The Winchester 97 Project Part 3

If you missed parts one and two click on the links below

Part 1
Part 2

When we left off I was about to start applying oil to the stocks, I sand in the first coat. I wet the stock with oil then sand with 600 grit paper, then force the slurry into the grain.
Here they are after the first coat cured for 24hrs.

One tip, after rubbing in the oil/sand dust slurry into the forend, take a lint free cloth and get any excess oil out of the grooves, you don't want it to build up and fill the grooves

While the oil was curing I took the receiver apart, surprisingly all the screws came right out. I am pretty sure this gun has not been apart since it left New Haven in 1925

The amount of parts and pieces in this is incredible, probably 2-3 times as many as a new Winchester 1300

I started with a couple of easy parts, the hammer and trigger had only minor pitting

Then I started on the trigger guard, it has some pretty deep pits

Progress was slow

Almost there, this is a 220 grit finish

These are machine marks from when the gun was made, they will not be seen, so they will be left

I installed the trigger guard into the receiver to finish sanding

There were deep lines or scratches in the receiver, I think they must be from the manufacturing process, had to believe you could not see them very well before I removed the bluing

100 grit finish

220 grit finish

320 grit finish

400 grit finish

I sanded the metal to a 600 grit, then gave it a quick polish on the buffer to even out the scratches

same with the trigger guard

Then I cleaned up the shell carrier

Then some of the small parts

The I sanded and polished the bolt

A few small pits

polished and ready for bluing

Stay tuned for part 4