Webley Junior Tin grip tinkering

That looks a bit shiny Phil----Did you cold blue it or have you got the spotlights turned on for the pictures?

On some guns that are rusty/ patina-ed I've gone over them with a couple of coats of Plum Brown.  You cannot really tell it has been done, but it seems to make the gun more "age related wear" like without being restored. I've done it on a few rifles.  

I've told you before, you need to use bold and Italics when you use phrases like "Magnet fishing find"   or "rusty and barely functioning". 

Did you go Magnet fishing for all those frames you have got?? 

I noticed the Swiss army pen knife.   I believe the latest model has a usb that lets you load all the pics onto one post rather that adding them one or 2 at a time 🙄 😉 

It is always nice to get one sorted  👍  and those wooden grips will do for another project in time with a bit of luck. 

It’s only oiled, it’s not shiney at all but that’ll be the flash from the Camera. So what a Camera is….its a little device that can be a stand alone unit or incorporatated into a phone….well not a phone like your thinking….its not got a dial,it’s a….. 😣 

Bollox I give up, yes it’s a bit shiney lookin innit 😎👍 

Quality frames most of them I’ll have you know 😎 they kept me sane during 17 weeks of furlough, that and chatting to you on the phone….so you can see how dire the situation had become 😉 I wish I had known it was all going to be ok in the end, I could have properly enjoyed that time rather than worrying. 

I think it’s my mobile, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth. Once I’ve written out the words it won’t let me add photos to it. It says they are uploading but they don’t. Similarly if I try to add too many in one post it has a little fit so I just do them in twos or threes and often try to do a kind of Before, during and after type of thing.
The grips might come in handy as you say and if you get a frame devoid of its grips then shout out and I’ll send them to you, might save flaring your arms up 👍 

Yep--if chatting to me on the phone kept you sane, things were bad.   Luckily I had the pheasant to chat to (poor bugger must be dead now 😐  as he was knocking on).  We (me and the pheasant) had many a chat about Webley pistols, a few rifles and his choice of breakfast  for the next day (usually sultanas, nuts and seeds)  . It is quite funny when you are plinking and have a pheasant lying on the grass about 6 foot away, watching you.  

Sadly Phil--I think all the guns that are getting broken on the bay for maximum money, have pretty much killed off a lot of the tinkering that the likes of you and me do/ have done. 

That is a really nice save Phil.  It's hard to believe that the end product is the same gun.  Amazing that under that rust and paint the lettering was still so crisp. That, and managing to nail genuine grip plates, was the icing on the cake.  

Ah yes I remember your Pheasant 😎 I can never remember his name, was it Colin or Kevin? 🤔 

I admit it has made potential projects harder to find especially those that are Wobley shaped yes and to some extent I can understand it. Instead of someone having a parts missing, rusty Webley pistol that’s worth say £20 that they would gift or swap knowing that atleast it would be resurrected they have something that in component form is worth £100+ on fleabay, you can understand why in that position they would choose to sell. And NO before anyone jumps on me I am not suggesting that anyone breaks anything for profit on eBay I’m merely saying that things have changed of late and I recognise that sadly this is one of them. 

Posted by: @johng

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That is a really nice save Phil.  It's hard to believe that the end product is the same gun.  Amazing that under that rust and paint the lettering was still so crisp. That, and managing to nail genuine grip plates, was the icing on the cake.  

Thankyou John and yes I was very happy that I could save as much of the finish as I did. As always ofcourse they look better in photos than in the flesh and this one is no exception but it makes a nice plinker and I have some cosmetically nicer examples of the Tin grips which I’m a little more protective over so if any visitors want to try out certain air pistols this is one of the examples I bring out. 
I consider myself very lucky with finding the grips, they do come up for sale on eBay on occasion but it’s rarely 👍

The Pheasant was called "Mr Pecky" or "Mr not so Pecky"  depending on how pecky he was when he was taking food from my fingers. 

It is always nice to have what you consider to be a slightly rougher gun for people to try.   I have a few here including a Tempest with a weak spring  (One you sent me I think) and a set of ambi wooden grips.  

It is a real shame that all this breaking is going on with  guns now. 

Yep I have examples of most of the more common things that come out when someone wants to have a vintage plink. It’s not that I don’t like sharing it’s just safer to have examples that you don’t have to be quite so precious about and can then just enjoy the occasion rather than worrying. 
Ah yes I remember putting that spring by for you as I thought it would be that soft slingy feel that you like (oo err missus) 

Are the ambi grips the ones I sent you or did you make another pair? 

Sorry forgot to say, yes I know but if we save as many as possible then maybe it goes in some small way to addressing the balance 😎👍

@pjbingham  The grips were one of a 3 pairs I made from an old front door, when I had access to a band saw. They still bloody wrecked my arms. I sent some to Carl and some to a mate in Scotland, but his got woodworm a few years later. 

I had a soft spring in the Tempest but it was probably a bit too soft (oh err) and yours was better 🙂 

Over the years I've been given a few pistols for spares that I've managed to get working so I suppose it does help redress the balance. 

So do you reckon you refurb has redressed the balance for Buffy's infamous Junior?  (Asking for a friend )

That’s odd, maybe the woodworm were already in the door? 

Yep I reckon it does help 👍 

I wouldn’t know about that, I don’t feel qualified to pass opinion on it.  
Generally speaking I would say that breaking a perfectly fine working example of Any Vintage Airgun solely to maximise profit is wrong whichever way you look at or attempt to justify it. 

Great work phil

That has come back really well considering how rusty it was

Posted by: @evostu

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Great work phil

That has come back really well considering how rusty it was

Cheers Stu 👍 I do consider myself lucky that enough original finish remained to appear half presentable 😎

Were you not tempted to get out the cold blue Phil and do a full FET "restoration"  on it??? 😉 

"Just a reminder 

Anyway, new cocking shoe installed (phew!) and barrel assembly prepped, I gave it all a re-blue. Considering its original condition, I'm quite pleased as to how it turned out and I think it's a decent match to the body of the pistol. So things are progressing nicely....."

I did comment at the time

I am not an expert on bluing, and have only done it a handful or so times and not for many years. I think that the pistol has a very thin and shiny look to it because you polished it with a brass brush ----------and it left tiny bits of brass there which would not blue properly as brass needs a different blue?  

  As you know, I'm having a laugh and that is the INFAMOUS S2 JUNIOR that your mate Buffy broke on the bay.  😑 

But he did comment on recently that 

"Still a not uncommon model, so in doing so, I hardly deprived the airgun community of a rare, unmolested item."   

Posted by: @ggggr

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Were you not tempted to get out the cold blue Phil and do a full FET "restoration"  on it??? 😉 

 

 

"Just a reminder 

Anyway, new cocking shoe installed (phew!) and barrel assembly prepped, I gave it all a re-blue. Considering its original condition, I'm quite pleased as to how it turned out and I think it's a decent match to the body of the pistol. So things are progressing nicely....."

I did comment at the time

I am not an expert on bluing, and have only done it a handful or so times and not for many years. I think that the pistol has a very thin and shiny look to it because you polished it with a brass brush ----------and it left tiny bits of brass there which would not blue properly as brass needs a different blue?  

 

  As you know, I'm having a laugh and that is the INFAMOUS S2 JUNIOR that your mate Buffy broke on the bay.  😑 

But he did comment on recently that 

"Still a not uncommon model, so in doing so, I hardly deprived the airgun community of a rare, unmolested item."