The Fire
Around 9:30 that fateful night I heard a
commotion outside and upon seeing what was going on I saw that my shop/house
was on fire and fully engulfed. I live
across the street from the shop location so I was close by. I was stunned and attempted to go over but
the firemen already on the scene stopped me. I knew that my son and grandson
were there but was unaware that my step son and his daughter were over there
visiting. Anyway my wife and I suffered the loss of our children and
grandchildren. Of course, that is
something that you never get over. The Fire Marshall never determined what
caused the fire though he determined that it started in the living room and not
in the shop where the ammo was made. Of course all of the normal precautions
were taken but sometimes that isn’t enough.
My gun collection and all of my reloading
equipment were over there as well as many books and other paraphernalia that
was gun related. I had many special made dies and tools as I load a lot of
obsolete ammo and write about. My gun collection included many firearms that
were from 100 to over 140 years old. There were quite a few modern types of
firearms with scopes. None of the scopes survived as they are not meant to
absorb the heat that was generated. Since the house was totally destroyed I did
not hold much hope for the contents. Of course, I had some powder, primers bullets,
and other supplies for making ammo much of it for obscure calibers which turned
out to be a total loss.
The guns were taken off the property by the
police to avoid looting regardless of their condition. They were boxed and
inventoried as well as they could though many of the firearms were unknown to
them because of their age. It proved to be a learning experience to them as
they are not the type of weapons used in crimes. Of course, I had a complete record of them,
which I provided. Anyway, in about two weeks they released them to me, which
made the evidence room clerk happy as they took up most of the space. After
looking at all of those boxes, I knew that my work was just beginning. It’s a
bad feeling to see the guns in such bad shape. Anyone who loves firearms knows
what I am talking about.
After the initial shock wore off, I had some
decisions to make in regards to this material. For a short period of time, I
considered throwing up my hands and saying to hell with it and let everything
go to the scrap yard. However due to a lot of encouragement from the shooting
industry and friends I realized that quitting wasn’t an option that I could
live with. The decision was made to restore the guns and other equipment as
much as possible. I have been accused with some justification of having
gunpowder in my veins. I cannot refute that claim. Besides golf and gardening
activities are not interesting to me in the least. The decision was made not to
let this put me down for keeps.
Upon going through the rubble, we found a lot
of dies and some other tooling that might be salvageable. All of the dies were
covered with rust and other crud. Many of them were encased in plastic as the
die boxes melted and surrounded the dies. I decided on doing what I could to
fix them as many are expensive and difficult to replace. The dies that were not
encased in plastic were the first project that I tackled. I wanted to get an
idea of what was and wasn’t good. Since my grinder perished, I picked up a new
one with several wire wheel brushes. I took each die and removed as much of the
outside crud as possible, which took several minutes for each one. If I was
able to remove the inside parts that was done at this time and cleaned up. I
then put them in buckets of kerosene for several days to loosen up the crud on
the inside. After soaking for a few days, I removed the innards and cleaned
them up by using the wire brush. This included the decapping, belling and
bullet seating assemblies. They cleaned up pretty well and were usable again.
The insides of the dies were cleaned with a wire brush hooked to a drill. I
wrapped the brush with the proper amount of steel wool, which worked well. The
sizing dies were a little tougher. They required more work as the dimensions
are more critical. I ran the steel wool in them until they came out shiny or I
could see that they were pitted which rendered them useless for resizing. Using
course, dry steel wool on a drill really worked well. I would make it a tight
fit and spin until I could feel the die getting warm. After a couple of minutes,
you could tell if the dies were good or not. I was able to save quite a few
that way including some of the odd ones which if I had to replace would go into
the three figures in dollars. I also have some bullet making dies and using the
same methods were able to save many of them. Some of my one step bullet sizing
dies were salvageable. Cleaning the threads and insides put them back in
service. I am here to tell you that this is a very time consuming and dirty
job. After the dies were restored and deemed fit for use, I had to find
suitable boxes for them, which I did. I have tried some of the dies and am
happy to report they work fine. The dollar savings is considerable using the
restored dies as opposed to buying new ones.
The tungsten dies did fine probably because of the hard metal used. In
addition, it is an insert that is relatively short and as long as it isn’t
damaged your die should be fine. One
thing I learned was that I have a LOT of dies.
The dies that had plastic in the threads
required extra work. The wire brush wasn’t effective in removing it so heat was
the only option. The larger pieces had to be cut up before we could do anything
with them. The heat has to be carefully applied to avoid further damage to
them. We found that by hammering the plastic around the dies removed it pretty
well. The plastic was brittle which helped with that task. Also the plastic
helped protect the dies from the elements and water, making them easier to
clean. Some of the plastic was taken off
by putting the die in the vise and taking it off with a hammer and screwdriver.
I only used heat when nothing else worked. One example was some dies didn’t
have a stem in them and as a consequence plastic got into the threads and
defied efforts to remove it. Many of the small parts were salvaged including
decapping assemblies and seating stems. They just had to be cleaned up and
re-installed. If the die was too badly damaged to continue service, the small
parts were utilized elsewhere. You would be surprised how fast costs add up if
you buy those little parts. Shell holders for the most part were salvageable. The inside has to be cleaned so a case will
fit and the bottom as well so it will go into the ram. I found that a dremel
tool with a small brush is helpful. A small screwdriver and wire brushes also
help with this chore. However, some have plastic from the boxes, which is very
stubborn to remove without some heat applied. Most of the bullet seating
assemblies and decapping rods cleaned up on the grinder. You have to make sure
that the threads are well cleaned out as well as the neck expander. The neck expander has to be well cleaned to
avoid damage to the inside of the case necks.
When doing the dry dies you should wear a mask
to avoid a lungful of dust. In addition, safety glasses are necessary as there
are many particles flying at high speed. If they hit your cheek, no big deal
but one in the eye will certainly cause you much pain and possible permanent
eye injury. Work gloves are not a bad idea either to protect a finger that
might stray too close to a wire brush. You should have good ventilation to air
out the shop. Kerosene isn’t real dangerous but it can catch fire if you are
careless. Fire extinguishers should be close by just in case. Safety should
always come first when doing this or any type of operation.
The guns are a different matter. Some of
them were burned so bad there was no doubt that they were totally destroyed.
With the long guns I wanted to save as many as possible but there are a few
problems with that. Virtually all of the stocks were destroyed as well as the
scopes. However, the metal on some
wasn’t as bad as you would expect so there was some hope. If the receiver and
barrel were exposed to excess heat then it was discarded, as there is warpage
and other problems that would prevent them from being fired. Once the receiver
and bolt are heated excessively they lose their temper and strength making them
dangerous to fire. Even if you were able to make it fire it may come apart
which would be disastrous to the shooter and bystanders. Some parts of the fire
burned at about 2,000 degrees, which is hot enough to destroy virtually
anything. I plan to shoot some of the bad guns but they will be tied to a tire
with a string. We will video tape the events for further study. If in doubt, have it checked out by someone
who is familiar with these types of situations. Some of the guns were heated
but not enough to destroy them however, most of the springs lost their temper,
requiring replacement. That is a time consuming and tedious job not to mention
the difficulty in obtaining some of them. Of course, the guns have to be taken
apart and thoroughly cleaned to enhance the inspection. I have a few antique
rifles that survived though the stocks were not so lucky. Trying to find
replacements can be an exercise in frustration. Anyone have a stock for a 60
caliber Snider? Some of my handguns were
in a trunk so were spared the heat but not the foam and water that the fire
department used. Some lost much of their bluing including an early model 29 in
the box. Well now, I have a shooter.
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Ruger 45 Colt before blueing
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Most of the brass and bullets were lost. There
was some exceptions as some wasn’t exposed to the heat. I sorted through the
brass to see what could be saved. If it wasn’t exposed to excessive heat it was
cleaned up and used. If it is obvious that the brass was exposed to a lot of
heat it was discarded. It can be dangerous to use that brass as it is weakened
and could come apart in the gun. If I had any doubt it went to the scrap heap.
If the bullets weren’t melted or heated out of shape they were cleaned up and
used. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 bullets were lost including a lot
of odd diameter slugs. As for brass probably around 10,000 were lost much of it
odd stuff. The loaded ammo was a complete loss as you could imagine. The books,
which included many, hard to get volumes went up in smoke. There
was a small amount of ammo that didn’t go off however it was exposed to the
heat and is regarded as being unsafe to fire. The heat may have altered the
powder characteristics, making it too strong to fire. The way I look at it is a
gun and body parts are harder to replace then ammo.
Ruger 45 Colt after home blueing
I have an assortment of presses and although
they got burned It looks like I can salvage some with a lot of TLC. Some are pricey such as the Star and a Silver
Press from Corbin. Like the dies I have them soaking to remove the surface
rust. After that they will be taken apart to clean up each part. If the major
parts are not warped they can be saved though a lot of the small parts will
need replacing. The Silver press
survived in good shape just needed to be cleaned up and remounted on the new
table. I had two Dillons but they did
not survive partly due to location and the material they are made of. They are
made from aluminum, which melts at lower temperatures then steel. The dies for
the most part were ok as was the shell plates.
The Ammo master and Rockchucker presses should be ok. Unfortunately, the
MEC shotgun presses were badly damaged. Any of the parts that survived were
salvaged for further use in the future.
Presses that were lost in fire
As I said I had some handguns in a trunk which
essentially survived the fire but has some water and foam damage from the fire
company. While not mechanically impaired they looked pretty bad. Taking them to
a gun shop would be an expensive proposition so I decided to blue them myself. I
have performed that operation in the past so I know what is required to do this
process. For this project, Birchwood Casey products were chosen. The gun is a
Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt that I have owned for some 32 years. I figured that
I couldn’t hurt it though it was taken out and test fired just to make sure it
is up to snuff. It was pretty grungy and had some prominent water spots and
other areas where the bluing was removed.
The grunge was cleaned up first then off came the bluing. After polishing,
it was thoroughly cleaned and degreased. The secret in getting good results
bluing a gun is the preparation. If you leave grease on the gun your bluing
will be uneven and may be off color. A smooth surface aids in getting good
results. After about three hours of labor,
I had a finished product. While not a professional job it looks good and as
time permits more of these guns will be done. It is very important to remove all traces of
the bluing compound and oil the gun. The reason is bluing is corrosive and you
will get a lot of rust quickly by failing to follow this step.
The fire did some strange things such as total
one gun and another nearby just got singed. A Swiss K-31 had the stock
blackened but the metal is fine. Many
rounds of ammo went off but there was no casualties attributed to that as ammo
outside a gun doesn’t have as much power so there were no bullets flying for
miles around. Very little of anything left the property,
contrary to rumors. The one neighbor’s house suffered minor smoke damage, as
there was a high wind that night blowing toward her house, which is a very
short distance from mine. I hope none of the readers ever experience
this tragedy as it is beyond description in how horrible it is.
