Cleaning rust encrusted revolver

[ronea2]

Just dug this today and appears to be an Andrew Fryberg & Co. Revolver. I’m wanting to clean my to clean it up without destroying it. It looks to be deeply rusted. I also don’t want to try anything that might destroy the hand grips. I think they are a plastic. Any thoughts?

Ron

 

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[Icewing]

Electrolysis, but I'm afraid it's already destroyed.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice find!

If you can, remove the plastic hand grips (if you can); electrolysis appears to be the best solution.

 

[Grizz12]

A sonic cleaner?

 

[ronea2]

Can’t get grips off. Used dish detergent, and wire brush. Afraid to do more. Here’s how it looks now.

 

[Toecutter]

I like it just the way it is, will look awesome in a box on the wall ... nice find

 

[A2coins]

I agree looks hood just like that

 

[xr7ator]

It'd have to have a little more bling to be "hood"! lmao! I'm here all day, folks! .... ..... ....

Seriously, a gal I know found two pistols in a drained lake and she youtubed electrolysis and worked them and I couldn't believe how clean she got them. Your gun looks to be in worse shape as the trigger guard is already gone. I think the mud in the lake helped preserve the two she found.

Still a very cool find and I agree that it would look fine in a display as is. Grats!

 

[blueheeler1959]

you will think I am nuts with this, I dont think I have mentioned it here in the past, its been a bit since I have been on here. You have to have a bit of patience for this to work but it works with rust I swear on a stack of rusty .... um well, whatever you have a rusty stack of I will swear on it about this. My dad was an engineer in WW2 on an aircraft carrier he said that they sometimes got parts sent to them covered in sticky junk and when he asked he was told it was molasses it kept them from rusting. He used to tell me to toss my rusty knives I bought at flea markets into a tub of molasses and walk away for a couple of weeks then pull em out and take a toothbrush to em and see if the rust all had dissolved if it had not to toss em back in it is amazing molasses eats the rust but will leave paint in place, if you get sulfured molasses it leaves a residue like a blued rifle barrel if you can find un suffered it won't do that. try it out and see what happens just remember you have to be patient and you have to have enough molasses to cover the rusty thing you are derusting.