! Works perfectly, much used and much cared, but the lockup has some play (rattles). The "leg of mutton" shotgun case in ox-hide is magnificent, made from Rawalpindi, decades ago. For pics, I will need some help !

[a.basit94]

JBZ Bhai, Kia kahain apki skills kai barai mein. Apko Gunsmith kehna sahi rahai ga because the way you restores guns is amazing. (Y) Hats Off to you bro. It would be my pleasure to meet you whenever I visit Peshawar in my next trip Insha Allah. Heard alot about your collection that it might require days to complete.

[jamalkio77]

Aoa jibz
pl ur location? Need help to get a double barrel revived. Its my fathers's and may make him happy. Pl share cell jamalkio at yahoo.com

[Enigmatic Desires]

I knew it.. Jibz bhai.. That you will figure out a way to make an ornament into a fully functional weapon. And buy. .what a beauty she is. almost 140 years old and still looking as good as new. Probably even better.

As for wheelie, yes i noticed the two tones and the 1941 serial number gives it excellent historical value.

[Jibz]

@ Jibz
Yes Sir, the MAC 12G SxS shotgun is a box-lock. Bought NIB, circa 1960 (via VPP, from G.M.Dossul & Sons, Karachi) for several hundred rupees ! Works perfectly, much used and much cared, but the lockup has some play (rattles). The "leg of mutton" shotgun case in ox-hide is magnificent, made from Rawalpindi, decades ago. For pics, I will need some help !

Interesting. The Lock play can be removed however if its not intended to be used much and only kept as a heirloom then I will suggest to let it be as it is. Also, I am assuming that the case must have been made by Shams Saddlers; I visited them about 6 weeks back; it was nostalgic to see their inventory of everything made out of genuine leather.
PS: You can post the pics on google photos and then use https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/ to generate a code to be embeded at PG.

JBZ Bhai, Kia kahain apki skills kai barai mein. Apko Gunsmith kehna sahi rahai ga because the way you restores guns is amazing. (Y) Hats Off to you bro. It would be my pleasure to meet you whenever I visit Peshawar in my next trip Insha Allah. Heard alot about your collection that it might require days to complete.

JazakAllah Khair Roor. Yes plz do feel free to visit me as I am always looking forward to a patient ear to listen to my stories at length and for an enthusiastic eye to appreciate what Allah has graciously bestowed upon the likes of me. Stay Blessed.

Aoa jibz
pl ur location? Need help to get a double barrel revived. Its my fathers's and may make him happy. Pl share cell jamalkio at yahoo.com

AoA Dear, sent you an email. I will be honoured to be of some help in bringing joy to an old timer. InshAllah.
Cheers

I knew it.. Jibz bhai.. That you will figure out a way to make an ornament into a fully functional weapon. And buy. .what a beauty she is. almost 140 years old and still looking as good as new. Probably even better.
As for wheelie, yes i noticed the two tones and the 1941 serial number gives it excellent historical value.

Thanks ED, you will like it even more when you see it in person on your next visit. InshAllah. BTW, Ramzan is nearing, kya khayal hy? A visit to Peshawar could be a good idea. hahahaha
A slight correction is needed to be made here; To be fair to the rifle, it was already in working condition. Its just that I hadn't realized its uniqueness wrt its re-chambering until I went on to feed it with 8mm Lebel cartridge.

[jamalkio77]

.....

AoA Dear, sent you an email. I will be honoured to be of some help in bringing joy to an old timer. InshAllah.
Cheers
.....

So kind. But for some reason i didnt receive any mail. Please if u can redeem
jamalkio@yahoo

[mfaraxbaig]

what a beauty 😍
i have Rossi .32 long S&W M89 SS. and i am looking custom grip for the same. can you help me to locate from where can i find or who can make it on order in Karachi

[Jibz]

About an year or so back, a senior PG member contacted me and asked to find for him a European Shotgun in 12 Gauge. In my quest to help him out, I spread the news among my contacts and someone got back to me with an Italian Beretta Monobloc Vittoria SxS 12 Gauge. Unfortunately the gun was a bit above the budget of that senior and thus, good for me, I bought it for myself.

First a little background on Monobloc System. The barrels of this shotgun were constructed on the Monobloc system for which Beretta has been famous. In this system the separate tubes are joined together (by soldering with an alloy of Zinc and Copper at high temperature) in to a machined breech section. This can be noticed from the knurled rings around each barrel at the joint of the tubes and breech section located about four inches forward of the breech end of the barrels. The stampings on the receiver indicated that this shotgun was proofed in the finished state in 1948. The Maker’s mark, "PB" surmounted by a crown is located on both barrel flats. The stampings on the underside of the barrels forward of the barrel flats indicate that this gun has a tight 12 gauge chamber (20.3 mm or 0.799") and is chambered for the 70 mm (2 3/4" long) shell.

The barrels weight is also marked as 1.450 kg. Similarly both barrels are bored to a tight 12 gauge bore (Left: 18.3 mm or 0.720" and right 18.4 mm or 0.724"). Both barrels are choked as the left barrel is 17.3 mm or 0.681" and the right one is 17.6 mm or 0.693".
Now from the looks of it, it was quite evident that the shotgun had not been taken care of in the way it deserved. So the next logical thing was to get it back to its glory days.



















The chipped off front hand guard required some serious treatment.



The MONOBLOC Vittoria Markings on the Barrel Rib.

[Imtiaz Shah]

@ Jibz
Interesting. The Lock play can be removed however if its not intended to be used much and only kept as a heirloom then I will suggest to let it be as it is. Also, I am assuming that the case must have been made by Shams Saddlers; I visited them about 6 weeks back; it was nostalgic to see their inventory of everything made out of genuine leather.
PS: You can post the pics on google photos and then use https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/ to generate a code to be embedded at PG.
Sorry for the poor photo quality (phone-camera).

The shotgun was inherited in 2014, bought NIB for few hundred Rupees in 1960. The shotgun was much used for waterfowl, francolin and hog hunting in north Punjab.. "Leg of mutton case" in ox-hide was custom made from Rawalpindi. The cartridge belt is USA made. When appraised for value in 2014, max offer was Rs.40K ! It was promised to my younger son by grandfather.
My only addition has been the Butler-Creek recoil pad on stock ($25) for comfort.
Right barrel has half choke, illegible on the left. Bore is mirror, but the exterior has some pitting from hand sweat. No rust anywhere.
I may take it to Pervaiz Awan (of Shamsuddin Arms) to take care of the lockup rattle, though function is flawless.

[Enigmatic Desires]

Interesting. The Lock play can be removed however if its not intended to be used much and only kept as a heirloom then I will suggest to let it be as it is. Also, I am assuming that the case must have been made by Shams Saddlers; I visited them about 6 weeks back; it was nostalgic to see their inventory of everything made out of genuine leather.
PS: You can post the pics on google photos and then use https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/ to generate a code to be embeded at PG.


JazakAllah Khair Roor. Yes plz do feel free to visit me as I am always looking forward to a patient ear to listen to my stories at length and for an enthusiastic eye to appreciate what Allah has graciously bestowed upon the likes of me. Stay Blessed.


AoA Dear, sent you an email. I will be honoured to be of some help in bringing joy to an old timer. InshAllah.
Cheers


Thanks ED, you will like it even more when you see it in person on your next visit. InshAllah. BTW, Ramzan is nearing, kya khayal hy? A visit to Peshawar could be a good idea. hahahaha
A slight correction is needed to be made here; To be fair to the rifle, it was already in working condition. Its just that I hadn't realized its uniqueness wrt its re-chambering until I went on to feed it with 8mm Lebel cartridge.

But of course JibZ bhai. I am now trying to make it my Ramazan tradition, if I can.

[Jibz]

So to begin it all, the complete shotgun was disassembled. Please note that it took me almost 5 days to disassemble it completely because I was taking every possible care to ensure that no screw or part is damaged in the process.

Following are the DURING Pics of the restoration.

The serial number is stamped on almost all the parts. You can see the amount of dirt and gunk inside the hammer mechanism.





Preparations for the disassembly.





The Wood furniture had been coated with some type of lacquer polish and it had been done so sparingly that the checkering had been completely filled in.



The trigger guard after sand blasting; the small visible dots are not pitting, in fact these are slight remnants of the engravings.



I didnt sand blast the barrel and only cleaned it up with a high speed wire brush. It brought out the engravings and markings more clearly.



I used a very soft copper brush and lacquer thinner to remove the previously done polish from the stock and hurrah, there it was, the checkering.




The same process of thinner and brushing with the copper brush was done to the foregrip and its checkering too became more visible. However the chipped off part on the right side needed some extra treatment.







Before applying sandpaper to the stock, I applied masking tape on the checkering to ensure that they dont get sanded out.



The receiver was left in diesel and kerosene for 2 days so that the screws are loosened and can be removed without damaging them.



A sneak peak at whats to come.

[Enigmatic Desires]

Thanks for the Jhalkian Sir. Looking forward to round II

[Jibz]

And so the complete restoration process took almost 3 weeks and this is what it resulted in.