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Fellow airgunners- Let us make a pact to not use heat shrink tube on our barrels

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(@flylock)
Pennsylvania
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  
IMG 8731
IMG 8730
IMG 8728

so, walking my favorite flea market a couple weeks ago.  I find a decent looking hw55. the fellow says it shoots real good, low power he says but nice and smooth and accurate. it's german he says and as good as any Beeman hes seen and he needs to get $100 or else hes keeping it.  I notice the gamo scope that I can barely see through and the heat shrink tubing on the barrel but I buy it anyways. first things first I spray ballistol all over it as it does have some very light rust on the receiver. it shoots pretty okay but the gamo scope has to go, I put on a hawke that I already had from another gun. hey its pretty darn accurate. 27 yards and Im shooting quarter size groups. So I keep spraying ballistol every few days and rubbing that receiver and most of that rust is gone. But now I'm curious what under the heat shrink and pretty afraid to look!  So I peel it back and I aint sure if it's all rust or maybe some type of adhesive with a bit of rust mixed in. the plan is to keep spraying the ballistol and rubbing on it with rag to see how much I can get off of this stuff.  


   
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pistolero
(@pistolero)
Oregon
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 329
 

Obviously the seller prefers to see heat-shrink tubing over the rust. Rather, some sellers obviously prefer potential buyers see heat-shrink tubing over the rust! There's a pretty basic lesson in used airgun buying here. 

The good news is you still made out like a bandit, any way you cut it.


   
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(@oldair)
Michigan
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 94
 

At one time the early adult-airgun pioneer purveyors Ladd Fanta and Robert Law advocated and sold plastic tube barrel covers to avoid hand wear from cocking.  I don't recall any adhesive being involved though, and I've never tried removing the several Ive had on classic guns.  You might try either a solvent like Goo-Gone to get rid of adhesive, or OOOO steel wool with your Ballistol treatment if you think it's rusty.

Darn nice gun overall, it would appear you got majorly lucky.

Don R.


   
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(@flylock)
Pennsylvania
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  

  you may right about the plastic, but my first guess was heat shrink tubing. I don't like to use steel wool on guns though, I believe the metal scour pads for washing pots and pans works pretty good. But, in any case I am going to let the ballistol soaking continue at least for the next week or 2, I just spray some on and rub it with a dry cloth . spray some more and let it soak. it seems to have worked great on the receiver, so I will take my time with this method.


   
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(@ekmeister)
Texas
Member of Trade
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 739
 

Seeing it from here, I'd be surprised if Ballistol or any other oil treatment takes care of it.  I'd say that some steel wool (either the real stuff or a synthetic version) and some cold bluing might be in your future.  I do admire your determination and patience, though.


   
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marflow
(@marflow)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1594
 

well I would try some acetone on it, take a rag wet it down and let it soak for a few moments and then you can see what you have is see no pitting that is a good thing

lacquer thinner would my next choice if the acetone doesn't work and of course both should used outside away from fire

I think you might be surprised

a smallish closed end metal pipe stood up and the barrel then held in said pipe to soak the barrel might help with the cleaning process, front sight needs to come off anyway

just my view from afar

of course keep it off the wood


   
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sonnysan
(@sonnysan)
California
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 620
 

I'd be looking to replace the barrel completely.  If the rifling is good, then I'd ask local gunsmiths how much it would cost to re-blue the entire barrel.


   
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David_Enoch
(@david_enoch)
Texas
Moderator
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 575
 

I would use a solvent designed to attach adhesives.  You might also try a heat gun to see if that softens the adhesive.  If either of these soften the glue, you could remove most of it with a scraper.

Or, sell it to me.  I like rough looking guns that shoot well. 

David Enoch


   
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marflow
(@marflow)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1594
 

the thing is it's not rust, I downloaded one of the pictures to me desktop and enlarged the picture to se how bad the pitting was and there is no pitting

it looks like a plastic cover that is stuck to the barrel and has shrunk fractured, it looks like very scaly skin, i

it should come off with the right solvent , the barrel might be damn nice and a cleaned barrel picture, I will be waiting for

I would touch it with anything but strong solvent and a tooth brush, ok the toothbrush will be eaten alive but you get the point, at a $100.00 this rifle could be a real steal


   
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pistolero
(@pistolero)
Oregon
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 329
 

If anything will make a dent in it, a chemical paint-stripper like Zip Strip will. Get the strongest stuff you can, which is usually the most expensive on the shelf.


   
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(@chuckinohio)
Ohio
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 30
 

It does look more like some kind of dried adhesive rather than rust.

I would bet that at some point someone glued a shroud or facsimile thereof on the barrel in an attempt to mimic the look of a HW 55 match rifle.

 

  GREAT SCORE regardless.


   
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James_D
(@james_d)
Pennsylvania
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 101
 

Gorgeous stock & receiver. I've always wanted a latch locked HW. Especially since I now see what 8-6ftlbs is capable of. I might have been tempted to buy it though no back sight & a righty stock; just resold it here if comb too sharp or annoying. But, I would have felt HORRIBLE once buyer saw that barrel if I hadn't checked myself. 

  All in all, for $100.00, you just got a GREAT beater or truck rifle. Guy at my flea market had a metal receiver 760 with a socket on end of barrel with set screws holding it on to "look cool" for his children. I passed at $50.00

I may start a new thread here for flea market clones as I could REALLY help some of you. Example, (my best deal there) guy had a Black Yamaha guitar, broken bridge. Not just lifted, split in 1/2 right through pin holes & completely off guitar. How much? I'm asking $15.00, (the gold plated tuners are worth $20.00 alone). I've got $9.64 in my pocket. Ok, deal.

Take it home wipe it down, clean up frets & board, tighten tuners & replace saddle & nut with bone, file them as low as I think it'll go. 

Now, your barrels ugly. I don't have bridge clamps or an internal jack. I prepped & used wood glue on bottom, super glue gel on split to hold the rosewood together. Heck, a new bridge is $22, but the tools to do it RIGHT? Over $200 new. I glue it & let it cure for 24. String her up. I'm a whole step (2 frets too low) from perfect pitch. The new medium Martins sound REALLY nice on this thing. I know, I didn't have any light gauge strings but even extra light has got to be near 140-160-lbs of pull. Back to the drawing board,

I'm NOT paying my ex boss, Master Luthier Frank Finnochio to fix this for me. One, he'll laugh at me. Sorry Frank, I WANT one of your <than $2000.00 guitars; but I could only afford this $9.64 broken one. I figure, OK, what's a fail safe that no bridge is going to come whipping off & hit my 1 year old who already has learned to strum in a pattern & I'm so close to getting him to do a finger roll like in Hotel California at the end. It took a week to teach him to strum, not PULL the strings. I digress, as always; but I read all the "where'd he ever go?" comments, & I see I'm loved.

Don't cry shame on me. I paid $9.00 & Sixty-four darn cents. Bi-nary compound epoxy to the rescue! Just a 2 little dabs u'll do ya when working w/ this stuff. I figured, it wasn't bought for pretty. New value is $120-$140 most places which means it's a $25-$75 guitar made in another country.

I could have simple just kept it tuned down a full step. A little deeper tone, & that's what keypo's are for. I'm ALWAYS transposing up & down so this actually taught me that though I'm not the typical drop D player, I can sing quite well in certain keys when it is dropped (all 6 together) in unison , not just that weird dropped D that old grunge bands used.

Flea markets, Gotta love um. Check our Yellow Flea out for deals I can get YOU! Gorgeous stock & you got a GREAT deal, even if rusted & needs new seals, spring, bluing, scope, I'll stop there, or, it wouldn't be a great deal. 


   
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(@flylock)
Pennsylvania
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 4
Topic starter  

okay, so a lot of the crud did come off. I scraped at it a bit with a penny just to see how easy it would come off, and then switched to the dish scrubber with lots of ballistol added. it still has speckling but much of the blue came out and it looks pretty good. I don't  think it will get much better. I did try some acetone and it didn't do much so I went back to the oil and pot scrubber and this type of metal scrubber was recommended to me by a local gunsmith he said use plenty of oil and go easy. I attached a few new pics and included a picture of the rubber piece that was on the barrel. I believe that rubber may have been on there since the original owner purchased it as oldair explained in his post and that is most likely the reason for the rust as it probably held in any condensation. thanks for all of your suggestions and it seems to shoot a bit better with a trigger adjustment that I did yesterday as someone had the screw turned almost all the way in. yeah.

IMG 8742
IMG 8755
IMG 8758
IMG 8758
IMG 8754
IMG 8753

   
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marflow
(@marflow)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1594
 

you might try some bronze wool but it look quiet good as is, it is still a steal and great find

you could always put a shroud on it


   
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ribbonstone
(@ribbonstone)
Louisiana
Rest In Peace
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 510
 

Let me get this right.

 

You paid $100 for it (it would have cost me more than that to drive up there and steal it).

 

It is quite nice other than the outside of the barrel (inside is good).

 

Dude...……. I'd clean the outside of the barrel to a nice polished/smooth finish, and OxphoBlue it. May not match the black-blue of the rest of the rifle, but it would be a blue that lasts for a "cold blue".

 

round is actually one of the easier shapes to get clean/polished evenly if you devote the time to it (lets say 3 hours).


   
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marflow
(@marflow)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1594
 

Ribbonstone you are right on the mark, I just saw some results using Brownells Dicropan T-4 and it came out very black, I just ordered both the cream and liquid

but I have mixing as many cold blues that I have on hand together and been get fairly good results, it will never be perfect but if I say that looks fine, it has past my test and I'm a picky SOB


   
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(@gordonid)
Idaho
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 10
 

   Many years ago I picked up an R9 off an auction site that looked good in the pictures but when it arrived it had a rusting problem. After removing what I could it was obvious it would require much more to get it looking good. I have not had much luck with cold blue so I did some calling and found a local gunsmith that would throw it into his next hot blueing batch if I stripped it down. He didn't want to mess with a tear down and would charge more to prep the metal.

   I stripped the barrel and compression tube down to just those two parts then removed the blueing and pitting using sandpaper.

   I don't recall the exact price but I think it was only $40 and I still have the gun. It might be worth an inquiry to see if that is a valid option in your case.


   
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(@classicalgas)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 71
 

Like Gord said..take the barrel off, shoeshine the pitting out (nothing coarser than 180 grit, work up to about 600) have a local gun shop hot blue it.

 

I'd bet that the barrel blue on a well used break barrel of that age would look a lot worse if the sleeve hadn't been there. The blueing wears and browns on old barrel cocking guns where they are handled every shot.


   
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El-pelletas
(@el-pelletas)
Washington
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 148
 

I solemnly pledge to not ever use that stuff on airguns?.


   
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