BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

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Cundiff5535
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:08 pm

BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Cundiff5535 »

Hey guys, I decided to start a thread on a BSA Martini MKII rifle that I fully restored! This rifle was actually the first Martini I picked up, have two now. Its a full length MKII that was in need of some real love! As you will see in the first pictures I am going to post, the whole rifle needs to be restored... Stock, Finish, Action, Sights... etc.

Since I started work on this one far before I decided to take detailed pictures of the full restore, it may not be as detailed as I prefer.

Now that the rifle is done, its an amazing rifle and the nicest one I have ever seen! The metal was all prepped by me and blued at my friends at PPK. The lever and trigger were dropped off at Classic Guns in Crete and they case colored it for me.

Enjoy...

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Here is pictures of me starting to strip the bluing off the rifle.... I have already taken the action out and applied the Naval Jelly.... It gets pretty nasty so, dont be like me, wear gloves.


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Sanding and brushing with 0000 Steel wool to get the crap that wouldn't come off with only the naval jelly

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Almost there!!

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Bluing is almost all stripped off

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First bit of sanding on the receiver. I started with 320 on this one, as stated in the OP, its was not terribly pitted but, it is still a lot of hard tedious work sanding and checking to make sure its 100% perfect. The prep is most important when flat sanding and bluing.

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Now that the bluing is off, I can start to polish the barrel and receiver! This is wet sanded to 400! You can see that it is already looking good! If you look at the vice you can clearly see where I stopped sanding... pretty big difference!

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Putting a bunch of oil on the barrel for sanding and to prevent the start of rust. You can see where I have not started sanding and what has had a quick run over on it.

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Cross sanding at 400... tedious, tedious work...

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Once you start polishing is when you start seeing damage on metal... the higher the grit, the more you will see. The only way to get the pits out is start over from your lowest grit, SAND... then cross sand until those marks are gone.. and so on. When minor imperfects pop up... START OVER

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Receiver is looking good! Its pretty much done and ready to blue (tomorrow)

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Same goes for the trigger guard, those are not pits, and that not bluing... I have oil on it so photos are not perfect.

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Laying out the parts getting ready to hand for blue

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Bluing is DONE

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Case Color is DONE!!!

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And now........ THE Finished project! This is actually for the first full restore I have ever done start to finish... I would say it is without a doubt one of the best BSA Martini MKII's I have ever seen! All thoughts, feedback, and opinions are obviously welcome! This restoration would not have been possible without the help of a few very good friends of mine... Who I consider family at this point. Thanks to my "Brother" Brandan Bunker of Bunker Arms who guided me along the way with the metal prep! "Uncle" Spiro Patros & John Phillips of PPK Firearm Restorations who let me use their bluing tanks and assisted in the bluing process, They guys over at Classic guns for the Case Coloring, and "Uncle" Rik Mitchell who is a master gunsmith, woodworker, etc...

I would recommend all of them in a heart beat and I think the work speaks for itself! If ANYONE has questions or needs contact information, done hesitate to ask!


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I have gotten a few PM's asking A few more pics of the full rifle! Enjoy

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Last edited by Cundiff5535 on Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mikey_P
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2010 1:42 pm
Location: Eastern PA, USA

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Mikey_P »

BRAVO!!! Well done Bobby! And thanks for sharing all of those pics. Really gives one an appreciation for the amount of work that you put into saving that MkII.

Mike
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rmca
Posts: 1185
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:55 pm
Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by rmca »

Very nice job!!!

Any pics of the wood being restored?

Thank you very much for sharing!
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Wynne G Oldman
Posts: 175
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:36 pm
Location: Bury, Lancashire, England.

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Wynne G Oldman »

Thanks for posting, great job. We have a few Martini's at my club that could benefit from your handiwork. :)
Morini 162 EI
Anschutz 1913 Supermatch
Cundiff5535
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:08 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Cundiff5535 »

rmca wrote:Very nice job!!!

Any pics of the wood being restored?

Thank you very much for sharing!
No pics of wood being worked on... Some secrets gotta stay close to the vest:)
Last edited by Cundiff5535 on Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cundiff5535
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:08 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Cundiff5535 »

Wynne G Oldman wrote:Thanks for posting, great job. We have a few Martini's at my club that could benefit from your handiwork. :)
Been on the hunt for a MKIII for years... If anyone over there has one that they are selling at a discounted price, just holler at me!
Last edited by Cundiff5535 on Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
spektr
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Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:53 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by spektr »

Nicely done
Cundiff5535
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:08 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Cundiff5535 »

spektr wrote:Nicely done
Thank you sir!
montster
Posts: 123
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Richmond, Va. USA

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by montster »

WOW!
Cundiff5535
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:08 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Cundiff5535 »

A few folks asked for pics of the full rifle... enjoy
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Wynne G Oldman
Posts: 175
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:36 pm
Location: Bury, Lancashire, England.

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Wynne G Oldman »

Cundiff5535 wrote:
Wynne G Oldman wrote:Thanks for posting, great job. We have a few Martini's at my club that could benefit from your handiwork. :)
Been on the hunt for a MKIII for years... If anyone over there has one that they are selling at a discounted price, just holler at me!
We do have quite a few BSA Martinis at our club, sadly none of them MKIII's. I did ask our Rifle Captain about the differences between the different versions, and he gave me a great deal of information about the subject. Very interesting. I do understand that even if you did find a good MKIII in England, the costs of exporting it to the USA would be prohibitive. Shame, as good BSA Martini's can be picked up for a couple of hundred quid over here.
Morini 162 EI
Anschutz 1913 Supermatch
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Bob Smalser
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Location: Seabeck, Washington
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Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Bob Smalser »

Nicely done. Very crisp and attentive to detail.

Always sad to see the markings overbuffed and the holes dished out by the commercial operations, not to mention the minimum-wage employee jamming a hard iron wire down your bore to suspend the barreled action in a tank. ;)
Bob
abinok
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Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by abinok »

Absolutely beautiful....
Trooperjake
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Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 9:22 pm
Location: Cookeville, TN

Re: BSA Martini MKII Restoreation (Start to finish account)!

Post by Trooperjake »

Too pretty to shoot, be afraid I might scratch it.
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