Not obviously destroyed, these guns came from a residential fire. The steel was discolored.

I'd heard over the years that firearms damaged in structure fires were simply lost – that the heat, the heat from fire along with rapid cooling from the water used in attempts to stop the fire, perhaps the temperatures plus chemical agents from burning materials in floor coverings – furniture, something – would combine to make the firearm unsafe to use even if cosmetically restored. Several years ago, there was a house fire in close proximity to my residence. The neighbor told me he'd had some guns in the fire and asked about restoring them. I'm no gunsmith, no metallurgist and I told him I'd have no way of telling if the guns could be recovered. As his life had been turned upside down, he asked if I could do anything to stop the onset of corrosion until he could get around to having someone look at the guns. I told him to bring them by. There was a pump shotgun, a single shot shotgun and a .22 autoloader. Wearing gloves to handle them, I used the best part of a can of Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber to get the biggest chunks of debris off the gun – primarily to stop their contribution to corrosion – and to get the metal free so I could apply some corrosion inhibitor. For that task, I used up a can of Birchwood Casey Barricade Rust Protection.

Fine old Ithaca pump shotgun caught hell in that fire. The metal surfaces were treated with solvents then covered with corrosion inhibitor to stop the rust until the guns could be examined by a qualified gunsmith.

Having no meaningful experience beyond this, I went on a search. It was remarkable how little information I found. I found some information on an internet forum – yes, I know, the information received therein is worth as much as you paid for it – and from a source I hadn't expected. There weren't enough hard facts, so I asked some questions too. The bottom line is that metal parts will be in bad shape from surface corrosion. The biggest fear is a loss of heat treat. If you see the temperatures involved in some firearms coating applications, you'll have less fear of that – but how do you know how hot the guns got? One thing to check is spring tension: have the springs lost their temper? This is something you can check – but it's best to have a gunsmith check them. Springs can be replaced, true, and in old guns likes the ones pictured, they may have needed replacement before the fire. Big help, right? If the gun had a wood stock and it's still there, there's a decent chance the gun hasn't exceeded the temperatures at which the metal will lose its strength. If the stock is still there and the springs are still strong, you may be in good shape. I found a video from American Gunsmithing Institute. It's entitled Salvaging a Damaged Firearm and it is from GunTech Video Magazine.

The wood seemed in decent shape but the steel surfaces were etched from the factors involved in the fire and during fire suppression.

If the gun passes the tests described in the video, get it to a real gunsmith to see if you can get it restored. Going beyond that, I asked former agency armorer and long-time gun plumber Mike Rafferty about fire damaged guns. I told him what I'd found out. "Guns that have discolored metal due to heat may have lost their temper," he said. If there are chemicals in the water used to put out fires they can contribute as a cause of rust. Steam is created when the liquid hits superheated materials -- mixed with who knows what household chemicals, a kind of acid forms and is on the guns." Keeping that in mind, he went you, you need to take care of yourself. Watch out touching them until they have been cleaned – glove up. You might want to consider the ventilation in your work space. "If the wood is burned the gun very well could have sustained enough heat damage to render it unsafe. With the use of plastic in almost any firearm these days, any disfigurement of a plastic part is reason to suspect the firearm." "Rust it is not an indication of heat damage," he said. "The firearm could have been in the other end of the house and still rust due to fumes and steam. " "My feeling is if there is enough heat to damage any part of the gun it should be discarded. If the gun has family or historical value then the money can be spent to check it out and possibly restore the weapon. Otherwise let the insurance take care of the loss, if you are properly covered." I'd follow his advice. -- Rich Grassi