Well the unthinkable happened, my house caught fire, well the laundry room anyhow. Smoke and water damaged the rest of the house. Most of my guns started to rust immediately. We got them into a solvent soak as soon as possible, then "Sheath"ed them all. There is a bunch of pitting etc, I would post some pictures, but they are heartbreaking. I guess what I need is a second opinion as to what is a loss and what can be repaired at a reasonable price. I am still a little sleep deprived and kind of still in shock.
Thanks for any refferals you can send me.
dan10mmman

That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. I've got the Blue Book of Gun Values 36th Edition that could be put to use. A decent pawn shop will give you half of what they think they could sell it for. That might give you an idea of the retail value for your market.

You want to know current value or cost to rework? You will be amazed how much you can do yourself, then hook up with TCB for bluing of parts.

First of all, sorry to hear this. Man that really sucks.

I am amazed they pitted that fast in a safe - pits take more than a few days. How wet was it in your safe? How long did they sit wet?

If there's anything we as a community, or myself personally can do to help you through this unfortunate time, please ask.

sorry to hear about this, at least you and family are safe.


as mentioned above do get a hold of tincanbandit for reblueing, he's in your area

That's terrible Dan! I'll also repeat what others have said, get a hold of TCB and see what can be saved.

Also, if there is anything else you need, please let us know!

Fred at CaR Firearms can do this, I believe.

Ditto this.

My safe was partially open when the fire started. Debby screamed we have a fire. I ran to the garage to see and when I opened the door the back draft nearly knocked me over. My first thought was can I get my guns and when I saw the size of the flames all I could think about was slam the door to the safe and shut the door to the rest of the house, then I was all about getting my family and my four legged friends out. I got second degree burns on three fingers of my left hand, singed my eyelashes and my eye brows, mustache and even a little off the top of my head. burned my throat and I spent the night at Harborview in the burn center. Only minor damage to my lungs. When the fire was out I was devastated, When I opened my safe the next day I almost died.

I have worked on guns all my life but I have not undertaken any refinishing except for small scratches. All of my guns are getting the deepest cleaning of their lifes right now. Real dificult one handed, but my son and my friend and I are slowly getting them done. The smoke from the fire was acidic, add that to high heat and steam it is a sure recipe for screwing up guns.

Maybe I should start another thread as I am looking for bids on gutting most of my house and restoring it. Also looking for a temporary rental in the Des Moines area for a few months,that will allow two dogs and three indoor cats.

Oh my gosh, Dan. That is absolutely horrific.

I'm in shock just reading that. Again do you need anything even wood grips they are yours. I even have some experience bringing back smoke and blood soaked wood grips.

If you do get to the point of re finishing your firearms.
It is almost always cheaper if you disassemble them before and re assemble your self.
I'd be happy to help out on that part of the job.

Dan, first, condolences for your troubles, and glad your family is OK.

Can you tell us more about the safe? What fire rating it had. Did it hold up as expected and this was unavoidable or are there lessons to be learned? Would a "better" safe have held up better/offered more protection?

Finally a lesson for us all: clean out your dryer ductwork frequently.

My safe is a Browning none of my polymer weapons melted I thoroughly and completely recommend the Browning safe line. Like I said the door was open when the fire started. The residue from the smoke was very acidic. The lesson that I took from all this was I need to keep the door to my safe closed even when I am home.
Thanks for asking though. A really good question.

Goddamn that's an awful thing to have happen. Good luck finding a temp place and fixing your guns