doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com When is Restoration O.K.?

Gentlemen your thoughts. The patient is a very attractive medium grade American classic.Action has 40-50% C.C. nicely engraved,tight,on face,top lever right of center,ejectors,all screws excellent.Stock and forend sound,good dimensions,no cracks,good figure, but a lot of finish and checkering on both is worn.A lot of light scratches but all superficial.Stock has what appears to be the original Silvers pad that is badly perished, serves no purpose, and looks bad.Barrels have maybe 40% blue,not looking great but sound with no dings.Bores and chokes appear original with no pitting but a few very light marks that would disappear with a light honing.With a sympathetic cosmetic restoration this would be a very attractive firearm. At what point does the scale tip from the school of "100% original,untouched but worn and looking bad is better than refinished, mantra" and where does this example fall? If this was a British gun I wouldn't be asking the question. What say you....
Terry

Go for it.

I can't believe I agree with HoJo but yeah, go for it.

The key factors are A.) it's ugly, b.) it isn't a rare best grade, c.) commonality suggests there are many guns like it in better, original condition.

Therefore, make the gun beautiful since its originality lends nothing to its value at this point.

The test will be when it's completed, will you have improved it or hurt it?

I say go for it. But learn what it takes to do it right.

Your gun is not a high condition collectors gun as described so there is no reason not to refinish it. While money put into restoring a gun is hard to recoup later most of us do not do it for the money. Go for it and enjoy what you have. Then pass it along when you are done.

Clean up and re-checker, refinish the stock, hone the barrels if they really need it and then reblue the barrels. Leave the rest alone. Replace the pad or have a nice leather pad put on the gun. Then see how many years it takes you to wear the finish off yourself.

I'm currently going thru this. Picked up a Fox XE that while mechanically pretty decent had been neglected to the point that for me to use it as is was out of the question. head of stock was oil soaked and starting to split, 1 ejector guide pin broken, light surface rust over much of gun. Good was the gun was pretty close to all original other than recoil pad, lever far to right, uncut barrels.
Decided to get a total restoration done and the gun is currently out at one of the top doublegun gunsmith's. In this case I feel a restoration is justified, will be putting a beautiful old gun back in regular use.

Yhank You, Terry! This plays further into my question a few weeks ago re: best barrel browning man of the century.

The gun is superb, original colors, nice wood (dinged and scratched but so what) yet the damascus barrels are an expanse of silver-grey-brown-ghost splotches that, while origianl, do NOTHINHG to bring out the total beauty.

OK, let's get this thread going I'm on the edge of my seat!

I agree with the others, but particularly with Chuck. I sold a Parker VH to a friend some years back, mainly because I was tired of dealing with the 3.5" DAH. My friend had it restored and restocked to his dimensions by Delgrego. I'm sorry to say Delgrego did nothing to readjust the tangs to account for the new 2.5" DAH. Now my friend has a gun that fits him well, but with an annoyingly high comb. To be blunt, it just doesn't look right. I only wish he'd discussed his plans with me, I'm certain I could have gotten him a proper restoration for less $$$.
Steve

That was my thought. It's only an interesting discussion if it's done right by the gun and well. For me, it's then up to the person with the money/time.

Terry, a few specifics: who is the maker and what is the model? Pictures?