Hi guys, here are my replies! Vic and I have spoken this evening and we've tried to cover some of your questions. However I would like to reply to everyone here so here goes! In order from the top.
SalopianQ: Where oh where do you get your enthusiasm and energy from for all these projects? As soon as one is coming to fruition, youre off searching for another one.
A: I am just so passionate about vintage shotguns. It really is something I can't explain very well. I guess I use it more recently as a therapy too. Along with the family it's me. Really if I'm not racing around keeping active I'll go and sit in a corner and we can't be having any of that!
PhilbertQ: As far as questions for the article, I'd like to get a better feel for how you decide what to do (e.g. complete stock refinish vs. a "freshening") and in what order (i.e. barrels-->receiver-->stock or some other order) when starting with a gun. Also, when selecting projects what "challenges" are you willing to take on and which do you feel just don't make sense?
A: Philbert, really good question. If I'm honest my first was a Harrison and Hussey and I did a few things wrong. Made the metal way to buffed and a few other things. A very short time later I realised it was not quite right! Now, I look at a gun and decide. The biggest decision is whenever to colour case harden. Many do not like this process I know but sometimes a gun really does need it. The Grant number 2 needed it and looks great now I think. It had black pits around some of the edges and I had the plates professionally laser welded by the best guy in the UK. Many of the gunmakers and gunsmiths use him. What to do? Well I now evaluate..I usually do like to black furniture and blue pins because I try to get guns back to near how I "believe" they might have been when first produced. That's probably where I annoy the purists a little..I like to try and get me back to how they might have been handed over...but it's subjective I guess.
KY JonQ: What is your most interesting gun you have restored? What was the worst one?
A:Well I really liked the George Gibbs because it came with paperwork and all sorts. Importantly my wife now shoots with it and is really becoming quite a special shot. The Grant 2 was also a favourite because it took every skill to do it. The worst I suppose was the Clarke...because I was so pleased with it and then it split 6 shots in. Sad.
Q:Is there one more make or type of gun you wish you could find still and restore?
A:Hmm good question. I'm really looking forward to the Purdey bar-in-wood coming back. Must chase my stocker! I'd like to try and find a Boss, Atkin or something.
Q: Do you get a sense of the history of these old guns while you are working on them? Ever think about the men who made the locks, stock and barrels over a hundred years ago?
A:I do all the time and this was discussed with Vic. I wonder at how these guys did it. I mean crafting an action by hand from a steel block? All working under sunlight!
Q: Have you wondered where these guns will end up in the next hundred years? I do when I work on mine or hold them.
A: I do. I hope they stay in my family.
Q: Have you left any tells behind? A tell could be a pencil written line that this guns was restored by Tony Treadwell March 23, 2012, hidden someplace on the gun. Or it could be a paper message left under a recoil pad. Even just your initials stamped in the wood in a hidden place.
A: This came up with Vic too. I didn't really. I mean where do you leave something? Behind a lock?
SalopianQ: What aspect of gun restoration have you found the most challenging, and would you caution the enthusiastic amateur against doing?
A: Colour Case Hardening for sure. I did MONTHS of research and several actions I didn't mind ruining..luckily by keeping to strict process and temperatures I've not had a single warp/movement issue. But that is the process I would warn very much against going into light heartedly. Hot blacking is also something that one needs to be careful about re the process itself and the vapour that the boiling can produce.
HammerGuyQ: I would also like to know what makes something stand out at the auction. What makes you say "I can save that" vs looking at something and saying "Not worth the bother"
A: I'm a bit rubbish at auctions. I tend to love a gun that I should avoid. The little Manton might be a case in point. But actually if it fails proof or Ed Caine my barrel man thinks it won't go through proof. Then I'll probably sleeve it. I try to be really strong on what I'm prepared to pay now. I used to go over what I had set and I believe that is a mistake at auctions. The Greener I outbid Dig on last year was something I really wanted (bugger bid me up though /wink Dig) but I still got it for what I wanted. It's sold now.
Dave in MaineQ: What I would like to know is what got Tony into fixing up old guns - was it the interest in fixing up old things and a liking for shotguns, or was it a desire for them and a budgetary impulse?
A: Good question! My uncle was a well known gamekeeper in a little village called Longparish in Hampshire. I learnt to shoot there when I was 13. My cousin now runs Bisley shooting school (John Heagren) one of the best shots I've ever seen and has one Berretta and FITASC world champs in the past. So I've been really lucky. I then just came back to it at 41! Got the bug and the rest is history. I did SO much research and met so many people at Price street, just really made a nuisance of myself. Helping recover the gun quarter debacle got me great trade prices /wink. But seriously it's been a blast so far and I just love doing these guns up.
HammerGuyQ:I'd also be interested to know how Marie felt about this whole new hobby, from the use of the kitchen table to the new hardware in the garden required for all portions of the restoration. I'm single, so I do whatever I want, but many I know are not - and "support" of hobbies from a Significant Other ranges from 'tolerance' and eye-rolling, to some level of participation - especially where the kitchen table is concerned.
A: She's amazing. I mean a one off. I love her so much because she just says "let him get on with it" I seriously don't believe I could have found such a wonderful partner. I'm so bad. I try and keep things tidy and clean but in the winter tend to spread into the dining room and back out again in spring. She's so cool with it but just doesn't understand where her normally impatient husband gets all the patience from when taking months to restore a gun.
I hope I've been copious enough with my answers. You sure do deserver proper answers. Please sling more questions.
Regards,
Tony
