doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Kody Kearcher's Restoration Job ""HEADS UP""

That is sad to hear. Keith did a good job of browning the barrels of a Scott gun for me some 12 or so years ago. A moron in Birmingham colored them what I can only describe as mustard. Not a pretty sight.

DDA

Yes, the checkering was simply awful. I wondered if Tamid threw up when he saw it. I've seen a few amateur jobs that looked like they were scratched into a stock with a sharp nail, but they didn't cost what these abominations cost. Some of the lines in the grip of the Manufrance R1 look like they have gone at least 7 lines off course. Little Stevie Wonder could do a better job.

How could even a CJO or a Dewey Vicknair repair something like that? Even men with their talents can't put back wood that has been filed away. So they would have to sand the stocks down below surrounding metal in order to start over.

Terrible job for sure....I talked with the guy several years ago and he assured me he could repair ribs without talking them off the the gun.

I wasn't looking for a back yard gun butcher so I looked else where.

Good point Keith. I would as least call them to see if anything can be done.

I've had Mark Larson "create" wood where a small chunk was missing in a shattered stock repair and match up checkering.

I had a sinking feeling while reading the text. When I got to the pictures nausea set in. So sorry for your misfortune!

Thanks for sharing your very sad experience. It is enough to make a feller sick. Your warning has probably saved more than a few guns from the hands of a hack.

Who are the "goto" gunsmiths in the US for browning damascus barrels in the correct English finish for English double rifles or shotguns? Thanks!

I know that Kirk Merrington does browning of english damascus barrels, though I have never used him for that. I have used Kirk for other work and I could not be more pleased. Kirk once inspected a gun for me and let me know that it needed restocking and was off face to boot. Had the seller disclosed those issues I never would have considered the gun. In fact the pictures were taken very carefully to conceal the need of restocking. I saw the dealer at the Southern some months later and during the conversation the issue of the need for restocking on that particular gun came up - his reply "well don't they all" in regard to restocking.

So sorry about the original posters issues with the "restoration job." It does look pitiful. So bad in fact it makes me wonder if who supposedly did the work and sent the gun back to the OP was playing with a full deck.

Its boondoggles like this that keep a lot of folks like myself on the sidelines in regard to wanting to fool with project guns.

I would think it would be possible to fill the checkering with epoxy and wood dust and re-checker some areas.