I picked up this one a while back for a rather inexpensive price. It was a matching (except replaced bolt head) 1890 Ludwig Loewe with a cool Ostpreussen Landsturm unit marking on the siderail. While not something I collect heavily, I have a soft spot for 88s.
The issue was that the rifle was covered in dried grease and surface rust. While I don't advocate heavy cleaning, I have a conservative method I have used effectively in the past. I degrease the metal with denatured alcohol (DA) and take a combination of brass wool and a flattened 8mm brass casing to scrape the surface, wipe with DA, scrape/rub, wipe with DA and so on. The idea being that the brass will not scratch the steel and bluing, but is very effective at extraction of rust. If you degrease, it literally falls right off as a fine powder.
In any case, I have some before/after. It made for a fun afternoon. There is a nice patina left behind on the metal and really displays well with my other 88s.
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The issue was that the rifle was covered in dried grease and surface rust. While I don't advocate heavy cleaning, I have a conservative method I have used effectively in the past. I degrease the metal with denatured alcohol (DA) and take a combination of brass wool and a flattened 8mm brass casing to scrape the surface, wipe with DA, scrape/rub, wipe with DA and so on. The idea being that the brass will not scratch the steel and bluing, but is very effective at extraction of rust. If you degrease, it literally falls right off as a fine powder.
In any case, I have some before/after. It made for a fun afternoon. There is a nice patina left behind on the metal and really displays well with my other 88s.
Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk