Old Mossberg 183D-A bolt action resto progress

[greg vess]

My neighbor gave me this to freshen up a bit. Barrel was completely covered in rust and one side of the stock had silver paint over spray completely covering one side. So far it's going well barrel is taking bluing nicely. Stock needs more prep but this is what I have so far. First pic is before disassembly. The light makes some areas look odd but in person it looks great so far. I have to do some finish sanding on the stock and then add stock oil and then stock wax. The stock has some cracking inside were the action bushing sets that needs attention. But I will post pics as it n progress. Nothing big just thought if you wanted follow along and see the final product in some good light. I should have taken a pick of the other side of the gun before disassembly. It looks like a different gun. This is the side with the oil and paint staining.

Please excuse the shop sofa. It beats the print under the cover. It's painful. LOL

 

[greg vess]

I tried but my cameras just are not that good. Plus the yellow light Hughes aren't helping. The barrel came out deep black. You can tell the different steels over the years. This Steel turned deep black as soon as the blueing solution hit it. The newer steel takes a little bit of time to react and you still don't get that deep black color like older steel. It could also be manufacturer to manufacturer steel quality and metallurgy. Anyway I will try and take it out and get a good pick of the barrel in different light.

 

[greg vess]

I've got a couple more coats of finish and then it's on to assembly and then I will resto the bolt.

 

[greg vess]

Had to do some stock repair where the action bushing was. There was almost a 1/4 of an inch of material missing along with long stress cracks. I think it turned out ok for what it was.

 

[Medic1957]

Impressive !