870 restore

[ouzel]

hello all

first post here , wondering if someone has advice?
i found a 870, fishing, that had been sitting in a river for the better part of a year.
it was in pretty tough shape , filled with rocks/rust and not moving a bit.
i managed to get it all apart with some light tapping and penetrating lube. after much work with a toothbrush , wd40 , kerosene and automatic tranny fluid mix i got it all functioning. to say the least i was amazed!!!!!!!! i cleaned it up as best as i could and left to soak overnight in the same mix but clean. it will be getting a thorough cleaning today.
the barrel is fairly pitted , i'm sure replaceable, but wondering if it will be safe to use? i will be getting it to a gunsmith eventually but curious as to any info for restoring.
if nothing else it can hang in the man cave but i think it could work.
any suggestions would be great.

cheers
o

[ouzel]

by the way i guess i should mention the eventual use for this gun will be mostly as bear ( grizz and blk ) protection.

cheers

o

[RichNZ]

I'd say give it a go.... restoration is damn cheap if you go this route. $30 all up for supplies: http://www.rem870.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=13

And if you're worried about the barrel being unsafe... should be a quick couple of mins with a decent gunsmith to say yey or nay. Fun to restore, even if it does end up as a wall hanger!

Let us know how it goes, with lots of photos

[ouzel]

thanks for the reply rich

got it together yesterday and all is functioning , WOW! not many things these days that you could toss in a river and get it working a year later!!
will be doing the mega cleaning tomorrow .

will post some pics when i figure out how to resize them.

cheers
o

[jpfrog]

Out of curiousity...how do you know it's been down there for a year? Did you or someone you know put it there? If so, why?? I've been thinking about this since I first read this post a few days ago and it's driving me bonkers....I have to know the answer!!

[ouzel]

jpfrog

the river i found it on is remote boat / plane access only . there is an old logging camp there and the caretaker of the camp said a couple of guys had dumped their jet boat and lost it last year.
this river only sees traffic in the summer and fall for grizz viewing. so my best guess is that it has been in the river for at least six months , cause after nov there is no need to pack a gun.
i'll have to ask the guy what time of year it was when i go in next.

cheers
o

[RichNZ]

Yup! They sure do clean up well don't they! You got her down to bare metal yet?

No idea what country you're in, and therefore your gun laws with regard to serial numbers.... but any chance of that serial number on a 'lost' gun causing you trouble in the future? Just a thought!