Armi-Galesi Model 6 (.25 ACP)

[roadrat52]

My grandfather passed last year at the age of 95 and left my mother his old pistol which I now have possesion of to attempt to clean it up as much as possible. Here's the closest picture of one I could find on line but, it is in great shape where my grandfather's is not although it does have the same grips.

My question is, how can I best restore (clean) this little gun? It has been sitting in a leather holster for about 20 years and the finish is pretty bad.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Superhouse 15]

Even considering sentimental value, it's probably not worth the money to have it refinished professionally. For what it would cost you could buy a Kel Tec or a Beretta 950 or something. If it was me I'd remove the rust and old finish and try a cold blue job at home.

OXPHO-BLUE® CREME at Brownells
DOUBLE ULTRA-FINE 1200 GRIT WET OR DRY PAPER at Brownells
BRONZE WOOL at Brownells

And remember, the prep work is the most important part.

Or you could try a bake on or spray on paint finish. I'm not yet a big fan of them, but it's kind of slowly growing on me. If I had that pistol I might give it a try as a "can't go wrong" project.

GUN-KOTE TM OVEN CURE, GUN FINISH at Brownells
AEROSOL BAKING LACQUER at Brownells
ALUMA-HYDE® II at Brownells

[roadrat52]

Oh, I'm not planning to invest much money in it. I just wanted to try to clean it as much as possible and protect it from deteriorating more then it already is. I know that a burnish and/or 0000 steel wool will remove what's left of the blueing so, I'm not sure that's a real good idea.

[mrhutch]

i would degrease it, use fine steel wool with wd40 to get rid of surface rust, use a bluing remover to strip the finish, and re-blue it yourself.

but i AM NOT a gunsmith, so if a more experienced members have contrary advice then ignore me.

[mr surveyor]

if you don't mind it being partially "in the white", the 0000 steel wool and RemOil works well to remove rust from light pitting, although if deep enough into the finish removal of the rust will leave you "in the white". This is not the end of the world though, as frequent attention with light oil will prevent rust, if you keep the gun from adverse environment. I don't think you will be making a "carry gun" out of a keepsake, so that shouldn't be an issue. If it were mine, I would NOT re-blue a family keepsake!

just my opinions

surv