doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Clarke 20 Bore - Proof House Report

Hi guys, you probably remember. The little Clarke I restored failing just a few shots into shooting it. I've now had the gun back and the following is the conclusion:

- The barrels were most likely blocked at some point and fired, not necessarily in the muzzle but a fibre wad or something down the barrel.

- The metallurgy of the barrels has gone beyond limits. IE there is no hope of repairing them. Sleeving is a possibility and that is a long shot. I won't be doing that because the gun isn't probably worth it value wise.

- The cartridges used were well below maximum pressure of 840Lbs per square inch (I think I have that right) more in the range of 540-560Lbs across an average.

That's it. It's knackered. Shame. I'm probably going to take it into my shop to have it destroyed. I'm unsure of the wall hanging procedure but might get that done instead as it is a pretty little gun.

Hope this finds interest in some folks.
Cheers
Tony

That's early fluid steel for you.

Tony, That's a damn shame - it's a very pretty little gun.

Doug

I concur wholeheartedly in Doug's comment just upthread.

If it were me, I'd go the wallhanger route. Too pretty to melt down. And, one day, you might hit the lottery and not have to worry about the economics of having it sleeved or rebarrelled.

Bummer.

Tony, obviously it's now out of Proof and headed for the scrap bin or the big beam in the lounge; is there a simple procedure for taking it off ticket, or do you have to pay for the full monty de-activation certificate? PITA if the latter.

Eug

Not sure. Think it has to be done by an RFD. I've come up with another solution though. It's going to a friend over in the States....he'll do it justice and maybe..just maybe it will be fired again...

T

Henry Clarke is one of my three favourite gun makers. I still have my grandfathers H Clarke 12 from 1930. Tony your gun looks like a wonderful piece of Leicestershire history - yep, I'm from there too! If it were mine, I'd still give it gun cupboard room, take it down every now and then and admire the workmanship over a good malt!

I've mentioned before how I love the English language and especially British English. Even though it's meaning was made obvious by useage, I looked up the word "knackered" that Tony used earlier and this is what I found.

"This leads to the slang expression "knackered" meaning very tired, or "ready for the knacker�s yard", where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue" It also meant "sexually spent"

Yep, all y'all, I love the English language.

Steve

A shame about your gun, maybe their was a condum stuck in the barrel.

Be careful, it is illegal to export an out of proof gun which your Clarke most certainly is!
Sending it to the US opens you up to prosecution.
In this case, I would hold fast and consider sleeving, it might be economic.
PLEASE don't scrap it nor deactivate it, it is a one way street in both cases and times change. What is un-economic now may not be so in the future.
And yes, deactivation must be done fully and a proof house cert obtained or it would still be considered an active firearm.