Found my Fathers 1911, very sad

[osteodoc08]

As many of you regulars know, my father passed in May. I was unable to locate 3 guns. A Kimber 82 Government that we bought a pair together, a Walther PP in 32ACP and a RIA 1911 I bought for Father's Day several years ago and ended up putting some small parts on to make it look like a current Sig Nightmare to give you an idea (before these even existed)

I haven't had much of a chance to spend in my fathers gun room, but I did look
Briefly for those guns with no luck.

In the interim, the pan on the AC started to leak and was noticed by my younger brother who still lives at home. I asked him to clean it up and shut down the AC. Neither happened. I came home to almost a 1/2 inch of water in the basement. I cleaned it up and the pan was fixed. I asked my brother again to dry out all the wet stuff including my dads range bag......again, wasn't done. My brother claims to have gone through is range bag.....I went through it over the weekend to find the 1911........covered in rust to the point of not being able to move the slide, hammer, etc. I was sick.

[osteodoc08]

I was finally able to get it apart with my rubber and plastic persuader.

[osteodoc08]

[jumbeaux]

Take off the grips and let it soak in solvent (kerosene works great)...or use a good commercial rust breaker...mineral oil might work. Let it soak and after a few days take a nylon bristle brush (toothbrush works) and do some light scrubbing. Re-soak...do it again...you should be able to get it totally taken apart and then work on soaking and brushing on the parts...does not look like any pitting so just take your time and good luck...

rick

[osteodoc08]

I stripped it down to each individual part and scrubbed with a brush and steel wool to get all the rust off. When disassembling the MSH, I shot the 3 pieces and spent 1/2 hourin my basement looking for them. Finally found them and put everything in the ultra sonic cleaner. Everything was dried and oiled.

This morning I took it in the back yard and ran 2 mags through without a hitch. It's ugly now, has no real value but is sentimental. I've got a gun to carry with me fishing and hiking if need be.

I was surprised to find it in his gun bag as he was a revolver man. It tells me he took it shooting the last time he went. That and a 3 screw BH I bought and he was "borrowing".

[jumbeaux]

Nothing beats a 1911 with some character and adding that it belonged to your dad is a bonus to cherish...

rick

[osteodoc08]

Forgot to mention I found his Kimber 82. It was in a case and was just fine. He had scoped it since I saw it last. Still have no idea where the Walther went.

[9.3X62AL]

Nice work on the restoration. The finish anomalies are now "character marks", mileposts in its history with your family. Were I in your position, such things would not diminish the pistol's value one iota in my mind.

Nice that you located the Kimber, and best of luck in locating the Walther.

I'm not approaching the end anytime soon, but my life is closer to its end than to its beginning--and I've had a few medical issues. Speaking here as the son of coroner's office executive.......do your heirs a favor and make note of the locations of ALL valuable items that you wish to pass on to them, and place documentation of same with a younger trusted family member. I came very close to That Good Good Night in October 2004, and I will admit that my preparations for departure were incomplete. I have since remedied that situation, and review it every couple years to keep things current.

[seaboltm]

degrease it, card off as much rust as possible, degrease again. boil it in hot water for 30 minutes. remove from hot water and card the old rusty areas with 0000 steel wool. use a generous amount of water displacing oil. WD 40 will do. Blow off WD with an air compressor. Re-oil and enjoy.

[nhrifle]

You might have a good candidate for a refinish there. If there is a shop near you that does hot caustic bluing, you could detail strip the pistol, polish the metal and have them drop it into the tank. The expensive part of a reblue job is the metal prep and if you take care of that it should be a fairly inexpensive process. There are also a few finishes that can be applied at home without too much trouble. If you don't want to go through refinishing it, I would atleast give all the metal a good scrubbing with 0000 steel wool and a liberal dose of Hoppe's #9. It won't harm the remaining finish, will remove the rust that is still there, and will keep new rust from forming.

Glad you found the pistol and were able to save it.

[GabbyM]

Looks like you got lucky and found it in time.

Seen a lot worse. Friend of mine had me clean one Colt 1911 up. He's carried it in the fresh air duct on his semi tractor. FYI it's illegal to carry a firearm in an ICC stickered truck. Which is why no truck drivers carry a firearm. To make it worse he had it wrapped in a cotton shop towel that held moisture. It had only been in there for a week right after he purchased it brand new out on the road. Looked like it had been out in the rain for five years. It had pretty deep pits all over. It all cleaned up and some cold blue touchup made it look passable. No effect to form fit or function. I don't see any serious pitting on your dads gun. Few pinholes maybe. I'd put a little ATF in the odorless K2 you can buy by the gallon at wal mart or hardware store sold as lamp oil.
I use 50/50 mix of K2 and ATF as gun oil. ATF is loaded with rust inhibitors. It's the Ed's Red style of oil. Very sheik.

[rondog]

FWIW - rust removal by electrolysis works very well. Pretty simple too, just search on Google and YouTube for info. Also, I have a RIA 1911 that I had polished and blued, and it took the finish very well. But it wasn't rusty either.

[detox]

Oh brother. I have a brother like that.

[nodda duma]

I could clean that rust away easily in an electrolysis tank. My wife's grandfather's Kar 98 was rusted all over like that. After removing the rust using electrolysis and a wipe-down, it looked brand new (original bluing intact). There is a thread over on surplusrifleforum which explains how to set it up. Works better than any other method I've ever used.

[rondog]

I could clean that rust away easily in an electrolysis tank. My wife's grandfather's Kar 98 was rusted all over like that. After removing the rust using electrolysis and a wipe-down, it looked brand new (original bluing intact). There is a thread over on surplusrifleforum which explains how to set it up. Works better than any other method I've ever used.

I have a mess of photos from some guy that had an M1 Garand that had been in a fire and all the parts had rusted badly. He did the electrolysis treatment on the parts and they looked like new.

[gray wolf]

Glad you found it and best of everything with the Re-store.

[Larry Gibson]

Hey, when does the brother get out of the hospital............

Larry Gibson

[btroj]

Can you divorce siblings? Well, I mean outside the south.......

[GabbyM]

Don't be to hard on your brother.
I've one that used to be an over achiever. Great patriot and all that.
Now he's just washed up. But he's just a couple years short of drawing SS.

I do mold remediation on call along with water damage. like in a storm we go out any hour to pump water.
Your brothers lack of cleaning up the water is really nothing compared to what we often deal with.
Half million dollar homes with a single $85 pump to clear the site. They'll have one of those twelve volt battery backup systems some jerk sold them for feel good. those guys are the real a holes. What kills us is when we go back to the same house a few years later to pump it out. Another 23 grand of damage due to not having an $85 dollar pump or a $500 dollar gas powered backup. I have to be very careful talking to these customers because as any of you whom have read my post here over the years know I'm not exactly a sensitive guy. BTW outside water damage is not covered under home owners insurance. But good luck trying to sell an American on a product that he only may need years ahead. Not ten hours from now. That's not every American but its the majority of people who are in trouble first time it rains over five inches. well Whatever. Sorry for the gabby ness.

[osteodoc08]

Thanks for the support guys. My brother has always been and will continue to be a mamas boy, who gets catered to. He still lives at home and still gets milk money (now gas money) and has his own job. We are a few years apart, but worlds apart when it comes to responsibility and maturity.

His interest in guns is passing. He has never reloaded. He bought components to reload for his glock. I set the Dillon 550 up and let him have at it......the powder is still in the powder measure on the press even though I asked him to put it back in the canister. That was over a month ago.....still there. It's gonna be fertilizer when I'm home next.

Enough of my rantings.

It's functional, that's what matters.