Revoliver

Ok, so after looking at it in the sunlight (or dwindling sunlight), it seems to not be as bad as I remember it. Still not pretty though...












I hit up Home Depot on the way home and snagged Norton MetalSand Emery cloth for removing rust paint and scale (assorted grits), and Norton SandWet 320 grit waterproof sandpaper.


Before I oil up some of either, anyone want to chime in with a better idea now that there are pictures? Was getting the MetalSand Emery cloth (assorted grits) overkill?

Revoliver

Hm.. I updated the thread title, twice now, but it doesn't register outside of the thread in the forum menu? Sorry for the double post mod gods, just trying to figure out if it's me or not.

Tiger Ruger

Wow I was picturing a gouge, but that doesn't look too bad.

TMB

Yeah don't look bad I wouldn't worry about it if it was mine

Revoliver

@Tiger Ruger and TMB:


Yeah, now that I got a chance to see it in a little daylight, it doesn't seem quite so bad. As 'Bubba' as I was being, I really was trying to be as careful as I could. Chalk the overreaction up to being tired, frustrated and shock.

Still needs to go though. When this rifle earns battlescars, it can keep'em. But this one, this one it just doesn't deserve.

Tiger Ruger

MAYBE sanding it will make it look better with the stuff that you bought.

BRL

[QUOTE=Revoliver;722951...So now I'm thinking to myself, OK, I'm being too gentle. I begin to give it some good whacks, only to snap off the flip up part of the sight...QUOTE]

Small world.

Did the same thing to my 10/22 flip-up rear sight, so I used the base as a dovetail filler.

Is it stainless? if so, you can make those dissappear easily.

Needle files, various grits of sandpaper, and take it slow, watching your progress as you go.

Trust me, I've done some dressing up of blemishes.

Um...that's a before shot.

jstawasz

Relax and realize that we've all done it. My old shop teacher used to always tell us screwdrivers are NOT punches and don't use the wrenches as hammers. Those brass punches are really pretty cheap. As long as it didn't mess up the functioning of the weapon just chalk it up to live and learn.

PS. It really doesn't look that bad. I would leave it as it is.

James6591

Don't feel too bad mate, I don't know too many folk that haven't left an idiot mark of some sort on a new gun.
I learn from mine, suggest you do the same.
Good luck with it all.

RAC55

I haven't had any experience with this rifle, but is that a set screw on that dovetail by chance? Did you remove that set screw before trying to knock that sight out? That might be what was keeping that sight from moving.

TNWNGR

Dab that scratch with some cold blue and keep on shooting because it's not as obvious as your initial posting sounded. You got lucky and came out of this one pretty easy, good for you!

Revoliver

Thank you all for the continued help!

I'd like to apologize for overreacting, I do admit that after seeing i again yesterday it's no quite so bad as I initially thought.

@BRL: Wow, that looks like some work that I would not want to have to do!

@RAC55: Yes, that is a set screw in the sight, but it is the Skinner aperture aftermarket sight I replaced the original flip-up flat top adjustable sight (like on the 10/22) with, which was the one that didn't want to come out (though I was not using the proper tool and forgot to WD40 it first), broke off and caused all this. Believe it or not, I was actually smart enoigh to make sure the Skinner sight's set screw was not protruding underneath before putting it in.

computerdynamics

AHH! Gives it character and reminds you to slow down next time? I have a little mini-scratch on my 10/22 from leaning it against a metal rail. I just shut it out of my mind and ignore it. I don't lean it against metal rails anymore though..... ; ) Be careful you don't do more harm than good trying to fix it. I've done a lot of metal sanding and polishing when making knives and have wished I could back up about 200 times.......
Hang in there,
Tony

Revoliver

Yeah, I'm a bit torn about it right now. Part of me wants to leave it as a warning, and part of me wants to fix it to redeem both the rifle and myself.

I guess I'll leave it alone for now, since I at least have the supplies to repair it, and fix it later on.

Thank you all again for the help!

laidlerj

It's not my gun, but if it were, I'd leave it there rather than take a chance of making it worse. If you want a simple solution, just get a black Sharpie (or equivalent felt-tip marker) and dab it on the scratch and see if you notice it any more.

If you've got some cold blue solution on hand, you can use that, but I've gotten results as good (for small scratches) with a black felt-tip marker.

Jim