doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 1874 Henry Holland

I just purchased a Holland, made in 1874 but assembled and sold in 1958, by H & H. It has beautiful damascus barrels, mirrors inside but with some small rusting near the rib. Otherwise, the barrels are in very good shape except for some amature sanding of some rust near the muzzle which has taken away some of the browning. Mechanically the gun is very sound and almost in original condition.

Would it detract from the originality of the gun to have theme sent out to Dale Edmunds for a complete refurbishing of the barrels?

Except for a future strip and clean, this old Holland seems to need no further attention.

I would send it to Dale as he does a masterful job and it certainly would not be a distraction

Photos please! This sounds like a VERY interesting gun!

This gun has been in the same family for decades and I am either the second or third owner. It was sitting in the backroom of a fine, established gun dealer in the Northeast, who took it in the morning that I happened to walk into the shop. He was hesitant to even show it to me. Well, money talks, I suppose and I can say that this gun commanded a rather premium price.

For such an early gun, serial no. 3000, (or about), it has some unique features such as rebounding hammers and a top lever along with modern dimensions that fit me almost perfectly. Beautiful serpentine hammers with peninsula locks and niter blueing on the strap and trigger guard that remain at about 90%. The case colors are still bright at about 70% or so. Since it was made in 1874 but not shot until the late 1950's, it was never subjected to corrosive primers. I don't believe the stock has ever been refinished and the gun remains 100% original with no buggering of the screws and is very tight on the face.

I am waiting for the paperwork and documentation from Holland & Holland and this may perhaps tell me a bit more about the gun. The gun shop owner would not tell me anything about the family that had this gun for decades and I can understand his reticent attitude regarding a long standing customer.

After consulting with a couple of people, I have decided not to do anything restorative to the gun but to keep its originality intact.

I don't have any pics yet but I will post them, and perhaps any other knowledge I can get from H & H, when that paperwork arrives.

shortround

Shortround, you are very wise to leave it "as is". I think you would have been disappointed with the refinishing. Regardless of the skill of the worker it would never look quite the same. Having made the mistake in the past I now only consider refinishing a barrel if it is mostly silver and even then it is not a given.