Technique to remove words on a round barrel

[Johnm1]

The subject firearm is 70's vintage ASM 1860 Army I picked up a few years ago as parts in a bag. It is a brasser. I had to replace some parts but mostly it was in decent shape. Not a bit of finish and some decent scratches. It shoots fine.

The new idea is to create a tribute gun from it. For that the CVA Made in Italy on top of the barrel needs to go. I learned to file flat surfaces and was pleased with the results. But this surface is round and all I have are flat files. All I can find are flat, half round, round, square, and triangle profiles.

I'm assuming this would be done with a flat file, but after that is done how does one get the round profile back? Does one file the entire length of the barrel? Do you file the same distance down for the entire length or taper the depth of filing? Does one file as close to round as one can with a flat file and bring the barrel back to round using agressive sand paper and contoured sanding blocks?

Here are a couple of pictures of the barrel in question.





The lettering is relatively deep. Maybe agressive sandpaper is the correct way.

 

[Kp321]

I use a barrel spinner which holds the barrel between ball bearing centers and a bench mounted belt grinder such as knife makers use. Start with coarse grit, 80 or so and progress through 400. The spinner keeps the barrel round while removing metal. Need to remove the front sight before beginning.

 

[PRD1]

Spinning is useful on barrels which are truly round - for their whole length, or over that portion which you desire to alter. Your repro Colt barrel, however, is not round over the whole portion which is lettered, but includes the enlarged part which mates with the frame. I suggest you use your flat files to draw file over the lettering until it is removed, then use abrasive strip in 'shoe shine' fashion to polish the filed area. You may have to extend the draw filed area along the entire top of the barrel to avoid a swamped appearance where you removed the lettering - you would have the same potential problem if you were able to spin-polish the barrel. In draw filing, you rotate the files over the area worked, in passes of small width, taking care to follow the contour of the barrel, and the 'shoeshine' operation blends any small flat areas remaining. Fine files are best, and leave less polishing to do, if the initial filing was carefully done.

PRD1 - mhb - MIke

 

[Johnm1]

I suggest you use your flat files to draw file over the lettering until it is removed, then use abrasive strip in 'shoe shine' fashion to polish the filed area. You may have to extend the draw filed area along the entire top of the barrel to avoid a swamped appearance where you removed the

This is kind of what I expected. I have an assortment of Nicholson files, some very fine.

Mike - your description is exactly what I was hoping for. From that description I will learn the 'little' things you can only learn by doing.

Searching the net I see some do use sandpaper and forego the files.

@Kp321 As a 'tinkerer' and not a smith I don't have access to the tools you mention. Thanks though. I can see that working but taking longer.

 

[Johnm1]

That was not difficult at all. Let me qualify that" not difficult " with oh, this is a mid 70s Italian reproduction. I assume the muscle work needed to do the same with a modern firearm using modern steel would be considerably more.





Now for the wording on the bottom of the barrel.





All in all, this is a task a non-professional can accomplish if one takes the time not screw it up

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Burnishing might do better, a 3/8 drive socket extension rubbed over the letters will push the metal back into the stampings. Might be worth a try.

 

[Johnm1]

Burnishing might do better, a 3/8 drive socket extension rubbed over the letters will push the metal back into the stampings. Might be worth a try.

I still have the bottom words to do. I can give that a try. Another technique to learn.

 

[PRD1]

Burnishing will not achieve what you are already doing quite well. Nice job!

PRD1 - mhb - MIke

 

[4v50 Gary]

Drawfile.
WoodCraft sells a set of rubber blocks that are sand paper backers. They are arched for rounded surfaces that will match will the barrel better than your fingers. Much easier and faster with those blocks (I learned the hard way about them).

 

[Johnm1]

I tried burnishing and it was quite interesting. Does achieve a similar condition. It does take a bit of work to do though. Here are the interim results of burnishing alone. A circular motion is more effective than a straight-line motion.



From this point I finished with a very fine file and sandpaper. What I learned was no matter what method used the first and the last letter are the deepest imprint in the steel. Apparently the roll die it pressed harder at the beginning and the End of the Roll. In both cases all of the letters were gone except the first in the last and they were crisp and clear still.

Burnishing will not achieve what you are already doing quite well. Nice job!

PRD1 - mhb - MIke

Thank you. The steel is very soft.

Drawfile.
WoodCraft sells a set of rubber blocks that are sand paper backers. They are arched for rounded surfaces that will match will the barrel better than your fingers. Much easier and faster with those blocks (I learned the hard way about them).

I have that exact set of backers and that is what I am using instead of the shoe shine technique. It seems to be working.

 

[Johnm1]

If you look at the pictures of the barrel in my original post you can see the results of a test for rust bluing. What you see is the result of a single cycle of rust bluing. This steel takes bluing very well. Now how well the cylinder takes the same bluing.

Here are a couple of pictures of the barrel in question.
View attachment 1013715

View attachment 1013716

 

[Johnm1]

From this point I finished with a very fine file and sandpaper

Here's an interesting observation. After partially burnishing and finishing with a fine file, I noticed durung the sanding stage the letters began to appear again. Maybe I didn't clean well enough but I did rinse with alcohol on a wire brush often. But I suspect that to burnish correctly one must move the metal down to the bottom of the letters. Something I doubt I did well.

 

[doubleh]

I would just draw file both sets of letters the entire length of the barrel and then use the shoe shine method of sanding. The barrel will still appear round except under very close examination.

 

[Johnm1]

Well, a little bit of each technique. Draw file, burnish, shoe shine, shaped sanding block. In the end, it wasn’t all that difficult



I installed a new hand today and still have to time it. I spent some time trying to remove the scratches from the barrel and the frame/trigger guard. ASM wasn’t real ‘refined’ with the finish product. At least on the brass parts. Once I’ve cleaned up all the machine marks on the brass parts I’ll probably dull the shine down a few steps.

The next step will be to remove the sailing scene from the cylinder and develop some graphics in the theme of the tribute. Law enforcement is the theme. For that removal I think I need to figure a way to rotate the cylinder. Shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

You could send it to me, I have a lathe.

 

[kje54]

The subject firearm is 70's vintage ASM 1860 Army I picked up a few years ago as parts in a bag. It is a brasser. I had to replace some parts but mostly it was in decent shape. Not a bit of finish and some decent scratches. It shoots fine.

The new idea is to create a tribute gun from it. For that the CVA Made in Italy on top of the barrel needs to go. I learned to file flat surfaces and was pleased with the results. But this surface is round and all I have are flat files. All I can find are flat, half round, round, square, and triangle profiles.

I'm assuming this would be done with a flat file, but after that is done how does one get the round profile back? Does one file the entire length of the barrel? Do you file the same distance down for the entire length or taper the depth of filing? Does one file as close to round as one can with a flat file and bring the barrel back to round using agressive sand paper and contoured sanding blocks?

Here are a couple of pictures of the barrel in question.

View attachment 1013715

View attachment 1013716

The lettering is relatively deep. Maybe agressive sandpaper is the correct way.

Ya know a lot of these older reproductions are now becoming collectors items. Don't know if yours is one of those or not but if it is doing what you want will destroy the value. Just an FYI.

 

[kje54]

I did check, yours doesn't appear to be one of the collector guns.

 

[Johnm1]

It certainly wasn’t a collectors item when I bought it.

 

[Johnm1]

I’ll have to go back in my old photos but it was sold as a non-functional bag of parts for $79.00. Dirty, dented and missing a couple of parts. I assembled the parts and replaced what was missing and it did shoot well.

 

[kje54]

I’ll have to go back in my old photos but it was sold as a non-functional bag of parts for $79.00. Dirty, dented and missing a couple of parts. I assembled the parts and replaced what was missing and it did shoot well.

That was a steal.

 

[Johnm1]

That was a steal.

That was also at least 2016 when I bought it.. I don't have a bunch of pictures from when I bought it, but I did find a couple and a short video I shot to document the purchase. The video was after I assembled it and cleaned it up. I did find a single picture of the barrel before the firearm was cleaned though. It arrived in pieces and the finish all looked like the barrel below.



After a little clean up in 2016. I shot it back in 2016 and just got to thinking about it when I acquired the 1849 recently. I bought it for the sole intention of practicing a rust blue and didn't care if it ever worked. A couple of parts from VTI and it shoots pretty good.


From the video in 2016

 

[kje54]

That was also at least 2016 when I bought it.. I don't have a bunch of pictures from when I bought it, but I did find a couple and a short video I shot to document the purchase. The video was after I assembled it and cleaned it up. I did find a single picture of the barrel before the firearm was cleaned though. It arrived in pieces and the finish all looked like the barrel below.

View attachment 1014223

After a little clean up in 2016. I shot it back in 2016 and just got to thinking about it when I acquired the 1849 recently. I bought it for the sole intention of practicing a rust blue and didn't care if it ever worked. A couple of parts from VTI and it shoots pretty good.
View attachment 1014225

From the video in 2016

View attachment 1014228

View attachment 1014233

Here are mine, both Pietta 1861 Colt reproductions.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

I'm thinking that doing the arbor fix may be a good idea as well, it may help with that brass frame.

 

[4v50 Gary]

shoeshining sanding can create waves in the barrel.

 

[Johnm1]

Here are mine, both Pietta 1861 Colt reproductions.

Very nice. We'll see how well my rust blue comes out in comparison. I suspect mine will be much more matte.

View attachment 1014241

I'm thinking that doing the arbor fix may be a good idea as well, it may help with that brass frame.

What indications do you see that indicates the arbor requires a 'fix'?

shoeshining sanding can create waves in the barrel.

I found that filing or sanding is much more effective if I file or sand in two directions 90 degrees apart from each other if possible. It seems to remove material faster when using a course file or sandpaper. And the cross pattern removes the file/grit lines better when using a fine file or sandpaper. In fine filing or sanding the second direction is done with slightly less pressure to just take out the lines the first direction leaves. I don't know if that is correct, or even if this observation is anecdotal, but it seems to work.

So when I filed/sanded this barrel I followed that train of thought. It was difficult to file parallel to the bore as the stroke was somewhat 'stunted' in one direction. While filing perpendicular to the bore required a curved/circular motion that I'm not sure was following the curve of the barrel very well. Sanding on the other hand was fairly easy. I used the curved sanding blocks to sand parrellel to the bore and mixed in the shoeshine method to get the cross sanding.