...the $6000 BLNE. It could happen to you.
About 12 years ago I stopped by my friend Zeke's cracker barrel, The Cross River Sportsman's Shop in Cross River, NY, tight on the side of the Cross River Reservoir, one of the feeders of the water to NYC. Zeke ran a small bait and tackle operation to pay the bills but there was also an interesting amount of guns that came through that small store. Zeke held an FFL and had great taste in firearms, not necessarily the the most expensive guns but certainly an interesting gun piqued his interest. That day I came in we were passing the time for about an hour before he pulled out a gun that an elderly lady from the area had brought in to see if she could turn it into some cash. In the previous weeks Zeke had been telling me he had been thinking of getting his damascus barreled Westley Richards reproofed for nitro loads, more to increase it's value than anything else. I didn't know much about the process at the time, I knew about damascus but the idea of having the gun sent back to England to get reproofed got my interest. That's when Zeke pulled out this 12ga James B. Warrilow and pointed out to me that the bores were good, the gun was tight on face, the chambers were still 2-1/2 and the chokes would make it a nice game gun. It would set me back $100, it would be mine. I could send it for reproof to WR in Missouri, along with his gun. He told me the cost of reproof through WR would be about $400, I could always worry about restocking later. I laid down my Benjamin and it was mine.
This is the only picture I have of the gun when I got it, it's just the stock.
So, off they both went to WR and the wait began. Except for me. My gun came back within 3 weeks from WR, turns out they felt the top rib was loose and the gun would have to be made right before they would send it to England for reproof. Hmmm.
I started doing some research about getting the rib relayed and mostly with the help of this BBS I decided to send the barrels to a well known West Coast Barrel Man. I told him that the gun was going to be submitted for reproof and I needed the barrels made right. I needed the rib relayed and would he please leave the barrels in the white. No sense paying to have them rebrowned if there was a possibility of them blowing up. If they passed I would send them back to him for browning. I did know enough to ask if he used acid flux and was told "no" so off they went.
They came back a few months later, they looked good, rang true and were in the white.
To the best of my knowledge the gun was made well before 1898 and was considered an antique. Back then in the late 1990's there was no problem shipping antiques to England so I called the Birmingham Proof House and asked if it was possible for me to ship the gun direct to them. "Of course my good fellow, ship it direct to us, we'll reproof it for a charge of 50" , about $75 at the time.
Hey, $40 to ship it there, $75 to reproof and another $40 back? Much better than $400, let's do this! I documented the gun so when it came back through customs there would be no problem.
About 4 months later I haven't heard back so I call. Yes they received my gun but were very backed up and would be getting to it this week. The preliminary inspection had been done and the gun had passed. In fact, they told me, "the gun would probably pass for 2-3/4".
"No, let's keep it at 2-1/2 thank you. "
2 weeks later I called back and yes, it had passed proof! "Great, here's my VISA card, how much to ship it back?"
"We'll have to get back to you on that sir."
Turns out the Birmingham Proof House did not have the required license to export a gun. I made some phone calls to the correct minister of whatever and found out that, at that time, the export license was theirs for the asking, all they had to do was apply and it would be issued, no charge. I related to his to the gentlemen at the Proof House but they wanted nothing of it. I would have to arrange for an English gunsmith who held an export license to pick the gun up for me and then send it back to me on his license.
Some of you may have read my comments over the years that I believe the Proof House and the "English Gun Trade" have made it impossible for someone from the US to get a gun proofed reasonably. The actual proof process still costs about $100 but there's always that "carriage" charge that bumps it up to $4-500. Well this incident was the seed that planted the thought in my head.
I did find an exporter to get the gun back to me, I believe it cost me in the area of $3-400, but it finally came back, properly stamped and ready to go.
Back the barrels went to well known West Coast Barrel Man for browning. They came back some months later with a not too impressive Damascus pattern so back they were shipped again for another go. This time the pattern had popped nicely but every trip across the US was costing me $30-40 with insurance.
So at this point I have the gun back together, albeit with a broken stock. I haven't shot the gun but now I'm saving money up to have a proper stocking done. So I decide if I am going to have it restocked it would be worth my while to have a proper gunfitting. I got some recommendations and decided to spend a day with Keith Lupton in the Hudson Valley who did a wonderful job, fit me with both SxS and O/U try guns and gave me specific recommendations for a few guns I had brought along. Money well spent. The gun went into my closet while I regrouped for the next step.
Only, I pull it out to look at it about 3 months later and I notice what looks like rust weeping out from under the rib. Immediately put in a call to well known West Coast Barrel Man, "Hey, whats up with this?"
"Oh", he says" that may be some residual flux left over from the rib relay".
"I thought you said you didn't use acid flux?"
"I don't, but why don't you make a paste of baking soda and water and smooth it on thereto neutralize anything, just to be sure"
Yeah, OK, I tried that and it worked, I thought.
One of the best gunsmith/stockers in the US is about 20 minutes away from me, Abe Chaber. I had met Abe a few years before, but after this fiasco had started. Had I met him earlier he would have warned me about what I was getting into but as it was the gun was ready to be restocked so we looked through his stock of blanks. He told me the gun appeared to be a gamekeepers gun, lot's of engraving but an A&D boxlock with extractors, he believed the action, since it has pins instead of screws, may have been sourced from Belgium. It was finished in Birmingham but originally London Proofed. Abe found an old blank that had been around his shop for many years he said, an old Tessier blank that hadn't sold since it didn't seem to have enough figure for a high end restock but would go well on my gamekeepers gun. He sold it to me for a very reasonable price. I gave him my stock fit measurements and a deposit and told him no hurry, I'd need time to get the rest of the cash together. He said he would repair the trigger guard which had been butchered by the stock repair, restore the forend and in general do anything he could to make this project turn out better for me. I told him about the rust weeping out from under the rib. He put some RIG on it and told me he would keep an eye on it. I was finally in good hands.
Some months later I was over at Abe's with another gun and asked how the restock was coming along. I believe he had the wood headed up and brought it out for a look-see. The first thing we noticed was more rust weeping out from under the rib. Abe became concerned at this point and suggested we send the barrels out to Kirk Merrington. I agreed, in for a dollar, in for a few grand eh? But it had to be done right. It took a few months but Kirk had to completely strip the ribs, at which point he found we had caught it in time. There were substantial area of corrosion and evidence of acid flux. The barrels had to be completely taken down, reassembled and then rebrowned, $1200. Hey, this isn't going according to plan...
Then followed rough stocking, shooting to adjust final measurements, finish stocking, checkering, redoing the furniture and restoration of the forend etc. I have a great relationship with Abe and it comforting to know there's someone around that holds the proper work ethic needed to play in the arena of old guns. The work he did to finish the gun, stocking, checkering, refinishing furniture, and chasing engraving (he has some experts he works with) was just first rate. And as a bonus, that "rather plain" piece of Tessier walnut turned out to have some great figure hiding in their. Abe was also surprised and pleased for me.
The day I picked up the gun from Abe I went with mixed feelings, not about how it turned out but about all the missteps. But I look at it as tuition. I now know about the peccadilloes of the Birmingham Proof House and "carriage charges" . I know about West Coast Barrel Man and getting what you pay for. I got the gun home and put it in the safe and actually didn't shoot it for almost a year. I totaled up all the costs and it cost me just over $6K, without the initial bad barrel work and subsequent extra shipping fees it probably would have been closer to $4500, closer to $4000 if the Proof House had an export license.
But I have used it the last few seasons with great success. It has some dings and scratches from chasing birds and it's as close to a bespoke gun as I will ever come. I feed it a nice diet of 2-1/2" shells left to me by Zeke after he passed away. Full circle.
