|
|
Post by batjac65 on Mar 31, 2015 15:12:56 GMT -5
My dad called me over last weekend and gave me my Grandpa's Savage 24. In reality, I got it when I was about 14 after my grandfather passed away, but it stayed with my dad when I left home 30+ years ago. I got my first buck with a .410 slug out of this gun. My grandpa and I got many squirrels and quail with it in his last few years. I hadn't seen in about 15 years, because my dad let his brother hang onto it for a while. His daughter called my dad after my uncle passed a year ago and told him that her dad had said to make sure she got that gun back to us...and she did. My dad made a request of me this weekend to clean this thing up and refinish the stock and reblue the barrels. I've been digging around for information since last weekend and you people have been a wealth of info for me so THANK YOU, but I do a have a question or two. This gun will stay a shooter for me, I plan to shoot it often so I do not plan to get crazy with it, but I do want to make it pretty for my dad to see. Has anyone repainted their receiver like it came from the factory or tried Cerakote? I was thinking Cerakote may be an option. After looking the barrels over, they don't seem terrible, I'm thinking I can steel wool it to get rid of the surface rust and touch up the bluing a bit. Doing something with the stock should make the biggest impact, though so I will be looking for ideas on that too. I looked for the date stamps that are mentioned here and found what I think may be one located on the left side of the receiver. By this stamp, I think its a "K", it would mean its a 1959 model, but my dad swears that grandpa had that gun before 1959, but I don't want to argue with facts. Anyhow, please advise away at your hearts content.      |
|
blaze
Frequent poster
Posts: 108 
|
Post by blaze on Mar 31, 2015 18:02:43 GMT -5
Since your Savage 24 is not grooved for a scope on the .22 barrel I would say that your 24 is 1955 or before, but after 1949/1950 when the Stevens 22-410 became the Savage 24. Most of the early wood stocks are walnut, which can be stripped and a nice rubbed on oil finish can be done. The barrels can be cleaned up using PURE copper cleaning pads, much better than steel wool. Cold blue if you like, but as this is to be a working gun I usually leave mine as is. The receiver can be cleaned up some also and a painted or coated finish can be applied. Once again, I prefer the natural/old/used look on my old 24's. It shows that they had a purpose in life! These are great little guns and the memories make them even better. Enjoy yours.
|
|
|
|
Post by deetsman on Mar 31, 2015 19:40:59 GMT -5
Congratulations on finally getting the Model 24. I recently purchased a similar Model 24. It still had some good case color and the barrel blue was nice enough that I decided not to polish and rust blue the barrels. I did coat the receiver with a lacker for preserving case color I purchased from Galazans. The stock looked like Willie Nelson's guitar and I had to do some heavy sanding to remove all of the marks. Since I plan on keeping the gun for my grandchildren, I took some liberties with the shape of the stock. I added some cheeks to the wood behind the receiver and cut the thickness of the pistol grip and turned it into a full pistol grip instead of a semi-pistol grip. I added a grip cap the same color as the butt plate and also cut a flute in the stock at the crest where your thumb goes. I did re-rust blue the selector button and screw. I may decide to re-blue the barrels one day but like the character they have now. I know the changes I made take away from the originality, but the refinish was necessary on the stock and I like the way it turned out. It is a TrueOil finish on the stock. When it goes into one of my grandchildren's care they will know that their Papa Short did the work and maybe they will hang on to it for a while. I am not sure what caused the discoloring on the receiver of your 24 but you may want to try some Oxyphosphor Blue from Brownell's to see if you can even up the patina on the receiver. Good luck with your project.  Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by batjac65 on Apr 1, 2015 0:43:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the input. Blaze, I think you're right about maybe leaving the receiver alone. I took these pictures yesterday evening at sunset and the patina does look nice in that warm light. I can tell that the fore stock looks like a nice wood, probably walnut, i hope the butt stock is as nice under the finish. I've been reading about rubbed oil finishes, so I think that's what I want to do. Also, I'll let dad know that he could be right about this guns age...it'll make him happy to know he can remember some things. Ha!
|
|
|
|
Post by batjac65 on Apr 1, 2015 0:50:25 GMT -5
Deetsman - that's a beautiful gun. Your receiver is different from mine. Mine definitely has a silver paint on it that has worn away. Honestly, it's looked like this since my grandfather passed, so he wore it off. Of course his hands were like rough leather from a lifetime of working...hard work, not like what I've gotten to do.
|
|
|
|
Post by deetsman on Apr 1, 2015 7:21:30 GMT -5
I can see the paint on the receiver now that I am looking on a computer rather than an IPhone. Once you remove the wood from the receiver you could remove the paint with a solvent such as acetone and see if the patina under it matches the rest of the receiver. The early 24's were color case hardened and the color has worn off through use. If the receiver looks uniform under the paint, you could give it a good cleaning and oil it and leave it as is. The trigger guard was painted black and on many of the well used guns the paint has warn off so you may or may not wish to paint the trigger guard. Like Blaze said earlier, do not use anything that will remove blue from the barrels. He suggested copper pads. I use a product called 45 Frontier Pads. They work well to remove the rust without hurting the blue on the barrels. Again, good luck on your project.
|
|
|
|
Post by gman on Apr 1, 2015 12:23:13 GMT -5
The gun was probably a cherished possession, that was used often He may have been put the paint on to protect the metal.
One thing you should defiantly get is a replacement parts for the selector assembly, or a complete replacement with a "new" hammer selector. A hammer selector conversion (which is a model 24 "upgrade") was made by Savage Arms do to the side selectors failing. Lots of model 24's have had this done, and some might find it preferable.
|
|
|
|
Post by vancmike on Apr 2, 2015 18:05:19 GMT -5
Since your Savage 24 is not grooved for a scope on the .22 barrel I would say that your 24 is 1955 or before....
Actually, with all due respect, that's not true. My own gun, purchased new by me in 1957-'58 has no grooves and the Shooter's Bible for those two years have no grooves in the factory illustrations. I think other posters on this site have suggested 1960 or beyond for grooves being routinely formed on .22 barrels.
Also, it's not always easy to read "date stamps." Some 'Ks' look like "H" and vice versa, is it an "M" or and "E"? and so on.
In any case, you've got a fun project ahead of you. Scrape/clean off the old paint (see some of the recent posts about painting the barrels and receivers black). That's probably fairly decent walnut under all those scratches.
|
|
|
|
Post by captcapsize on Apr 2, 2015 21:21:32 GMT -5
Before you try painting I suggest using Rustoleum rust remover. It will leave you with a flat black coating that is much harder than paint. Apply multiple coats with cotton balls. I did my first 24 with it and it looked great.
|
|
