My new acquisitions: (56k be afraid)

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Today I swung by compmanio365's house and picked up an Ithaca shotty and a Hi Point .45 (yeah yeah, I know) he had for sale. The Hi Point was in great shape, but the Ithaca had some major rust issues all over the barrel.

Now, I've never owned anything bigger than a .22 and I've never even fired a shotgun before. But being who I am, I have to tear everything apart and put it back together; while in the process making it better, cleaner, faster, stronger, etc.

So, a quick stop by Stan Baker's shooting sports in Seattle for a 20 gauge cleaning kit, some skeet shot, and a generous amount of Hoppe's lubricating oil.

First off, here's the shotgun itself before I started. (I'm bad with pictures):



A closeup of the barrel rust. The entire barrel looked like this:


Here's a closeup of the barrel stamp:


Taking it apart was actually pretty easy. Only two screws and some twisting:


And seven hours later:



A little permanent pitting, but it looks 100% better already:



Barrel stamp comparison:


All in all, I'd say this was a pretty fun project for a first-timer. I only made it halfway through the stock before I called it quits, but I'm planning to sand it down and refinish it a nice dark mahogany. I'm also planning to buff up and polish the black trigger area (What's that part called?) along with the lever so I'll end up having that area polished silver with a dark mahogany stock.

Not only does it look purrrrdier but before it was a pain in the ass to open after pulling the lever. Now it's so smooth I can open the breach with one hand. If I can figure out how to open the trigger mechanism I'll see if I can get the hammer to pull a bit easier too.

And to stay on topic, here's what I'm OC'ing now (Buddy of mine wanted a picture while I was still in the process of cleaning the barrel)



Comments, questions, criticisms are all welcome. I'm a big-time firearm newbie but I'm good at fixing things. Suggestions for a new project?

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Looks good. Making a old gun shine is always fun.

Man, those Hi Points will even make a Glock look pretty:lol:

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I have an old family heirloom shotgun that looks similar (my g/f did not take very good care of them). Please describe the exact process you used to clean the barrel. I have gotten a lot of opinions about how to do it, but I haven't seen one done with those methods that looks quite as good as what you posted.

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i don't know if i'd ask for criticisms when you just bought a hi-point, might get more than you can handle! only kidding

i've always like taking old gummy firearms and making them like new again, good job!

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Nice, glad you were able to get it cleaned up and looking good! And you're going to have a lot of fun with that Hi Point.....

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deepdiver wrote:

I have an old family heirloom shotgun that looks similar (my g/f did not take very good care of them). Please describe the exact process you used to clean the barrel. I have gotten a lot of opinions about how to do it, but I haven't seen one done with those methods that looks quite as good as what you posted.

Click to expand...

Since I repair/fixup things so often, I have a lot of tools on hand to do whatever it takes.

In this case, I used two separate Dremel tools. One was a cordless lithium Ion I bought from Target (~$70) and the other was a plug in Black and Decker rotary tool I picked up for about $50. I also used some steel wool, and screwdriver (of course) and lubricating oil.

The cordless Dremel has a rotating speed of 5000-25000 RPM while the corded version has a rotating speed of 8000-30000. I combined these with some steel wool, a small bottle of Hoppe's lubricating oil (make sure whatever oil you use is very very fine so you don't scratch the barrel) and a fair amount of elbow grease.

I started out on a small patch underneath the stock that I could easily hide in case the barrel didn't stand up to the RPM test. Then, I tested out brush types starting with nylon and moving up to brass until I finally settled on carbon steel. (http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/CategoryProducts.aspx?catid=64&catname=Polishing+Brushes) Basically, you want to go as tough as you can without hurting the barrel. By pushing the nylon brush up to ~15,000RPM from 5,000RPM you can tell how badly it could hurt the barrel by maxing out each brush at a different speed.

Luckily, even pushing the carbon steel brush at over 20,000RPM didn't do a thing to my barrel, so it made my job a hell of a lot easier. I can't stress enough though, that if you're going to cheat like I did and use a rotary tool, TEST IT IN A HIDDEN AREA FIRST.

That being said, let the tool's speed do the work and wear some clothes you don't care about. If you look at my pictures, originally my monitor and speakers weren't covered. After the first hit with the brush to the oil, I grabbed some towels and changed my clothes. You shouldn't need to be pushing down on it too hard, but because you've tested your bit before hand to make sure it's not going to trash your surface, it'll be okay if you push a little bit. If it's not stripping as quickly as you'd like, simply turn up the speed on your rotary tool.

This cleaning job took me about seven hours, but mostly because I had to start very slow with the cordless to make sure I wasn't going to rip it up or leave those annoying circular brush marks on soft metal. My next project will probably take half that time or even less and the quality should be just as good. The barrel literally shines now.

I used the steel wool for the spots I couldn't get the Dremel into, like the firing pin/trigger area. This is a lever break shotgun and it was a pain in the ass to get it break even with two hands. Now, having cleaned out the mechanism and smoothed the latch nicely I can break it with one hand, or just a light tap on the butt with the other hand.

I personally have four rotary tools given to me over the years in those kits that include a hundred different bits for it and no explanation as to what they do. If you're in the same boat as me for any reason, definitely check out the Dremel website. They make it extremely easy to figure out what bit you have and what it's best for.

I wouldn't recommend using the Dremel on every application, but if your surface can take the RPM's, crank it up and make sure you have an ample supply of tips if you're going to change surfaces.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask bud.

Edit: Also, I know it's a hi-point. It goes bang reliably and gets me from point A to point B. All I need from a car and a firearm until I get more into the hobby. :dude:

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Thanks for the info. I was reluctant to use my Dremel as I was concerned about leaving swirl marks on the barrels. After reading your detailed description I feel confident about testing it out and giving it a shot.