What to do with this old War Horse?

[Gatorade]

This is my grandfathers Garand Bayonet. It had been stashed with some other stuff and was getting some rust on it. I need some suggestions on how to clean it up. Who knows, if it cleans up nice enough I may have to have Panther Concealment bend some Kydex for it and use it as my EDC! That would sure turn some heads! I took a bunch of pics so let me know what you all think I should do.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/2D54BEEE-034A-4389-886A-F2E25FD3472C_zpsanbnagn6.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/4C590B8F-845B-4656-A506-50B5A188D4B6_zpsqr5ktwta.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/8F873C47-B8AF-4BA9-B020-A2A83447AD2A_zpsdcdiqteo.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/392EC050-A6BD-4723-B176-87413668E75E_zps1rh3nkfp.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/BC7D9373-F853-4B6D-9659-6E8A2634AAC3_zpsy7r2yqjr.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/CE3FF10B-27D7-4D1F-AE2E-60BCEBC72190_zpsxxwsf14f.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/44A2D764-0429-42E9-8FBF-E8E5A220C755_zps4ifhjywf.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/AR/021435E2-93CF-40E9-9377-ED0D50C78395_zpse5fxt30b.jpg

[TLE2]

1) You could send it to me. I'll build a Garand for it. :D
2) Naval Jelly.

[NAMVET72]

Alot of elbow grease, super fine steel wool and flitz...Good Luck,


Clyde

[Xbonz]

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/7860/RUST-REMOVAL-The-How-To?page=1

http://www.milsurps.com/archive/index.php/t-35294.html?

[ColMike]

If it was me, i would contact the Army and get his awards and decorations, aplus a pic of him in uniform and build a shadow box. If you are interested, i can provide pics of some we had done.

[milkmanjoe]

If it was me, i would contact the Army and get his awards and decorations, aplus a pic of him in uniform and build a shadow box. If you are interested, i can provide pics of some we had done.

Ditto this....The old timer we bought this house from had a hallway full of shadow boxes....was amazing!

[DaFadda]

0000 steel wool, your favorite gun oil.... and a lot of elbow grease will get the rust off. You'll still have some pitting, but it will work. After that.... Flitz will work wonders!
Just my 2 cents
DaFadda

[AutoMag]

If it was me, i would contact the Army and get his awards and decorations, aplus a pic of him in uniform and build a shadow box. If you are interested, i can provide pics of some we had done.

I agree also but what you have is an original uncut 16" Garand bayonet. I would consult a professional restorer before I did anything to the bayonet. Quite a few were cut down to a 10" length.

[Gatorade]

If it was me, i would contact the Army and get his awards and decorations, aplus a pic of him in uniform and build a shadow box. If you are interested, i can provide pics of some we had done.

We did that a while back for him, there were a couple medals that he was eligible for but had never received them. So he was surprised to see all of them.

[Gatorade]

There is some great info above. I am thinking I will hi it with some oil and maybe the brass wool on the blade just to retard the rust and then look into the electrolisis linked to above. I have some other rusty parts to practice on and once I get it down I will use it on the bayonet. Thanks for all the info guys!

[AutoMag]

There is some great info above. I am thinking I will hi it with some oil and maybe the brass wool on the blade just to retard the rust and then look into the electrolisis linked to above. I have some other rusty parts to practice on and once I get it down I will use it on the bayonet. Thanks for all the info guys!

You have a pretty rare bayonet. If you do decide to tackle it yourself please take your time.

[Xbonz]

You can also contact Mark at:

http://www.curio-restoration.com/

[Caleb]

Wow, I hope you get it back to as restored as possible. That would be a nice bayo!

[brownie]

It's pretty nasty, I'd naval jelly it, then 0000 steel wool, then flitz to give it a protective coating and final polish.

Or, you could just soak it in motor oil or wd40 for a week and just clean it up the best you can from there and leave it rustic [ my choice ].

[milkmanjoe]

It's pretty nasty, I'd naval jelly it, then 0000 steel wool, then flitz to give it a protective coating and final polish.

Or, you could just soak it in motor oil or wd40 for a week and just clean it up the best you can from there and leave it rustic [ my choice ].


My two lousy cents is leave it rustic too. All that "accumulation" is part of the history of that bayonet and where it has been. I couldn't bring myself to wash all that off, down the drain.

Damn, am I becoming a romantic?:eek: