River City John's Leech & Rigdon

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

I just finished this pistol for RCJ to try to make it look 10 - 15 years older, I think it looks pretty good. I completely stripped the whole pistol down, including the old chemical color case hardening on the frame, hammer, and loading lever. The Uberti red grips were refinished to a darker shade of walnut, and I buffed out the naval scene on the cylinder. According to RCJ, the L&R did not have the scene. 

All parts were buffed out with a 650 grit rouge compound. Re-blued to a charcoal bluing, and re-color cased hardened. All parts were then buffed again to bring out the deep colors in the blued parts, and dull the color case. You can still see the suttle reds and blues, but not very well in the photos.  The brass is much duller then in the photos. It is a real pretty pistol.

Bill              Click right mouse button on photo, and then click "view" to enlarge

[Quick Fire]

Once again you did real fine work Bill.

[Pappy Hayes]

Fine work. Sure would be nice if we live closer. Maybe I could take some lessons from you. Where did you learn your gunsmithing?

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Quick Fire and Pappy , thanks...
Pappy,
In High School I had four years of machine shop. While in college, I worked for several tool & die shops in the indianapolis area. That was back when you had to do all your math in your head and know how to read a set of micrometers and calipers, and I don't mean digital..... No formal training as far as gunsmithing goes, but I read a lot, and if you can read a blue print or schematic, theres nothing mysterious about it.

Bill

[Frenchie]

Fait bien, mon ami! C'est un joli pistolet!

[Lone Gunman]

In High School I had four years of machine shop.

I guess that's one of the advantages to growing up in an industrial area. Out here in rural America we had four years of how to repair farm equipment using bailing wire. Hence my proficiency at gunsmithing my '51 Navys with bread ties 

[US Scout]

Beautiful!

I've long admired the lines of the Leech and Rigdon.  Maybe one of these days one of my personas will come up with a justification to have one. 

US Scout
aka Bill Johnson

[James Hunt]

WOW - looks great.

I have the brass on my Henry at a patina that looks about right (as in I don't do any thing but wipe a rag over it when done) and the barrel I have toned down to an acceptable used look. But, I have just about had it with the red plastic looking stock. What would you suggest to strip it of what i assume is varnish, and what can I expect to find underneath? Will just a walnut stain and oil work on what is under there? The stocks on this pistol look great.

[Bristow Kid]

Thats a danged fine lookin' pistola.  You did a great job OCB.

[Black River Smith]

James,

I don't know if you noticed my 1866 at the National but I did strip the poly and coloring off.  What I found was a nice Walnut brown but not matching between the butt and forearm,  however a little oil stain & alcohol coloring, they ended up looking the same.

I then used Satin tung oil.  Now it looks like the wood on my original 1886. 

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Jim & All,
You can get a close up of the pistol by clicking the right mouse button and clicking view, it will enlarge the photo some what.
The finish on the Uberti stocks is more like a polyurethane then a varnish. It has a lot of red pigment in it to cover up small imperfections in the wood. I use Klean-Strip KS3-Premium Stripper that you can get at Lowes, it works fast. I used it on RCJ's pistol and my 1866.

If you have a set of cabinet scrappers use them to scrape off the finish. If you are careful you won't have to do much sanding. I use 320 grit wet/dry sand paper.

If you don't mix your own varnish, use the Deft, Clear Wood Finish, in Satin, also at Lowes. It is a Laquer, but is real close to a good varnish. It takes about three coats. For a stain, I use Minwax Dark Walnut, oil based stain... There are others but this works for me... when applying the finish use a varnish ball made form old cotton T-shirts......

Bill

[44caliberkid]

Great looking piece Bill.  How did you do the re-caseharden?  I'll need to re-color the frame on my '61 conversion after I cut the loading port.  I have access to a tempering furnace.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Great looking piece Bill.  How did you do the re-caseharden?  I'll need to re-color the frame on my '61 conversion after I cut the loading port.  I have access to a tempering furnace.

Kid,
Sent you a PM.

Bill

[James Hunt]

BRS and OCB: Thanks for the information. I'm gonna do this.