Rainy day gun.

[Gerald McPherson]

Thanks for moving this thread. This is the gun I bought from Brian to have something to fiddle with while staying home. Stripped and stained the wood then added finish without removing the frame. I always wondered if I could do this with out making a mess and sure enough it worked. The frame needs a good cleaning and lube so I may take it apart anyway and do it over and remove oil from the wood and not stain it. I don't like the color. I have never prepped a barrel for rust blueing so I might give that a try. I watched Larry Potterfield's how to video and it looks pretty simple. I think it will need some laser welding to fill the pits. I may have a source for that nearby.Any tips from pros will be appreciated. I do like the one frame and the chokes. The bores are better than I expected after a good cleaning with a Frontier Pad I can not see any frosting. Did the straw test and the gun fits me pretty well. If I shoot it well it may become my Sunny Day Gun. Gerald.

P.S. Brian I sure wish you would not use the fore end to push the barb wire fences down

[Bill Murphy]

This is a reproduction?

[Gerald McPherson]

Thanks Bill. Sorry about that. I meant to put it in Restorations.Good Grief!! Can it be removed?

[Gerald McPherson]

Sunny day today so I shot Old Rainy. Fits me well and breaks clays nicely. Good job on lowering the comb Brian. Gerald.

[Keith Doty]

IS it possible to have pits built up with laser welding to prep for a re-blue? Exterior only, I'm guessing? Next question: Will the fill metal added match after blueing or will it show like a sleeve job where they nearly never quite match in color/texture?

[Brian Dudley]

Good work already!

Hey, that gun was pretty much the way it was when I got it. I just took the comb down some and hunted with it. I never came across any barbed wire in my travels. Just a lot of thorns.

[Rick Losey]

P.S. Brian I sure wish you would not use the fore end to push the barb wire fences down


that's what the butt plate is for :rolleyes:

[Gerald McPherson]

I've been turkey hunting lately on a cattle farm near Cedartown Ga. The most barb wire fences I've ever seen on a small farm. I got tangled up in one and it was tempting. Just kidding Brian. I'm going to have Bill Schwartz take a look at the barrels and see what he thinks. I used a copper brush on the pits and that helped. Less angry looking. Researching laser welding and it looks like it will work if I decide to go that route. It seems it will rust blue and can be applied very thin. Gerald

[Eric Eis]

I've been turkey hunting lately on a cattle farm near Cedartown Ga. The most barb wire fences I've ever seen on a small farm. I got tangled up in one and it was tempting. Just kidding Brian. I'm going to have Bill Swartzs take a look at the barrels and see what he thinks. I used a copper brush on the pits and that helped. Less angry looking. Researching laser welding and it looks like it will work if I decide to go that route. It seems it will rust blue and can be applied very thin. Gerald

If you go the laser welding road please take some before and after pictures. I think a lot of us would like to know how it comes out.

[Gerald McPherson]

Update. No go with laser welding no response. Must be closed. Proceeded to take Rainy Day Gun apart, tightest screws I've ever saw almost gave up but after soaking in liquid wrench it happened. Decided to redo the wood by removing finish and oil using Crud Cutter and Goof Off and a little acetone. Then applied 4 coats of True Oil rubbing down with 0000 steel wool to remove gloss and waxed with Johnsons past wax that I've had for 50 years at least. I have taken 4 or 5 Parkers apart but this one was by far the worst full of crud and Liquid Wrench. Forgot to take a picture. Continued with carb cleaner and compressed air Letting soak overnight. Eventually I got pleasing results so continued with WD40 and more air. Reassembled the stock to the action. Extremely close tolerance on the metal work. Ordered some Oxpho-Blue from Brownells and began sanding the barrels until it was easy to see all the pitting.
Then I carried them up to Bill Schwartz to get his thoughts. He recommended not doing any filing on the pitted area near the muzzle as he measured 22 thous. there so I came home and continued to sand until I got it fairly smooth. The Oxpho came yesterday so today I re blued I am surprised how black 5 applications did the barrels. So I guess I am through for now. If you stay back about 40 feet you you will think I have a nice Parker. Anyway I did enjoy doing it. Gerald

Ps Thats light shining on the pits in the last pic. They really don't show up at all.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Nice job on the rainy day gun Gerald

[Rick Rappe]

New to this site, my single post was about loads for a hammer gun I was "rehabilitating" tho "resurrecting" might be a better description, and comments began to move the thread in a restoration direction. Just now reading various posts, I ended here. If not already known by us fixer-upper types, by doing a combination of the heat method used to color metal brown, then wipe on blueing the still very warm barrels and letting it stand until the surface rust forms, you can create a great new look that doesn't shout refinish, raising the visual condition description one or two levels.

RickR

[Brian Dudley]

Gerald,
You had much more ambition for the old gun than I ever did. That is for sure. And it cleaned up to be presentable.
Every person that I hunted with who saw the gun always told me “you can make that think look like new, why not?” Because it would have defeated the purpose for why I bought the gun to begin with. To have a beater.
And I knew that the exterior pitting could not be cleaned up without putting more effort into it than it was worth.

[Mills Morrison]

A good cleaning can do wonders for worn Parkers.

[Gerald McPherson]

Brian; I wanted the gun just to have something to do and it was just the ticket for that. I learn something every time I take a Parker apart. This one was harder to take apart than it was to put back together. That Oxpho blue sure turned out black and I have read that it lasts pretty well. We will see. Shot some clays today again and it shot well again like a Parker should. With a little care one could hunt it another hundred years. Gerald.

[Gerald McPherson]

Well Phoey Rainy Day found a new home already. I sure will miss her but I don't hunt in the rain anyway. The new owner left here grinning, He thought it was a Purdey.