As promised - Here is the revolver after 14 days of cooking

[creskol]

It looks like there are 5 balls still in the cylinder, but the chambers are empty otherwise. Is that a bit odd?
The bluish/white shininess you see is uncured preservation solution.

The oblong thing that I originally thought was a big pocket knife turned out to be an old glasses case.
It was in the hot pot for the same amount of time.

The first photo is the revolver as found. The last four are of the glasses case.

 

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[dieselfool]

Sure looks like a Model 1858 Remington .44 ! Outstanding find, and I would have thought the hammer and trigger would be dissolved by rust.
The powder must have broken down and escaped via the nipples. It had to contain powder, because the powder is loaded first, then the balls are seated. Anyway, that is a once-in-a-lifetime recovery.

 

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[creskol]

Sure looks like a Model 1858 Remington .44 ! Outstanding find, and I would have thought the hammer and trigger would be dissolved by rust.
The powder must have broken down and escaped via the nipples. It had to contain powder, because the powder is loaded first, then the balls are seated. Anyway, that is a once-in-a-lifetime recovery.

Thanks Dieselfoot! I appreciate that!

 

[creskol]

great salvage job!
More meat left than I would have expected.

We can't see the rear of the cylinder to see if any nipples survived.
Blackpowder is hydroscopic , it sucks up moisture given the chance , and is corrosive.
If corrosion it may has been dissipated by your cleaning method and "evaporated".
Nitrate is part of the ingredients. And could nibble away at metal during it's long rest .

The balls are seated near flush with the end of the cylinder. It would be difficult (though not impossible ) to seat them uniformly like that without powder under them.

Wads could be used to fill voids of squib loads. Or for other reason. Cornstarch too. That gets the bullet/ball near flush up front , vs greatly recessed.
As mentioned , grease lard ect. spread over the loaded chambers face reduced the odds of chain fires.

Thanks for this information. Since I cleaned and preserved this, I have recently noticed on the side of the revolver that was most corroded to begin with, there is a bit of "off-color" white residue leeching out around the cylinder. I am guessing that it is residual black powder that may have permeated the metal. Guess I need to go back and give it another bath. Thanks again for the info.

 

[RTR]

Wow that baby is Cooked

 

[Underwonder]

Nice clean up! Did you ever clean the rider on the horse found at that dig?

 

[creskol]

Nice clean up! Did you ever clean the rider on the horse found at that dig?

Yes .. It came out nice. Here is the link to that:

It took 14 days to cook the horse

It took another 14 days to cook the horse, the wreath plaque, and what I think is a telegraph key, Below are the before and after photos. Other associated threads for these finds...

www.treasurenet.com

 

[Underwonder]

Yes .. It came out nice. Here is the link to that:

It took 14 days to cook the horse

It took another 14 days to cook the horse, the wreath plaque, and what I think is a telegraph key, Below are the before and after photos. Other associated threads for these finds...

www.treasurenet.com

Thanks for that link. I had missed it. Everything cleaned up quite well. It seems like a good method you have! I like the telegraph key also!

 

[Southern loyalist]

Great find and a cool restoration process (one that I was barely familiar with but like the results)! Love seeing artifacts like this... Can you post some close ups of the nipples? Are the caps still present?

 

[BuckleBoy]

Absolutely phenomenal!! Great preservation job on this amazing relic!

 

[Eastcoasthunter21]

wow, what difference, I am not familiar with hot boxing, can someone share a link for how it works

When you sit in the car windows closed and smoke joints
“ hot boxing”

 

[Hubbard]

No .. no electrolysis. I literally use a thermostatically controlled hot pot filled with Evaporust, and cook the relics at a constant 200 degrees.

I have not heard of this approach. What type/brand of hot pot did you use?

I have a handle from a similar looking pistol. Would like to try your approach to remove the rust.

Hubbard

 

[creskol]

I have not heard of this approach. What type/brand of hot pot did you use?

I have a handle from a similar looking pistol. Would like to try your approach to remove the rust.

Hubbard

For smaller relics, I use an old fondu pot. For larger things I use an old pot from the biochemistry lab that they were getting rid of. It is similar in size to a modern 6 quart roaster oven, except the temp only goes up to 150º degrees Celsius (300º Farenheit). Just about any pot with a thermostatically controlled dial will work.