In the spring of 2015 I sent Kody Kearcher a Wm Sumners and an R2 Ideal Manufrance for some restoration work. Kody and his uncle Keith (now retired) are frequently mentioned on this site by board members as reputable restoration gunsmiths to send work to. I talked to Kody explained what needed to be done and he assured me he could do the work. Prior to sending the guns to him the wood on each gun had been stripped and soaked in acetone for 8 weeks. The work on each was to include:
Sumners
- Relay top rib and refinish to a brown finish
- Rechecker and refinish stock
- Make and install new firing pins
- Build up/repair right striker/cocking indicator
- Blue all screws except those on receiver, trigger guard, triggers and top tang
- Hone out pits in barrels
R2 Ideal
- Make and install wood extension to butt stock to measure 14 inches LOP and install provided retractable sling
- Make new butt plate and install
- Rechecker and refinish stock
I received the restored guns in November 2015. From the following pictures you will see what I got back.
Wm Sumners:
The top rib was relayed, seems solid and the barrels have a nice chime to them. However the bottom rib is now warped. If you run a finger along it is easy to feel and the flux from the soldering has somehow spread onto the underside of the barrel and shows up through the refinish. ( No picture of this.)
This is an English gun and brown to me means ‘English brown’. I have shown two pictures one with the ‘PURPLE’ Sumners barrels that Kody refinished and newly browned barrels from a WC Scott & Son and another picture of the Sumners and newly blackened barrels from a Remington 1894. I discussed the Sumners barrels with the gentleman who refinished my Remington and he immediately identified them has having been done by Kearcher. It seems the Kearchers’ have come up with a cheaper and quicker attempt to brown barrels with some type of dye mixture that is a bastardized american definition of ‘brown’. In hand they are purple. (No offense to any American reading this.) The etching process to bring the pattern back out on damascus barrels does not begin to compare with what the other tow barrels recently refinished show. Kody’s response was..”oh that is what you wanted. Most of my customers like it this way but send the barrels back and I will redo them”.
upload pic
imagehostingI mentioned the manufacturer’s engraving on the top rib has been somewhat polished off. Kody said he never touched the engraving . However see the pic from before and after.
Prior to refinish
upload a pictureAfter refinish
windows print screenAfter the return of the guns, Kody told me he doesn’t hone barrels but instead he ‘polished’ them and charged USD$200. I honestly cannot tell any difference from before and after and in any event the barrels needed honing to take the pits out, not polishing. I think that is a discussion he should have initiated with me and made arrangements to sent them out to someone who could do the work. There is enough wall thickness to take out up to 10 thousands if needed. I don’t that is unreasonable as that is what other gunsmiths have done with me in the past.
Refinish of stock: There was no attempt to buffer out dings or scratches, no sealer or method to seal was used, no filling of cracks, escutcheon was left as sent and very difficult to photograph properly but the finish on both the Sumners and Ideal has blemishes, is not smooth, has bubbles and I’m not exactly sure what other language to describe it.
free uploader
photo host
image share
upload image onlineYou need to look at the recheckering to understand a true ‘hack job’. As mentioned this is an old English gun made between 1870 and 1880 with original flat top checkering although quite worn down. What I got back was pointed checkering, with uneven lines, over lapping lines, over runs, gouges and different depths of the cut. Not in one place but all over the checkering pattern on the butt stock and forearm! This I think is impossible to repair properly.
image upload no resize
uploading images[url=http://postimage.org/]
