doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Restoration and Preservation

As more and more people start appreciating these old rifles that we love so much, it is getting harder and harder to find the really good examples, and they are commanding higher and higher prices when they do become available. Also, some of the makers made so few rifles, that there are just not very many examples of there work to be had. Sometimes we have to settle for less than pristine examples, or even buddafied examples of a makers work. Many times we want to restore a rifle to it's former glory, or even stop the deterioration process. However, finding someone to do this work who really understands and appreciates these old rifles I have found to be nearly impossible.

There are many fine gunsmiths, but if they do not understand the original builder and the techniques used, they often times do more harm than good. Others who may have the skill, are just to busy with there regular work. I have several rifles in my collection that need some small repairs that I do not trust myself to do, and have no idea who to send them to. It would be nice if we could have some kind of listing or directory of gunsmiths who have both the skill, as well as the understanding of these old rifles, to do a proper job of repairing or restoring these fine old rifles. Seems to me that there would be a market for such a service.

I know, only buy the best and you don't have to worry about restoring them, but there are some makers, that if you want an example of there work, you better take whatever you can find. Also, someone has to save these old rifles so future generations will be able to enjoy them.

Thoughts?

John

John you hit a lot of nails on the head with what you wrote. 20, 10 even 5-years ago I would not take a second look at any classic rifle with problems. Twenty-five years ago I bought and sent back a Eric Johnson 1903 sporter made and marked "Eric Johnson Ardmore, OKL." because it was not perfect and the bluing had turned brown. Ten years later I bought it again after realizing I could not find another. Today, if the rifle is by a maker I have looked for a long time or there is some historical or interesting provenance with the rifle I jump on it.

My crusade of late is to try and STOP more of these rifles from having a scope mounted on them or other such improvements. One time I chased a Hoffman 300-Hoffman across Canada from one owner to the next, they were selling it because they could not find 300-Hoffman ammunition. I located it one day after a well known custom maker had re-chambered it to 300-Weatherby.

I'll have more, a lot more on the subject but would like to hear others opinions.

This is an example IMO of top of the line restoration work. This rifle had the bolt bent for a scope, the stock and the receiver were cut out for the bolt. I have handed this rifle to many people told them what had been done, few if any believed me.

If that work was done by who I think it was done by, he is one of the, if not the, best at that type work. Unfortunately, his work load is such that he can be very selective about what work he takes on. I do not have a problem with that, he has every right, and I do the same at my shop. We just need more people with the skill to do this level of work. Actually, I think the people are out there, they are just hard to find because the good ones are all so busy they don't need to advertise.

John

Yes HE did the work ;-). There are more people out there but it's very scary having them do work for the first time. There is a new gunsmith just a few blocks from my house and I took a stock and Silvers pad over for him to fit. I went into great detail about what I wanted and said several times about NOT touching the original finish. I'm sure he thinks I'm nuts but he did a nice job. If I can I do some of the work on projects but I know my limitations. The biggest hurdle is understanding how the original maker did it and what the end results were. I don't think any two used the same finish, all were one form of linseed oil or another but different formulas. The last Adolph stock i worked on the back half of the stock was dried out with no finish to speak of. I tried everything I could think of then used a bottle of stuff that had turned to a jelly and it matched perfectly.

Today there are many re-bluing damascus barrels, thirty years ago there was one and the person I got his name from made me promise not to tell anyone else.

I have noticed all your rifles seem to have very good finish on the metal. Did you find them that way, or have you had them reblued? When you do reblue, what is your criteria for judging when the original finish is bad enough to warrant it.

Thanks

Well the Adolph above was a restoration starting with a stock only so that's a new rust blue. I was very selective in the early years when not a lot of people were buying these so I got some good ones. Terry found G&H 119 at a west coast auction house and sold it to me. This rifle for whatever reason had been polished with a wire wheel until everything had been rounded off and the all the holes had been dished out then hot blued. The stock has some kind of oil finish that had formed a dirty rough surface. Anyway you get the idea the rifle was a mess and I did the work on it and then had it re-blued but that's the only one. If I can find some pictures I'll post them. I have not re-blued the Johnson rifle, which is brown, and don't think I will.

Thee was no pitting on the rifle and the bore is perfect, I have no idea why someone would do what they did to this rifle. This rifle has a "Pike" self setting set trigger. I cleaned the stock by keeping it wet with raw linseed oil to soften and remove the top layer of crud, took about two-weeks. I was keeping track of my hours polishing this rifle and at around forty I threw the paper away. There was no way i could have hired someone to do this work.

Is there a craftsman who can fill holes invisibly in iron sight guns that have had scopes installed?

If the receive bridge that was drilled and tapped has a matted finish like a G&H then the answer is yes. If not any good gunsmith can hide them but if you know they are there you can generally see them. I just seems impossible to match the steel so when they are blued they match the surrounding metal. They are not invisible but darn hard to see. If the hole or the plug is left threaded then they are easy to see.