doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Old double barrell gun with Photos

The good news is that the gun isn't priceless...which means the gun can be sympathetically cleaned up (and gently, lest you lose patina) and shot.

I can't think of anything more fun than taking a few upland birds with that old gun. Have the gun checked out for safety's sake and enjoy shooting her occasionally when she's not hanging on the wall.

As for appraised value, too many things are still unknown including the condition of the bores and other factors, but I'd imagine its in the $1000 range, +/- $800. Probably more on the low side. Again, a perfect reason to deactivate the rust, clean the bores, and go have a great time shooting that piece of 150 year old functional art.

There's restoration and restoration. If it were mine, in the family for 40 years with my father a beneficiary of friendship or good service, I'd take it to a craftsman who knows old guns and ask what it would cost to clean it up.

Duplicate post.

If this were mine and I wanted to do an inexpensive "Restoration" I'd do the following:
Disassemble the gun into it's main components. I.E. Remove the ramrod and take off the barrels by pushing out the wedge thru the forend. You can also remove the locks and trigger guard if you feel competent to do so.
I would then get a can of Restore a Finish in Walnut and go over the stock lightly. I would also wax the metal parts with a good quality paste wax which will clean the metal in the process without removing the patina. This process shouldn't cost more than $10 will improve the appearance and with a little elbow grease and you now have a family heirloom to hang over the mantel.
Others may have additional inexpensive ideas for you to try.
Jim

Doesn't appear that in 40 years of ownership his father was too concerned with the gun.

I stand by my $200 insurance appraisal.

"Negative"

Steve everything I said I was positive about....Glad I could be of service

How do you know that jOe wasnt spot on? I didnt see anything negative..just his opinion..

In his charming way, Joe is telling you the gun is not very valuable, and he's most likely correct. My first-blush s.w.a.g. is $500-750, based on how little information we have to go on. But I think Joe's dead wrong that it was "cheaply made." It was almost certainly a decent gun when built, and still is, although it could really use some TLC and perhaps cautious restoration down the road.

If I was you, though, I wouldn't spend a dime on it until I'd spent a couple hours cleaning it with gun oil, Murphy's soap, paste wax, a toothbrush, 0000 steel wool and a soft rag. Be sure to run an oily swab down those bores a few times, too. You'll be surprised how much better it will look.

Will wait on comments from the real experts, but I see a "flashy" utility percussion scattergun built c. 1830, maybe at least partially on the Continent, for resale by a Birmingham shop in decline and soon to close its doors. It may have been intended to appeal to the colonial market (Australia, South Africa, India, etc.) ... a working-man's gun with some "bling" added to appeal to a gent who might have more money than gun-smarts, or one forced to order it sight-unseen.

You can find rows of modern-day shotguns in the racks that fit the same description and marketing philosophy ... take a well-built, mass-produced, $1200 20-gauge and add coin finish, some gold-inlaid quail and rolled engraving, or maybe a photographically enhanced stock, then double the price, and you're looking at someone's future heirloom.

My two cents. Good luck and Happy New Year to all. TT

I stand by my cheaply made observation.

At first glance it appears to be a Belgium knock off....The dead give away is the guns lack of style and the use of "London" with the ugly scroll work on the rib along with the flash of gold between the breach plugs.

A gun made to appear finer than it actually was.

Joe: I think we just have different definitions of what makes a gun "cheap." When I think of a cheap gun, I think of one that shouldn't have been shot even when new. I agree that the gun was "tarted-up" a bit and share your thoughts about Belgium, but the Belgian shops have always been capable of high quality, low quality, and everything in between. From this limited perspective, I see that gun as falling somewhat above low-quality. TT