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Conserving Relic P38

Hellraiser

Well-known member
How would you proceed?

Disassembly would be a b*tch because of the design and all the small moving parts I think.
 

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For my relics I just use a brass brush to knock the loose rust off and then give them a soak in a tub of oxalic acid which kills rust,then a good rinse with pure water and a brush off with a decorating brush and then dry them and leave somewhere warm to get any remaining moisture off it.They can be left as is ir sealed with something like renaissance wax.You could also do nothing other than rub it with a cloth to take some of the loose rust off and keep it somewhere moisture free and it should be Ok. Some people just slap horrible varnish on them and trap in the moisture and then wonder why its still rusting!Nice relic where did you find it?
 
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Thx,

it was dug at Arnhem.

using acid, does it mean I have to drill the grips off first?

wouldn't hydrochloric acid be better?
 
Oxalic acid is used as a deck cleaner for boats so is pretty safe to use on steel,wood etc.I dipped a dug up k98 bayonet in it and the grips were Ok after so I would guess pistol grips will also be Ok if they're the same material. I've never used hydrochloric acid so I can't say yes or no.I mix one heaped spoon of acid to 10 litres of warm water and stir,then add the item and leave for 20 to 30 minutes then rinse and scrub.The water will turn yellow and the fumes are really bad so hand and face protection is a must.Another forum member called Arditi uses the oxalic aswell it may be worth getting his opinions too.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B28_VN8Q6YE&list=PLCC8AF94AC0F4311A

This is a series about a M1911 that was found buried in a ditch in TN. He used electrolysis to remove the rust, which took about 150 hours, and after a while it felt like the videos were lasting 150 hours.

I think your goal is to remove the rust and prevent further rusting, which you can accomplish by rubbing oil on the bare metal.

yes

this is the way to go if one has patience I loved that video. I have a Reising bolt that requires this treatment ( firing pin is rusted in place)

I see the guys in eastern europe use the oxalic on just about everything. if it were me it would be the sonic /electrolysis bath
 
Thx!

I think I will do a Hydrochloric acid batch for a few hours to remove most of the rust and crud,
rinse thourougly, and have it spend some time in the oven, before I go the ATF+acetone route and see if anything will break free.

Will keep you updated :)
 
Removed most of the rust
Is there a way to determine what
Year it is?
 

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Well, let's see. It looks to not be an early one. It appears to have the humped reinforced area at the trigger area of the frame. And, it has the shorter extractor hole on the slide. That's about all that can be learned as the craters are just too much. All the markings on the outside look obliviated. Inside, if you can get the parts seperated, you might be able to see some stamps.

I am going to guess and say it's a Spreewerk (cyq). The reason I am guessing this is the grip panel shows 5 "broken lines" around the grip screw. These types of grips were put on the cyq P.38's.
 
Thanks!
I think I will need to remove the grips if I want to clean it further, but that means I'll have to drill out the screw..
If i can get the slide to move, I'll be very happy :p
 
Leave As A Relic

Just my opinion, I'd leave it the way it is, an encrusted relic. It's too far gone from the years being buried. To me it has a lot of appeal being a relic, and a very complete one at that. As mentioned before it does appear to be a later war cyq product due to the grips.
 

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