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Old February 17, 2014, 09:33 PM   #6
James K
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Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
It has been done, with expert welding used to fill in pits and replace rotted away metal, followed by very careful machine and hand work. But the job is very expensive and there are maybe 4-5 people in the country who can do it, and I'll bet your average gunsmith is not one of them. Maybe Turnbull does it, but I don't think so. If interested, ask them.

In an old article I read, the gun was a flat side Mauser C96, but even for that rare a gun the job would have cost more than the gun was worth except as a "no expense spared" project gun to showcase the welder's talents, and with the cost partly borne by selling the article.

A few pits might be filled with TIG welding, using a wire of a steel that will take bluing/plating, but it would not be easy and the risk of doing further damage to a rare gun would be pretty high. Filling pits with JB Weld or some similar compound would work only if the gun is to be painted; it would not stand up to other types of refinishing, so a real "restoration" would not be feasible.

Jim
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