(Nr.1) MkI*: To Refinish or Not?

[tklawrence]

I now have a replacement rear hand-guard for my 1904 Sparkbrook MkI*. It's new wood so it will need staining to match the rest of the wood on this rifle. I'm torn between just staining the new wood to match the old wood or totally stripping off the old finish, re-oiling with BLO and then matching the new wood to the old. I'm inclined to leave it as is, other than staining the new wood to match as best I can. The only reason I would attempt to refinish it is because it's not the original finish and it's almost black in some places from old oil.

Thoughts?

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[Liam]

Not often suggested, but you could distress the new hand guard to match the patina of the rest of the rifle. May even have some fun along the way.

[tklawrence]

Not often suggested, but you could distress the new hand guard to match the patina of the rest of the rifle. May even have some fun along the way.

One of the considerations for soaking the old wood would be to remove the oils, etc, and to swell some of the dings out of it.

I paid more for this rear hand-guard than I did the 1912 MkIII that I am restoring but in three years of looking it's the first one I've located. 'Distressing' it would be a, ahem, distressing project!

[JB White]

Here's my wooden nickels worth...which cost me hundreds of lost dollars to learn the tough way.

Scraping down the new piece to fit the original is the way to go. Having a rifle with a relacement part isn't too bad collector-wise. Having a refinished rifle will reduce the value by half, thus making it worth less than what you already have into it.
Add to that...no matter how well you do a refinish others will know it at a glance. Not a good thing to have its originality erased. Takes the "Ohhhh that's a nice rifle" factor right out of the equation.

Leave its honest wear and tear, it's history, alone. If you want to clean it, rub it down with mineral spirits on a rag. Then do the light rub downs with linseed oil until the right hue comes back. It will give the rifle a maintained look without destroying the patina it took a century of oiling and normal handling to create.

If I saw your rifle next to an overcleaned or refinished rifle at a gun show, your rifle would get my attention first. Reason because it looks unmessed with. Plain and simple.

We all know it's more than 100 years old and has had a long life. That's what most of us see and appreciate.


Short story. Years ago a very elderly local collector invited me over to see his collection. Standing against a wall were eight M1 Garands. After looking over his collection for more than an hour he pointed to the row of M1's across the room and asked me 'from afar, which rifle do you like best?' I pointed out the worst of the batch..not that it was bad looking mind you! He asked me why and I replied that of all, that one looks like it "had seen the elephant".

He smiled at me and told me I was a true collector....and that I should take that rifle home with me. It was mine just like that. That's how I got my first M1 which turned out to be a great shooting IH! :)

[tklawrence]

Yeah, leaving it as is is what I'm planning on. I've got other rifles that have been cobbled together that I can play with. This one has matching receiver, barrel, muzzle cap and bolt, but it's been well used and shows its age a bit. I'll try to color match the new wood as best as possible, but even if it's obviously new it still makes it a complete rifle and that's what I've been wanting since I first bought it several years ago.

I've learned more about it too, with more to learn. As I suspected it started as a MkI in 1904 and was probably modified in 1906 to MkI* (per LoC 13577).

Now, if anyone knows where to find an original MkI firing pin, that would be the icing on the cake. I went through LoC Vol. 3 and even the early MkIIIs had the ring/stud firing pins.

There are always those original bits and pieces that we constantly search for...


Tom