Brazilian M1908

[Oily]

My uncle brought me his M1908 to clean barrel and slug for bore and throat size to shoot boolits. When I received the gun it was covered in dust from 40 years of being shuffled from closet to closet during remodeling of his home. After dust removed there was rust under it all. I decided to disassemble gun and see what was underneath the wood. OK here is my problem the rear barrel band that holds the handguard on has become stuck. The leaf spring retainer is missing and it seems as if the wood has swollen and lodged this baby in place. Any tips on removing the band without destroying the wood? I have a 1938 Turk I redid but it had a bolt through it and was easy to remove. One more bit of info the bottom of stock where band sits is indented or wore leaving a raised portion in front of the band as if it was loose in a earlier life and wore this (groove) into stock. I don't want to bugger the stock as it seems to be walnut. Thanks Oily

[Texas by God]

Since the wood is raised, I would leave the band there until I found out if it's a shooter or not. IMO.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Sometimes on very old guns that have been subjected to moisture, be it liquid or just damp atmosphere (for which closets are famous) the metal will actually rust to the wood. I don't know of a satisfactory way of breaking the bond chemically without damaging the wood. Were the problem mine, and I've had several of them like this, I would use a wide tipped pin punch and tap against the rear (butt end) of the ring toward the muzzle until the problem was overcome; moving around the ring, tap, tap on this side, tap, tap on that side, tap, tap on the bottom, etc. Maybe squirt some WD-40 on the area a day ahead of trying this to break the bond a little and provide some lubrication.

Hey, Tex---I thought you were in surgery? If so, I hope you're doing well.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It could have been glued when the spring retainer went missing, or it could have become stuck by gummy oil or grease, or who knows what? I know Brazilian irregulars used to think you only had to clean the outside of a rifle, because nobody would see the bore, and your bullets would fly off squint if you used rag from clothes worn by women. So you must expect the unconventional.

First try heating it as much as you dare (a large electric soldering iron is good) and see if it will tap loose. If that doesn't work, do you have a means of freezing it? A friendly butcher might help if you wrap it in plastic. Hit it, a little short of damage, all the way around on the outside. We live in the information age, and I see it has gone as low as 17 Fahrenheit outdoors in Oklahoma, but that would be a while to wait.

Failing that, Numrich have replacements, quite inexpensive, for both the band and the spring. You should be able to detach the old one by cutting and levering apart with a screwdriver. If that won't do it, it is stuck with something better than glue.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/search#...azilian%20band

[Oily]

Thanks guys I think I will take Tex's advice first and see if it will even group as the bore doesn't look very good yet but am still getting crud out slowly but surely.

[Texas by God]

That's a very good action to build upon if the barrel is shot out or neglected to death. Der G- thanks, I'm fine. Except no shooting or reloading for weeks. Argh- just as the weather is nice.
Best, Thomas.