The stock had a few gouges, but the metal looked fine, although worn.

My old buddy Tman and I decided that we could make this ugly duckling look pretty again.

We started by completely disassembling it to see what we had.

Just a word of clarification... We were not "restoring" this rifle.

This was not a "restoration" project. Instead, it was a "refinishing" project.

It was not our goal to make it look like it had the day it was born.

We wanted it to look "better" than it ever had.

It was not a pretty sight under the wood.

There was rust everywhere, and even a few cobwebs from spiders.

Here's what it looked like under the wood.

I then washed all parts in Mineral Spirits to remove any Cosmoline or oil on the parts.

I had to remove than deep rust.

The best way is with a soft steel brush.

Here's the same parts after the cleaning.

We looked at the steel and decided to paint the metal parts with a flat black automotive paint that is baked on.

This would prevent future rust problems.

Tman would also completely strip the wood and re-stain it and refinish it.

Here's the finished project.