Firearm Restoration & Period-Correct Metal Finishing
40 Years of Gunsmithing and Restoration Experience Working for You.
I provide restoration and metal finishing services on everything from classic American lever action rifles like Winchesters and Marlins, to Colt SAAs to Python revolvers, and classic 1911 pistols.
- 40+ Years of Bench Experience: More than 40 years of hands-on experience in firearm refinishing, metal preparation, and restoration, with careful attention to sharp edges, factory contours, and original markings.
- Manufacturer to Customer: Metal finish provider for numerous firearms manufacturers including Colt for both production and custom shop firearms, as well as thousands of customers nationwide.
- Complete In-House Metal Finishes: Specializing in slow rust bluing, factory-style hot bluing, Parkerizing, color case hardening, and Carbonia bluing.
- Preservation and conservation: I also offer preservation and conservation work to stabilize and protect a firearm as it is.
- Nationwide Mail-In & Local Service: Convenient drop-off for customers along with secure mail-in refinishing and restoration services for firearm owners nationwide.
- Prepaid Insured UPS Shipping Labels: Upon request, we can provide you with prepaid shipping labels to help eliminate all the hassle from shipping firearms.
Estimates are always free. I'd love to hear about your firearm!
Our Firearm Refinishing & Restoration Services
Factory-Style Rebluing & Refinishing
Perfect for vintage, sporting, working and hunting firearms of all makes and models, including rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers.
I understand not every customer requires a complete to "as new" heirloom style restoration. Sometimes you just want a proper and professional reblue for your gun. I will not try and up-sell you on services your firearm does not need or require. Therefore I break my services into a few different groups, to offer you the best fit for your particular need.
A factory style refinishing includes the exact same careful metal prep and polishing that goes into my Historical Restorations, with the exception that it generally requires much less time for this refinishing style and gets your firearm back into your hands sooner!
As always, I absolutely preserve factory lines, edges, and markings while correcting wear, corrosion, and reasonable levels of pitting. I can't stress how important this last step is. This is the single biggest detail to ensure you get back a firearm that doesn't look like it's been refinished.
Premium Period-Correct Restoration
For rare collectibles, fine antiques, historically important heirlooms, and irreplaceable family treasures.
When you want a comprehensive restoration that brings your antique firearm back to the day it left the factory, this is the service you are looking for.
A complete restoration includes all of the careful polishing and detailing of a refinishing job, and many times includes hand work to remove deep pitting while keeping everything true and crisp. The main difference is the amount of time I take to make sure every detail is right. All factory markings are restored so they’re clear and legible, including barrel addresses, caliber markings, and other original stampings. Every element of the restoration must be historically correct before the final polishing and metal finish is applied.
To protect the value of your firearm, I use the exact metal finish the manufacturer originally used, so the look is honest and accurate. Those finishes generally include slow rust bluing, Carbonia bluing, bone charcoal case coloring, and fire or niter bluing.
Some restorations also call for a new barrel or stock when the originals are beyond saving, and I’ll always talk that through with you first. It’s a great pleasure to give a customer back a firearm they can use and keep shooting for decades.
We restore the gun. You keep the memories.
Custom Gun Building and Custom Finishes
For those of you building something of your own, I can take your idea from concept to completion, or just put the final finish on a firearm you’ve built yourself.
Builds and conversions: re-barreling, caliber conversions, and bolt work. A worn-out .38-56 can come back as a shootable .45-70, or an old underhammer can go from trash to tack driver.
Finishes you won’t find everywhere: rust blue and hot blue combined on the same rifle for contrast, or Parkerizing followed by hot bluing for a dark, tough, oil-holding finish on a working gun. Any finish I offer can go on your project.
Stocks: I refinish original stocks, and for restocking I fit and finish pre-inletted replacement stocks, from factory-style wood to upgraded grades where available. If you’d like checkering, I can coordinate with the checkerer of your choice and handle the shipping back and forth, so you only deal with me.
Tell me what you’re picturing, and we’ll figure out the best way to get there.
R.G.S. Restorations, Inc.
6441 S US Hwy 45
Oshkosh, WI 54902
Phone: 920-688-9098
Email Us Here
Shop Hours: Consultations & Drop-Offs By Appointment Only
Nationwide Mail-Order Service
Accepting local appointments and mail-in restorations nationwide.
Prepaid insured shipping labels available upon request.