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Topic starter
14/08/2025 15:13:50
Just blued a pistol today and took some pics. This is the cylinder coming out of the bath after 15 minutes immersion. The bath looks pretty disgusting.
These are the components after washing and oiling:
I was very happy with the result and then began thinking: the bluing bath liquor is about 20 years old and had blued at least 40 pistols over that period, and it is still giving good results. OK, I have had to decant it from sludge from to time and I have added more of the chemicals very occasionally to make up for general losses, but it has never let me down. It does have to be stored in a sealed vessel immediately after use, otherwise it would end up as a block of sodium carbonate (the caustic soda sucks up carbon dioxide from the air), but once sealed away it seems to last indefinitely. So it seems like an old workshop friend now, much more permanent and cost effective than all the saw blades, drill bits and lathe tools I have got through over the same period.. Pity it is so deadly and needs to be handled with kid gloves.
14/08/2025 17:20:18
Looks like a superb job 👏
14/08/2025 22:07:17
Doesn't the rear sight look original but is missing the adjuster wheel?
14/08/2025 23:08:56
The rear sight looks like the one on the Haenel Mod. 300.
The original rear sight sits in a semicircle on the breech and is slightly curved!
Just like this faithful replica of the LUP 54 rear sight.
Garvin reacted
15/08/2025 00:29:51
Lovely job and great photos. The job looks as s good as any professional or paramilitary caustic blueing that I have ever seen. I would definitely not opt for kid skin gloves with something as caustic ( and Hot, when in use ) as that. I am interested to know how you are heating the bath/s and how many stages you use.
15/08/2025 08:23:17
Most heating inserts are infinitely adjustable.
15/08/2025 09:09:41
That is about as good a setup as I can imagine. Do you have more than one heated tank ?
15/08/2025 09:44:02
Nice work John.
Not for me though. I'm one of those people who looks at a paint brush and gets paint on their elbow. 😑
Is the Haenel any good to shoot?
Topic starter
15/08/2025 09:51:32
The rear sight looks like the one on the Haenel Mod. 300.
The original rear sight sits in a semicircle on the breech and is slightly curved!
Just like this faithful replica of the LUP 54 rear sight.
There appear to be several versions of the rear sight as far as I can make out. I have seen sights with one spot weld, two spot welds, and those which are smooth and shaped, (spot welds ground off?).
I am not sure what gun my replacement sight came from , but I think managed to get a reasonably close match between what one original LP54 sight looks like (upper example) and my replacement (lower). Even the two spot welds match.
air-fox reacted
Topic starter
15/08/2025 10:03:12
The original sights on these Haenel 54 pistols were spot welded to the cylinder – no such refinement as a dovetail fitting! This seemed to make the sight fragile, as you do see quite a few pistols with the sights missing. This is how my pistol looked when I received i. It looked as thought someone had tried unsuccessfully to re-weld the sight back on :
I first removed the damage:
My replacement sight was fitted with a dovetail section, which had to be filed off. The height adjusting screw was missing so I had to make a replacement (my second Haenel screw in a week!).
The sight was brazed to the cylinder, rather than welded, as brazing is so much easier to control than welding (for the amateur like me) and gives a bond that is virtually as strong.
The next step will be to refinish the wooden stock, having now removed the thick treacle finish that someone seemed to have applied in a sandstorm.
Topic starter
03/09/2025 15:11:14
I have finally finished renovating this pistol after several distractions, so I thought I should post the result for those interested. The stock was given a few thin coats of clear polyurethane varnish:
The original pistol had a few issues other than the missing sight and the treacle finish:
The screws indicated had at some stage been replaced with ordinary slot head screws with hex nuts, so I made repro's of how they should be, based on pictures of near mint LP54 pistols. Fortunately the thread was standard 5M (the barrel had this thread) so I had no problem with that:
I was then able to re-assemble the pistol:
The pistol cocks and fires OK, although the trigger is bit light for my liking and there is no adjustment. The piston and barrel seals looked in good condition so I left them alone. Even so, the power was rather low, producing about 300 fps with 0.53 gram waisted pellets. Weight-wise, ease of cocking and potential power output I would say the pistol was roughly on a par with the Webley Junior. The barrel is smoothbore, so it was never going to be very accurate. This particular variant is the earlier non-exported version with the two grooves around the cylinder. Quite solidly made, but very basic in design and easy to service, so it was ideal for what it was intended, an East German state-funded youth trainer. Considering that individuals were not allowed to own these, and that almost all were ordered to be destroyed, it is surprising that so many have survived.
03/09/2025 15:20:24
Nice work as usual John...good pictures too...I know you like to make your own bit's but please feel free to give me a message if you want as I still have some parts which might fit the bill...cheers,Chris.
03/09/2025 17:52:23
Interesting to see an air pistol conceived by some unaccountable bureaucrat and made without any expectation of it having to 'compete in the marketplace' (ie. be sold in a shop)...
Topic starter
03/09/2025 20:27:55
Nice work as usual John...good pictures too...I know you like to make your own bit's but please feel free to give me a message if you want as I still have some parts which might fit the bill...cheers,Chris.
Thanks for the generous offer Chris. I may well be taking you up on that as I plough through my long list of projects.
Cheers, John
HWvixen reacted
