Happy new year! I took a well deserved break with the family and it is time to fill everyone in on the current status of my restoration.

Well, there seems to be good news and bad news. The good news is; all the rust is now completely removed. That is about the extent of the good news I'm afraid. Upon soaking the metal in a rust removing solution for a day, it became obvious that there is some pitting on certain parts. The barrels look good, except for some minor to moderate pitting on the underside. Still, the barrels are smooth and clean.

The other metal parts though: As the rust desovled it left the metal feeling rough and dull. Not smooth and finished. The scroll-work on the locks still look great, but the tang and mount is rough like sand papper. The butplate is the worst. Even the screws are a bit rough-feeling. Further; the worst case has happened. I found the mainspring on the left lock plate had snapped in the night. I have no idea how this happened, it was in excellent shape last night. Anyway, looks like I'm in the market for a new mainspring. Also, the spring that compresses the right firing pin is badly degraded. It was terribly rusty, and I suppose the rust ate through most of the body of the metal. So, I'm looking for a left mainspring and a new firing pin spring.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what to do about the rough feeling on the metal? It was certainly covered in rust before I soaked it, but is this entirely due to pitting? Are there any methods or systems I should be aware of? Where can I find a mainspring and firing pin spring?

Thanks again everyone for your expertise. Here's to a new year!
Sean

A picture of the carnage:

www.dixiegunworks.com has mainsprings that look very close to what you need. They are a very helpful lot and if you telephone them with the dimentions of what you need I bet they will get close to it. Most of the top lever springs I get from them need to be altered to fit. Their TP3502 or TP3503 shotgun mainspring might just do it.

Harry

I believe this is the thread that Robert Fabian refers to. I have it bookmarked and will be attempting the staple repair on two VH stocks that are in poor shape.
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=517

Jack,I gotta tell ya..I love that avatar....:bowdown:

You can get a spring that will work for the firing pin from many good hardware stores. They should have something close that can be modified to fit and be the approximate correct strength. They're a pretty simple spring. You can get spring wire from some suppliers like Rutland or just unwind a spring of the proper wire size and rewind it to the right size.

Dave: Thanks. With a little trepidation, the rooster was replaced with the kind of sight a rooster would not like to see. Actually, if one got to see that, I guess they also got to keep flying. Cheers, Jack

I'll second the coodo's on the avatar