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Williamson Deringer

cbxjeff
Here is the most obscure question of the day. I have an old Williamson (tried to post a picture but failed) that is in poor condition. It has been soaking in Kroil since June,'04 - more reciently in PB Blaster. I can't get the barrel to slide forward to the load position. I want to disassemble the pistol. There is a small blade in front of the trigger guard that I'm sure is the release. It has freed up and will move. My question is - does the trigger or hammer have to be in any certain position in order for the barrel to slide? I don't want to force it. Heck, what's another 6 months of soaking. I'm going to restore this thing if it's the last thing I do!

Thanks guys,

cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>
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Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • ginmaster
    Sounds like a project. The frame is brass so be carefull. Does it still have the silver finish or is gold engraved? Is the barrel engraved?

    Where did you find this? It would be nice if the auxilary percusion adapter is still in it. If it ever had one. I think they shot the .41 rimfire.

    Have fun[:D] Whis I could find a project like that[:(]

    Good luck out there.

    Sorry, didn't adress your question. I think the hammer has to be cocked and then it will slide forward, but I'm no expert on these.
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  • hrf
    If upper end of the catch is not broken off in locked position, nothing should be holding barrel except a century+ of crud. Also, if the auxiliary chamber is in there, and you can cock hammer, you might be able to tap the protruding nipple to drive barrel forward.
    (Have you checked with a pencil up barrel to be sure it's not loaded?)
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  • cbxjeff
    Thanks for the reply guys. I believe I bought this on GB about 2 1/2 years ago. I'll have to check. Now that I think about it more, I started to soak it in June '03. First in WD-40 until 6-04, then in Kroil. The frame is bare brass (which cleaned up easily) now with no engraving. The barrel looks like it's been at the bottom of the sea for quite a while. There is engraving on the barrel. I see with a magnifying head piece what looks like a series of "V's" with the point facing down barrel. They are too regular to be scratches.

    Looking at this barrel lock it looks like the upper part of this blade slips into a slot in the bottom of the frame and lock the barrel. It would have to be spring loaded but when it is in the up position the lower part of the blade is flush with the frame. Unless something is broken off there would be no way to pull it down. Looking up the barrel at the dovetail frame/barrel fit, it looks line to line. I don't know if this will ever move. I need something to disolve iron oxide. Plumbers use an acid I believe but I can't remember what. Meratic maybe?

    Good grief, I think this thing is loaded. I can stick a small rod down the barrel only 1 5/8". There looks like a flat clean lead colored piece there. I would think it would be pretty safe after soaking for 1 1/2 years. What do you guys think?

    I will work on getting the hammer to move, try to find something that will eat iron oxide but not brass, and look up about that auxuliary chamber. I remember reading about that 2 years ago.

    Thanks again guys. These things must be pretty scarce because I have asked around for a year for help with no results until now.



    cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>
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  • hrf
    The V's you see were part of an arrow engraved on side of barrel.

    The external end of barrel catch is pushed up to release barrel, so when flush, it's in unlocked position.

    Is the stock intact? When I was a boy in Missouri, my buddy found one in his garden, no traces of stock left and barrel, hammer, trigger about gone, but the engraved brass frame still nice shape...
    (No, it wasn't loaded!)
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  • rhmc24
    You are right about muriatic acid. Big hardware stores or farm supply places will have it for about $5 a gallon. If you are going to soak the gun in it, take the grips off. Before trying acid another thing worth a try is heat. If it is loaded, the powder will probably still be dangerous if all the soaking you have done has not got into the cartridge. In any case grip the barrel in a vise pointing in a safe direction and apply heat to the brass with your torch. Heat it up to close to melting point of solder, which is to say around 450 degrees F. The brass will expand quickly which tends to loosen the collected oxides, hardened grease, etc that is holding it. Cooling it quickly can help. Repeat heat-cool a few times. That amount of heat will not likely ignite powder even if it is good but be careful. I had one pistol that had been loaded in the 1870s that the powder was still good, wadding was a tobacco wrapper with an 1870s date.
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  • Dean Cascio
    cbxjeff
    You have to post a picture for us.[^]
    Dean

    If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?
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  • cbxjeff
    Dean,

    I tried to do this in my orginal post but failed. Could you walk me through it? I found the little "insert imiage" icon and have a picture saved on my drive. When I click the icon I get this "[img][/img]" and don't know what to do.

    A further update: I have been able to move the hammer slightly. Also I have no grips. That will be a challenge! I'm off to Home Depot to find some rust eating paste that was suggested.

    cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>
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  • Dean Cascio
    First thing you need to do is upload your picture to a free web picture hosting website. I use http://hunt101.com/. I'm sure they are all about the same I just like that one. After you upload your pictur at a free site, take the address, ULR, WWW....... and post the address on the GunBroker.com message board. Make sure you place the addreaa between the insert image brackets.[ I hope this helps. You might want to post the picture on the general discussion board because on ask the experst there is a 10 post limit to any discussion.
    Dean
    quote:Originally posted by cbxjeff
    Dean,

    I tried to do this in my orginal post but failed. Could you walk me through it? I found the little "insert imiage" icon and have a picture saved on my drive. When I click the icon I get this "[img][/img]" and don't know what to do.

    A further update: I have been able to move the hammer slightly. Also I have no grips. That will be a challenge! I'm off to Home Depot to find some rust eating paste that was suggested.

    cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>


    If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?
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  • nmyers
    Email me, & I will send you the procedure for posting photos as a Word attachment.

    Neal
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