New/Best Finish on a gun?

Dave Shady Larsen

Dave Shady Larsen

Well-known member
New Finish on a gun?

I just last week aquired a gun I had my eye on that I got to use once mid season. 2 shots droped 2
Gaddies at 55+ yards :) It felt good and familair to a certain bit.

Its an Ithica MAG-10 with deluxe Walnut to boot. The bbl was cut to 25" and chokes installed at some point.
They are aboout 3.5" long and threaded almost all the way on the tube. I need to take some photos
and would like to know the MFG of the tubes casue it doesnt say on them. Came with all 3 at least.

The stocks are in good shape all wear was on the thick varnish that was perety ugly looking to say
the least. Yesterday afternoon inbetween work I took it apart totaly and there is not much wear at
all on the internals that surprised me a lil bit. I stripped the varnish with ZIP STRIP and cleaned all the
checkering that is still shoing hardly any wear. Couple of dings i raised and it looks perty good. Need
to final sand a bit more up to 600 grit but not like im in a hurry. I cleaned it with some Paint thinner
when I was done and WOW is it got some figure and fiddle back in the forend and the stock.

The Grip cap is missing the center, I am considering using the plastic pc for a pattern and making
a new one from Hedge or Rosewood on my own. I think I could handle that.

The metal of the gun has wear from in and out of cases no rust at all just metal showing on the reciever
a little bit and the bbl is looking good but has wear also. I would like to get it in a FLAT finish on the metal
and I plan on Satin Oil on the stocks that I will do. Needs a new recoil pad also, I have doen them before
dont like it but I think I can handle that also.

As far as getting the metal re-done anyone got any recomendations for what finish to ask for? And
WHO out there have you used that might be a good place to send it.

The trigger guard is aluminum and I know that it cant be blued but there are other options.

HELP! Input please.
 
Dave,I recently saw a rifle a friend of mine built, that had a sprayed flat OD finish on the metal.I'll call him today and get back to you on the product.On the wood I would use either tru-oil or linspeed.First coat to seal,then cut with 4-O steel wool,then another thin rubed in with the heal of the hand>Tape off the checkering and do that last with a tooth brush.you should get a dull oil finish in the wood.Touch up every so often as necessary.The tubes could have been made by Briley.I have some he did for me that had flat threads and about 5" long.Had a Pat Pend number, and the choke in fractions, done in freehand.No name,like the lazer job he does now.
 
A Parkerized finish is very durable and I like the looks of it. I think they now do it in a black..and the old greenish like M-1's had. Briley is probably the best to do the work but there is a lot of others out there that do good work too. The chokes are a question mark, funny there is no name on them.
 
OK Dave,I talked to my friend that has built and finished more than a few rifles and handguns (1911s).He used the spray on product from Midway USA.He said,"make sure you use a good charcoal face mask and a air brush will do the job".The 4oz bottle will do two guns and can be used on wood as well.Many colors including a camo kit.He prepped with auto prep sol from walmart.It takes a couple weeks to cure at room temp and does not require baking,like other finishes.This doesn't obscure the lettering on the metal.

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse?TabID=8&Categoryid=11335&categorystring=649***10400***
 
You could use Duracoat and do something like this.

DruaCoatpinknova.jpg

You wouldn't run into many other duck hunters with the same camo pattern. :)
I have heard good things about Duracoat but I have not used it. This is suppose to be a good site to get info about it. http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

Tim
 
You could use Duracoat and do something like this.



You wouldn't run into many other duck hunters with the same camo pattern. :)
I have heard good things about Duracoat but I have not used it. This is suppose to be a good site to get info about it. http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim that would match my HIPPIE cammo shirt I liek to wear duckin almost.

Appreciate the tips so far guys, Just want to make sure I only do this once for sure. The black parkerize coating
sure looks to be a good route to consider. Pink not so much.
 
hard anodized in about any color you want. Black hard anodize looks cool and is tough as nails. I don't have any sources right off the top of my head, but I can get you some if you like.

Jeff
 
what about a brown treatment instead of bluing like they did on the muzzle loaders and thet stuf it tuff and its rust based for lack of better knowledge so no water issues
 
Dave

I have an Ithaca in my waterfowling collection & sent it some where in Arizona. Can't remember it was about 10years ago. The finish has held up good and the gun has seen hard use mostlly field hunting for geese and Turkeys.

The 10ga has it place in any waterfowleers arsenal, especially if you are a Goose hunter.

Colonial Arms may be the maker of your chokes as the early one's stencel's didn't wear well.

They are the chokes that I have and were one of the only companies doing 10ga guns. They also shotened my barrel.

I don't have there number handy but you can do a Google search and you'll find them.

I have seveal pre choke tube guns that the have cut & enstalled chokes on. all work very well including a Stan Baker modified Mdl. 12 Win. 3" Heavy Duck,one of my favorites.

If you google "Gun Finishes" you'll find a gob of them. There is a very good one in Dodge City ,Kansas. they also make gunstocks. Having a senior moment & can't remember there name either.

Good luck with the Ithaca. Buy the way some of them had some feeding problems that are easily solved with a spring kit made by Wolf. It is available from Brownell's as are the Colonial chokes.

John Burns
 
Dave
The MAG-10 will have a much better feel and fit if you get the black synthetic stocks for the SP-10 from Remington. There will only be some extra relief around the back tang of the trigger guard. Otherwise, they fit good. Also, when you take out the trigger assembly you will see a lever sticking up on the left side of it. You can wiggle it around and see that it as a lot of play in it. This lever trips the shell feed from the magazine. The bolt carriage also as a lot of play in the action. You need to take the bolt carriage out by removing the lever in the side of the bolt and then you can slide the carriage all the way to the back of the receiver with a screw driver and flip it up. Then take out the bolt and work carriage up through the reciever to remove it. You will see on the left side of the carriage there is a shape edge on it that contacts the lever on the trigger assembly. You should stone off the sharpness so it does not dig in to the trip lever on the trigger assembly. Also, you need to reduce the play in the trip lever because it will cause the shell feed from magazine at the wrong time and make the action jam. To do this use some brass shim stock and make shim washers that with fit over the hollow pin that holds the lever and under the D ring on the pin. The shim washer will be 0.030" thick total, for play reduction. You will find the action will be more reliable by doing this. Also, when it gets cold out use a dry silicon lube for the action and keep the action clean for reliability. It to bad the barrel was cut so short and it is not a 28" or the 32" barrel this gun was originally made with. The longer sighting plain is better for long range shooting. Extra barrels were available from Ithica. Also, check and see if the forcing cone has been lenghtened for use with steel shot. If you want to reload to get the most out the 10 ga. and if you use buy new hulls from a supplier, the roll grimp tool will work much better than trying to make a fold crimp work. For reblueing of parts, contact Ithica to see what it will cost.

To replace the cap on the pistol grip, you should contact Ithica and see if they have replacements. The center is a German Silver insert.

The Mag-10 came in three grades Supreme, Deluxe and Standard. The first two had a high polish finish and the Standard grade had a bead blasted or parkized type fininsh with plain walnut stocks and no checking

The choke tube you describe as being 3" long from the end of the barrel to the end of the choke tube, for a flush fit tube. These could have been made by Larry Nailon of Clearview Products in Oklahoma. He made choke tubes for guns before they caught on by major gun makers. These tubes had all the threads up at the muzzle end. He had Clearview on them or at least the type of choke. Example: 10-5-MOD/FULL. This was MOD for lead and FULL for steel. He made them in thousands of an inch constriction based on the actual bore diameter of the barrel. He also shortened barrels for turkey hunters.

.
 
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I have a 12 ga single shot of my granddads that I had parkerized. I really like it and it beats the briars without a single blemish on the finish.
 
After reading all the care and love you put into the gun I almost hate to tell you what I have done to my A-5 Jap 6 years ago.... I just hated to sit in a boat/blind and watch it turn to rust... I painted it with Krylon Camo Paint.... I got fancy with cutouts of marsh grass and landing Geese and so on... That was in 2001.. Now it is on my bench as I write this.. 5 days ago I got some paint thinner and am starting all over again... The finish under the paint is just like the day that I painted it 6 years ago.. I am rough on my duck gun.. It gets knocked around 4 days a week on good weeks with salt water thrown in the mix.. John
 
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Tim,

The guy that did that has some brass kahonas for sure. That wouldn't be out of place with Dave's tiedyed hippy shirt at all. I just wish I'd been a little quicker with the camera last week when he was wearing it so I could have shared with you all this years pool 13 attire! Might complement his fetish for PINK!...hehe

JUST KIDDING DAVE.....;-0

Ed L.
 
Put the 3rd coat of oil on the stock and forearm today, Using the same stuff I use on my calls.
ARROW Oil great stuff. I also made a new grip cap for her, be the only MAG-10 with a BOCOTE
grip cap I bet. Its the same kind of wood my personal Duck and Goose calls are made from.

I probably should of used Coco or Rosewood, I can always make a new one latter But I like it.
ith1.jpg
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Talk about Clash but I like it :) - 45 minutes with the foredom and sanding to 1500 grit. I made it longer in the front​
now it fits my hand PURFECTLY.​
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Will sometime this summer sent it away for metal work, also going to order the WOLF spring kit for​
her most say it cures the cycling issues that the OEM springs have at times.​
 
Ed,
I hope that gun was finished that way for a lady. I can hope... guys can wear pink shirts, rarely, but a pink gun is going too far.

Wow Dave, that is some fine looking wood on a waterfowling gun. So what if the bocote clashes, your gun and it is some neat looking wood. A nice flat pink...er... black will look nice.

Tim
 
Dave,

That's a pretty fancy piece of wood. Looks really sharp. Finishing the metal will make it look brand new.
 
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