doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fixing Salt Wood Brownings

Does sealing the stock with urethane or similar prevent further corrosion?

The only sure fix is the fireplace.
bill

Bill is right, burn stock, install new one after repair/replace corroded parts.

Jim

Whose idea was it to speed curing by soaking in salt, did he have any legitimate precedents that justified this approach, and do you suppose he lost his job for thinking up what was undoubtedly one of Browning's biggest and most costly mistakes ever? TT

Curing "process" was purchased from or procured by consultation with Morton Salt according to Ned Schwing. Alumina-filled roof paint is said to retard damage; jury of one not in yet.

jack

I seem to recall that this curing process was instigated by an American University????
Probably as a result of what we are experiencing now at work, a young whipper snapper with a fresh degree, no practical experience, full of enthusiasm, rash ideas, and his Dad owns the company.We live and learn, but the old salts have been there, seen it, done it, and are still wearing the old tee-shirt to work.

Not only was there a problem with the Superposed, but for a while they tried to cure furniture wood with this method. Years later fine furniture started falling apart because the screws rusted so badly...... I agree with the process of getting rid of the wood all together. Or better yet, do what a lot of people do..... check the serial number before you buy the gun, and anything close- avoid it like the plague. Even if you spend the money to replace the wood, you will have a hard time selling it because people won't want it- either because the wood is bad or the wood has been changed and they will wonder what the inside of the gun looks like. They aren't worth fooling with. The Superposed is a pretty hot item right now at the gun shows. I sold two within 20 minutes of walking into the building. And the plain 20 gauge is nearing $3000.00 in nice shape. So if there is ever a chance of wanting to get rid of it, avoid the salt guns. JMO. Good luck.

All I know is what I read in Schwing, to paraphrase a Will Rogers quote. According to Schwing, the salt drying process was sold to Browning by Morton Salt Company in 1965 and had been in use by furniture manufacturers for many years with good results. Think about it; the salt never caused the stock finish to lift. I guess the problems with rusted screws in furniture was only with steel screws; brass or stainless would have been unaffected. The process involved heaping salt over 5x5x8 foot stacks of blanks. The blanks at the top were dried, but the moisture that was pulled out apparently created a brine solution that ran down and soaked the lower blanks. So not all wood of the era had the problem.

As for sealing a salt stock, forget it. Replace it and use the old wood for firewood.

A good friend of mine who is an avid well know Browning collector uses this quote.

"I've never been burned by a salt gun,Because I've never bought one"

This friend has owned hundreds of brownings and avoids salt-era gun's. Even if they seem ok after inspecting and testing them you can still have problems down the road. When you do try and sell them it's very difficult and not worth the hassle.

Browning for a while was replacing salt wood with new wood under warranty and if you have record of this it helps sell them.

I would have to take a deep breath before tossing a set of salt laden Midas or Diana Grade Super wood into the inferno......nope I couldn't.

Ken