Restoring, reblueing an Artillery P-08

Hi everybody,
Since about 20 years those 2 thing were stored in the bottom of the barrel


They are japaneses replicas from the 80's.

So, i was looking for a replica to set them together (not really actively).
I had also 3 inches P08 replica, 80's and japan made too, but frankly with those accessories, it was ridiculous.




Fortunatly i found the rigth model, but partially oxyded, and with some bad casted parts:






Some details.






The both to compare.




The "beast" with the stock, and the snail magazine




I used a Dremel for rough-hewing, a fine metal worker file, some wirewool (000), sandpaper (1000), and a liquid polish (Miror) for the polishing.
A powerful solvent/grease remover to prepare the parts before reblueing.
And a chemical liquid blueing composition (Canon Noir). But the Birchwood Aluminium Black, should work as well


The magazine catch, replaced with the other





The sear bar (gâchette in french).



And the replacement part.




The exctractor, filed and polished.
you can notice the casting traces.




And at last, the trigger, it needs filing and polishing




Dremel power:





Polishing with sandpaper 1000, and wirewool 000:






You can see that parts must by imperatively mirror polished, the colour density difference is less visible with natural light.




The sear bar filed


The same reblued and fitted


The safety lever during polishing



The blueing was more difficult than i expected, i had to redo it


The polishing of the breech block/center toggle link/rear toggle link group


sandpaper 1000,


and wirewool 000.


For finishing, some drips of Miror(ARGENTIL formula) on a polishing disk

Some casting defaults and lack of material can't made be up, but after reblueing, it's all rigth

breech block/center toggle link/rear toggle link group after polishing and reblueing:





Almost finished, waiting the wood grips panels.






After fitting of the wood grips panels, at last! it's over!





I tryed to turn sligthly yellow the trigger and the safety lever, but unsucessfully.
Voilàààà

Terrific set - great work.

Yes - the straw color for the trigger and smaller parts would be nice - but still looks very good.

JJ

Thank you!
Yes "straw" is the rigth word.

Congratulations!! Great job! The "full set" looks really nice

Nice job!

And a great set of rare accessories, you are lucky to have them :-)

Please tel more about bottom of barrel story!

Thank you.
Well, it was a really small barrel!

Excellent work Dronne.

Those casting ribs are a pain - but well-worth the effort to remove!
C'est magnifique!


Kiwigunner

Thank you very much kiwigunner
in fact it's not completly finished.
I need to know how to remove the magazine's butt and replace it with a wood one (c'est plus chic)





I tried to use a pin punch tool (look at the red arrow), but it doesn't move at all.
If somebody can advise me.....

D'accord! Dronne
In May last year, I experienced the same problem when trying to remove what looks like a pin.
My magazine was not working properly.

My conclusion is that it is part of the base zinc casting and is not removable. It appears to be a false pin.
On a real P08 magazine of course, the base IS held in place by a pin that CAN be tapped out.

At the time I decided not to damage my magazine and managed to fix the problem another way.
However, if I had to remove the base my method would be to carefully use a drill the same diameter as the false pin, and gently drill half way through the base; then turn it over and drill through from the opposite side.

I say "gently" because if the drill bit is not exactly centered then it way wander and damage the steel of the magazine. So I would use a steel punch to mark the centre of the hole.
And by drilling half-way from each side, any misalignment can be compensated.

Then of course a replacement real pin may be used.
I hope this may be helpful.
Bonne chance!

Cheers,
Kiwigunner.

Hi kiwigunner,
I was afraid of something like that!
But your advice is usefull!
Thank you very much!

I came across this Navy P08 with "straw"/gold plated parts. I though it might be of interest for a comparison.

http://phoenixinvestmentarms.com/History%20Book/1108navy1917.htm


kiwigunner

Wow!

Hi kiwigunner,
http://phoenixinvestmentarms.com/825Artydbldate.htm

Excellent! Nice to see!
At the moment I am working on fixing my 4inch Barreled P08 which has a broken mainspring-lever (the part the s-link on the toggle fits into).
The MGC model used very thin metal on the "c" hooks.
So I am making one out of steel which I shall harden by heating.

I have an 8 inch model with a snail-drum magazine - and just this week an Artillery model has come up for auction on a local web-site.
It would be nice to win, but it is a bit more expensive than I would prefer - NZ$200.
But they are quite rare here.
The auction closes next Tuesday so I have until then to decide!

MGC made very good replica Luger P08 modelguns, don't you agree?

Kiwigunner

Hi, kiwigunner,
I completly agree with you, and understand your anxiety
I wonder why Denix don't want to make such higth quality replica, the market exists for this kind of modelguns.

That's a good question Dronne - I can only assume Denix wishes to avoid customs hassles - and want to ensure their replicas will easily pass inspection as a non-gun.

I noticed a casting defect in your extractor - and out of curiosity, compared it to one on my P08.

It is identical - I suppose, as to be expected! I invite forum members to inspect their MGC Zinc P08's to see if it is a universal defect?

And I agree that it is well worth the time and effort to tidy up such defects and casting ribs to enhance these fine replicas.


Re-bluing takes time too - and as these metal models slowly age, the zinc starts to look tired and less authentic in my view!
Ah, damn! I've just talked myself into some more restorations work on my modelguns!



Kiwigunner

Hi kiwigunner!
Nice work!
But i don't understand this "to tidy up such defects" (ok defects it'ok, but not the sentence's beginning)

Hi! I guess I am thinking that many people with MGC P08 Lugers (or other modelguns) have noticed the defects on their modelguns, but for one reason or another do not want to do work of removing the imperfections.

For some people it may be because it seems to be too much hard work; or maybe people may simply be afraid to attempt doing so; maybe a lack of confidence.
Or maybe they are just happy with having the defects.

I hope that with our examples they will be inspired to do the same as us and enjoy the results - modelguns with fewer imperfections than when manufactured!

A bientot!
Kiwigunner

Oh yes,
Frankly it's not so difficult, i have no specific technical knowledge, just patience

Dronne, I think that patience is a great virtue to have today - in a word of fast cars, instant communication and instant finance, patience is not encouraged!

Repairing older modelguns to function or making them look better, can demand a lot of patience, as you know!

I think that is one of the best lessons modelguns has taught me - to get good outcomes, one must be patient!

Cheers,
Kiwigunner

Yes, modelguns restoration, and dayly use of vintage scooter too!

Hi,
I have the same defect on my P08 artillery but I have no number n°02816 and no "P08" engraved .

Dronne, beautiful work on the "Joint of molding" (les joints ou bavures in french), this give a fine result with the reblueing.

Philippe

Great work on the restoration, Peticopo,

I admire your patience restoring the soft metal used in modelguns.
I love restoring real guns.
I restored my MGC Thompson and tried on an MP40 - but I think it's harder than working with zinc than it is with steel.
When threads or parts are broken, you cannot weld or braze, so kudos to you and well done.

Nice to see another old bike enthusiast.
I restored these two from boxes of parts.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Peticopo,
Same serie, or same mould?