39A Smoke/Fire Damage

[raven5]

A friend of mine had a house fire last year and ended up having his house rebuilt. All in all, it worked out for him after all the fuss but he had a rifle that was a casualty. He has an old rifle, a first year 39A by the S/N from what I could find out, that lost a lot of bluing and ended up with some rust. The rifle wasn't pristine but it definitely wasn't a dog. The fire didn't get anywhere near the rifle, nor did any water. The rifle had some light pitting to begin with and the blue was definitely on the thin side, but it didn't have any rust. The rifle now has almost zero bluing left; I'm assuming from the additional heat and such.

Anyway, his insurance is more than willing to compensate and have been great with everything else for him. His adjuster told him to get a quote on repair cost and they would cut him a check.

I'm not sure exactly how to proceed. It wasn't mint to begin with so I wouldn't feel right with a full-blown restoration price. I was maybe thinking of just getting a price to get it lightly touched up and then reblued. Same kind of thoughts on the furniture. Not sure.

I'm in Cincinnati and I'm not aware of anyone somewhat local to get a price from.

What advice can anyone give on how to proceed?

[Griff]

Turnbull. If you figure the insurance pays for half the full restoration, it's still a bargain... for both parties.

[jdad]

1st year should have no letter prefix, a nub at the back of lever, a dovetailed not ramped front sight, and a case colored receiver.

[Old Ironsights]

Turnbull. If you figure the insurance pays for half the full restoration, it's still a bargain... for both parties.

+1...

mostly.

"the fire didn't get anywhere close" is not as big an issue as you might think.

Depending on the way the fire progresed, that gun my well have still been subjected to damagingly significant heat.

Have Turnbull (or whomever) test for temper etc. Modern housefires are no joke (1,200+deg are not uncommon...)

[firefuzz]

Turnbull. If you figure the insurance pays for half the full restoration, it's still a bargain... for both parties.

+1...

mostly.

"the fire didn't get anywhere close" is not as big an issue as you might think.

Depending on the way the fire progresed, that gun my well have still been subjected to damagingly significant heat.

Have Turnbull (or whomever) test for temper etc. Modern housefires are no joke (1,200+deg are not uncommon...)

Probably the best indicator of temper damage will be the wood. Soot covered is not a problem, blistered finish means over 200* for a while, any charring is a warning, over 800* for a while. The rusting on the metal is caused by the elevated heat, extreme humidity and chemicals released by the fire into the air in the structure, the gun didn't even have to get all that hot to rust up badly. I've seen guns rusted completely over that the "damage" to the wood wiped off with a rag. The bores and internals usually aren't affected as badly.

Where the gun was in relation to the fire will make a big difference, also how fast the FD got the fire knocked down. In a closet with the door closed even attached to the room of origin it may not be harmed. On a horizontal wall rack 6 feet off the floor in an open room on the other end of the structure from the origin of the fire and it may be ruined. The heat in a fire moves vertically first, then horizontally across the ceiling of any open room, then down as the fire progresses from one stage to another. Even a hollow core door will protect the contents of a room longer than you would think as long as it's closed.

Rob

[Old Ironsights]

Exactly. Even uninvolved rooms can get well above 400 degrees... and rooms approaching flashover... well...

I'd really like to see some NIST/NFA testing done on radiant/convective heat on "uninvolved" firearms, i.e. pyrolysis on the furniture etc. (Melted ARs/Glocks go without saying... )

A coworker rescued a modern Springfield 1911 that had been discarded post fire. The scales had melted and the thing was rusty as heck, but he replaced the barrel (didn't need to, but he wanted a threaded one) & springs, and had the frame/slide tested and reblued and it came out splendidly. Looks/shoots as brand new at 1/3 the cost.

[BrentD]

From the sounds of it, you need wood refinishing but not replacement?
Barrel polish, blue, and possibly a relining?
Action polish and case coloring?

You will not get out of that for less than, oh, $1000, maybe. That's not going to make it a brand new rifle, but it is also what is going to be required to make it functional. It could easily cost you much more than that and won't cost much less if done by professionals unless the reline is not needed.

Your friend can do most of the work himself, but relining and case coloring is probably not within reach of most people w/o a lot of special gear and training.