doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com When to restore and when not to?

Eeek. That checkering...

OWD

Dave,
the top gun was terribly pitted through and through. I cut .015" off of the sides on the mill and still had some work to do with stones. Rough would have been a generous description of the guns condition in the beginning.
Steve

It's common practice to have a gun tightened, barrels re-blacked or browned.
The furniture and pins could be blacked or blued at the same time
A clean out of the checkering and a bit of oil on the woodwork will improve the looks too
Without the full hit and expense of new springs and internal parts, this kind of work will go a long way towards keeping a good old gun in tip top condition.

Sadly, some are past the point of no return mechanically and economically.

I think many restorations are done to preserve a gun, not for financial motivation. I know that was what prompted my "Clunker Optimus" project some years ago, and has me starting on another similar gun which is literally blown up right now.

http://lefeverforum.informe.com/clunker-optimus-dt514.html

I think you'll find the pre-auction comments from my collecting friends amusing, as I did.


I enjoy the process, and limit my rate of expenditure to what my bank balance allows. My "losses" upon sale over the 50+ years I've done this are probably less than on my stock market "investments" gone bad and my new car post purchase depreciation.

I don't think it is reasonable to expect to profit from a hobby!

I can understand wanting to run the numbers, but I'm glad there're time when folks might want to do something else.

Since many of the posters to this forum make a living (or some degree thereof) repairing and restoring old guns, I find some of the advise herein a bit odd; but for whatever its worth, and knowing mine is in the minority, here's my opinion. Provided you're taking care of the needs of your wife and kids, and paying you're bills, maintaining plenty of life insurance, and have a little extra "rat-hole" money squirreled away for hobbies and recreation; then heck yes, restore to your heart's content! Under those circumstances, and provided you don't intend to sell the gun soon thereafter; what does it matter that you'd be putting more money into a gun than it might certainly ever be worth? When you invest in a visit to Disney World, do you have anything other than memories and photos to show for your money? Not so with a restored gun; you at lease have something! And to be real practical, based on what we presently know of the here-after, you won't be taking either (money or gun) with you when it's your time to check out. And since we all spend more time looking at our guns than we actually have opportunities to use them, which is more fun to look at; a pretty (nicely restored) gun, or a pile of wrinkled-up smelly dollar bills (which pile, by the way, will purchase less next year that it can now)? The Scriptures admonish us to pause long enough to smell the roses along our way, which I interpret to mean that we each should make a point to take time to enjoy life's blessings and good things, and not be so concerned about the challenges of living that we fail to spend time (and a little money) doing and/or having things we enjoy. I like an untouched original fine gun as good as anyone; but most surviving examples are out of the rheum of possibility for me; so to me such a gun, properly restored, is one of those blessings that also provides great joy. I'm 65 now, and over the years (beginning in my early 30's), I've had a fair number of old double shotguns restored; and unfortunately, since I have a fickle heart, have since parted company with most of those guns (some I've regretted; but it is also said variety is the spice of life!). I've never paid stupid money for any work I had done and felt I got my money's worth in all but a couple of instances; and although I may have backed-up a little on some deals, have overall done very well on the restored guns I've sold because the guns I owned were equally desirable to other folks. In my case I've always tried to observe some basic "subject gun" rules such as 1)only buy guns with good barrels, 2)buy only guns that you know others would be interested in owning, 3)make sure to have any restoration work done as close to factory original as possible, and 4)when you buy a gun that requires restoration and repair, make sure you buy it right (low enough so that the cost of the actual restoration makes cents).
At my age now I may never have another gun restored because I have to consider the inevitable income reduction from the possibility of "being put out to pasture" in the near future; but I surely still have that desire, as I continue to own a few rare examples that are worthy of and deserve restoration, so who knows? The only thing I know for sure is that, at 65, I still take great pleasure and satisfaction in fooling with, and shooting old double guns! So give careful consideration to all your options and the free advice presented herein; and best wishes with whatever decision you make.

Every day people fork out $40,000.00 for a new car, or $20,000.00 plus for a new boat, or $20,000.00 for a new camper trailer or $10,000.00 for an ATV etc. etc. knowing full well they are going to take a bath on such items come "selling" or trade in time. Yet when it comes to restoring an old gun it appears many look at it and wonder if they will get their money back or maybe even make money on it. I say hats off to those who restore old guns ,within their means, without worry about resale but more for the shear joy of owning a fine old gun that gives personal satisfaction every time it's picked up.

Funny thing this question. I have a close friend who just sold a Boss at the last Julia's Auction and it went for a tremendous amount. Even as much as the Boss over and under that was listed.
It was a surprise to him.
He is now convinced that original guns are bringing the top dolor. And that could be true. Poorly restored guns are terrible to look at and many time the work is undoable.
I have just recently purchased a nice London Best and have thought of some things I would like to do. Redo the case color, re-black the barrels and other hardware just to mention.
But I have decided to do only minor changes.
If you consider restoring your gun then pick someone who is excellent at doing it and can keep it at least close to the Maker's style.

First, that is a very nice gun.

I don't expect to make a profit, merely trying to learn and decide whether a gun is worth spending more money on it to restore or to leave it as is.

Its your gun and your money so do what you like. Perhaps a partial restoration makes more sense in most cases. Barrels cleaned up and refinished, maybe stock refinished, chokes altered to suit new uses or gun put back into good working condition. So instead of deciding to spend thousands of dollars trying to turn back the clock you might just look at small things that will make your gun more fun to shoot and help it last a few more decades.