New project - a kit

[Captainkirk]

Yeah, that's a bit rough, Richard. But I have no doubt you will do it up right!

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Richard,

I believe the Traditions are made by the same Spanish Builder which CVA was.
Attached is a cutaway of the CVA Breech. CVA didn't want you to take them apart.

AntiqueSledMan.
 

[ssb73q]

Hi Antique, they sure don't want anyone to remove the bolster. Removing the laser writing on the barrel was easy with a little light filing and sanding. Why they put all that crap like "read user instructions", etc. on the barrel is beyond me. I thought Trump drowned most all the lawyers a couple of years ago.

The wood work is going well. The wood of the stock is soft where sanding to fit is easy. I just go slow and refit check a number of times. I'm certain the stock is birch and not maple. I was planing on doing nitre bluing on the barrel, but now considering doing a browning.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, a spring was attached to the trigger plate to keep the trigger from flopping around. Two 1/16" holes hold the spring. A shallow hole was drilled into the stock to capture the end of the trigger spring.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, getting a nice looking stain on the stock has been difficult. My first attempts with an oak colored stain looked like crap. Staining the Traditions kit stock has the same difficulty as trying to do a good stain job on pine. Walnut and oak is so much easier to stain. Found in my pile of wood stains was an old can of MinWax pecan stain. That stain so far seems to be the best color for the stock wood. The photo shows the stock with the pecan stain drying. The stock will then be give a number of Tru-Oil coats. The barrel has been polished as far as I want to take it. I don't want a mirror finish. Still struggling with what finish to give the barrel, nitre or brown.

There was a little repair required for the end of the barrel. There was a dent in the end of the muzzle rifling. It must have come from supplier rough handling. A Brownell muzzle crowning tool with valve grinding compound did the trick to clean up that ding.

All the metal parts now fit the stock as perfectly as I can. After the stock is finished, a taller front sight installed, and the barrel finish done, the pistol will be ready for shooting.

BTW, Dave's paper cartridge making kit is in the background of the stock photo.

Regards,
Richard

[ShotgunDave]

Looking good as usual Richard. I bet brown on the barrel would look great.

Glad to see the former made it there safely.

[Captainkirk]

I'm thinking brown as well.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the issue I have with browning is that the lock is blued and I don't want to tear it down to brown it. Also, all the screws are blued. I think that the barrel's future is nitre blue.

Regards,
Richard

[ShotgunDave]

With that new information Richard, I'll have to agree. Nitre blued would be much better.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the rear sight that came with the kit and a taller front sight were installed on the Traditions barrel. Of course, fitting of the sights was required. The front sight will be filed down at the range to bring poi=poa @25yds. Bluing of the barrel comes next. The stock has been given the first coat of Tru-Oil.

Regards,
Richard

[ssb73q]

Hi, just finished doing the nitre bluing on the barrel. I must say that the barrel came out beautiful and very uniform. The nitre salts were at 620 dF and the barrel was in the salts for ~1/2 hour. The barrel was carted with steel wool a few times during the bluing. The barrel has been given a coat of Ballastol to cure the bluing. It will darken some over the next day. This is a photo of the barrel. Disregard the reflections of overhead lights and lint of rags in the photo. IMO this is my best niter bluing job to date.

Regards,
Richard

[mike116]

Looks really good Richard,  very nice job.

[ShotgunDave]

As usual, nicely done Richard.

[Hawg]

For somebody that doesn't like kits you do a hella good job on them.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the last coat of Tru-Oil was applied to the stock. The stock will be ready for assembly tomorrow. The pistol serial number was written inside the barrel channel of the stock and then covered with Tru-Oil. Only the proof marks remain on the barrel and they are out of sight. I happened to notice that the pistol lock blue looks very similar to my nitre blued barrel, a nice match. See the photo.

Regards,
Richard