Old H+R 22 Revolver

GreyGoose

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So long story short.I have come across my fathers first pistol (boxed up and not been seen in sixty plus years).It is a H+R and
it is in pretty rough shape cosmetically. Cycles smooth and bore is surprisingly clean. Here is my situation.I would love to clean this up and get this in the best condition possible in hopes of returning it to him . Any leads on who to send this to to restore it ? Second , Would it even be worth the expense to do?
 

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DaveTN

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You would have to do it for the sentimental value, or to keep it as a family heirloom. Just to get it reblued would cost more than then the gun is worth. Just a good blue job on a revolver like that in decent condition would approach $500 at most places. The pitting on that one could be a problem, if it could even be polished out.
 

BlackBelt

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Thats going to be a price-y refurb to make it pretty and functional.
If it were me, I would take it to a powder coat guy and get it blasted and coated with an antique patina looking coating. Then I would put it in a glass-fronted shadow box with a couple of boxes of period correct ammo, and a history of the gun on antiqued yellow paper with burned edges and make a display unit out of it.
No, it wont be a working model, but it would have the antiqued look and sentimental feel and could be wall-displayed and passed down for generations.

But thats just me...
 

BuckWild

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Simple electrolysis tank to remove the rust then a DIY cold bluing kit.

I restore cast iron cookware with an electrolysis tank and it will take it to bare metal in a short time.
Pretty simple to set up. You can google and find lots of info. Been doing it for almost 20 years.
If I still lived in Memphis, I'd do it for you.

I restored an old Winchester .22 rifle when I was 15 years old and did a home bluing job on it.
That was 50 years ago and that rifle still has 90% of the bluing and has killed a ton of squirrels since.

If you know the model number, you can probably find replacement grips. The originals were probably made from wood. They could always be manufactured by a semi skilled woodworker. I recently made a set of walnut grips for a friend to replace his cracked plastic grips.

May not be totally functional, but would make a great display piece for a small investment.
 

Wobblyshot1

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Cool. Does it function or do you believe it would if cleaned up? There's a product that I've used called Evapo-Rust that works very well removing rust down to metal and it's safe. I bought mine at Tractor Supply but I believe auto parts stores may carry it too. I wouldn't worry too much about the pitting but with a little elbow grease and various scotchbrite grits you can get and adequate finish for light duty cold blue such as Birchwood Casey Super Blue....several applications to get it even. Now the grips may just be a treasure hunt.
 

GreyGoose

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I do not believe that throwing hundreds of dollars at a cheap H&R .22 is worth it personally but cleaning it up and seeing my old man's face is.
Surprisingly the barrel appears very clear and clean. The gun appears to cycle smooth as butter (dry firing) but I know that means nothing as far as actual rounds. I will weigh my options and once again appreciate the responses
 

BuckWild

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I do not believe that throwing hundreds of dollars at a cheap H&R .22 is worth it personally but cleaning it up and seeing my old man's face is.
Surprisingly the barrel appears very clear and clean. The gun appears to cycle smooth as butter (dry firing) but I know that means nothing as far as actual rounds. I will weigh my options and once again appreciate the responses
Another option would be to soak it in Evaporust. That stuff works pretty good.
If it cycles fine, there's no reason that it wouldn't be functional once cleaned up.
 

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