doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ever heard of a Hatfield shot gun?

I hadn't so I looked it up on the internet. First hit was a Turkish gun that had painted barrels and case coloring by acetylene torch. The little gun was a bit ugly but not that ugly. Next hit was a man named Hatfield that had some fame in building black powder rifles. Had, in the 70s, built double shotguns for a while. He used maple instead of walnut for stocking. This was the gun. It's a bit homely as the case coloring consists of strips, looking like blue chalk on a gray board. But it is a sweet swinging little 20 gauge and appears to be a carefully made gun.
Any information on these guns would be most appreciated. Also is this sort of case coloring a product of cyanide or acetylene torch. Thanks

Hatfield seems to have been around in several forms, for a good while. The first ones I saw were the maple stocked versions, nice lil guns...The latest were a version of the Kimber Valier, same gun, supposedly to be marketed NOT in the USA. I have seen several, a dealer whose name I disremember, had a few supposedly "sample or show guns" for a while...Turkish made I think...After the fallout with Kimber, I believe Neal Oldredge was trying to put together a deal to market them...FWIW, if I could buy one right, I would...

An American-made custom Hatfield was given to Bush 41 a number of years ago.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/19901001/5391_pagen_3.html

pooch: re: case colors...two other methods often utilized to produce case colors are the high heat bone charcoal process and the application of various chemical compounds with low heat.

What would cause striping? I think of charcoal & bone producing a mottled array of colors, not stripes and blank spaces. I think the gun I was would have been a lot more appealing if the wood work had been left natural maple and not had a red walnut like finish.

Thanks tudurgs article much appreciated.

The article mentioned Hatfield's engraver as Danny Pitts. That's the first time I have ever heard of him. Early on Hatfield was using an engraver named Earl Bertrand who I knew from OGCA shows in the late '70s. I haven't heard anything of Bertrand in many years.

They also made a longrifle for many years. A lot of custom builders didn't like them but in the 70's and 80's they were better than the usual fair that Navy Arms and CVA and the others were importing, but no way could they compete with the custom rifles or the Ozark Mountain and Green River rifles.
They were Spanish guns/parts restocked with curly maple and stained 'Hatfield' red just like their rifles.
How good are they? As good as the usual Spanish boxlock of that era but they do swing and handle real good and they are not heavy-for-gauge like the Richland Arms guns or some others that were imported during that period.

That Hatfield shotgun in the RIA link looks like it was bone/charcoal case colored first, but the results were less than spectacular from a color stand point.
http://www.rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/54/lid/658

Then the 'stripes' were added in an attempt to enhance and add some color to the almost totally grey look.
There are some original small lines and spots of blue tones in the background. I guess not enough.

So,,

A very small tip on an O/A or even an O/Propane torch will quickly add the color strokes to a frame or parts that are hot to begin with.
Quickly taken from the quench water, the parts are nearly too hot to handle bare handed and will dry of their own heat. Perfect time to lay on the torch color.
Or pre-heat them a bit before the art work is done.
Some purveyors of the art are better than others at it. This example is very obvious.

Just my .02

That's it thanks! Actually it's a nice gun, it would be nicer if left maple and no strips.

Those looks like Italian barreled actions to me. Compare it to this Fausti.

http://kevinsguns.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=573