Hey all, relatively new here. I have the subject shotgun that I picked up from a friend for a whopping $6. He had painted the metal black and had it on the wall. I've been toying with the idea of getting it working again. The biggest things I see is that it is missing the firing pins, cocking rods and cocking bolt. There are a few others as well. I was on the Numrich site and I see they have the major parts listed but they don't distinguish between the gauges. Are they all the same? Assuming they are interchangeable, I then have to decide if I want to spend $100 on a gun that isn't collectible and I'd never recoup my investment. Probably the biggest thing it has going for it is that I like it's lines.

Your thoughts are appreciated.
Kirk

Bought it for $6.00? At that price, Why didnt he just give it to you?

Functioning $106 doubles don't grow on trees...

Personally, I have been taking on projects utilizing cheap guns. That way, when I have a major "learning event", I'm not out anything. I'm saving the nicer stuff for when my skill level might actually be consummate with the materials.

I'd say this is a good chance to "learn". Just getting it to work, even if you never fire it, would be a great experience. And if you screw up, so what? You can still hang it on the wall.

On the other hand, if you are already experienced and familiar with the workings of a SxS, why bother?

R.

Thanks for the replies. This certainly wouldn't be the first time that I did something that others might think didn't make sense.

Wondering if any of you have input on whether the parts I mentioned are interchangeable between a 20 and 12?

Kirk

First, I know that a few 20ga guns were made. I have had people tell me that they have a 20ga. My response is simple, send me a picture with 2 20ga shells loaded in the gun. To date, I have never received a picture.

My guess is that most of these are 16ga guns
Are the parts interchangeable? Good question. I know at one point they were sourcing receivers from at least 3 companies.

Pete

Howdy Pete. I will work on getting you a picture along with other info for your database. I'm 99.999999% sure it's a 20 ga. When I first got it a while back I thought it might be a 28 ga so I put some 20 ga shells in it to verify.
Kirk

Kirk,

If is is a 20ga, then it is very collectible. Depending on condition the starting bid would be on the order of $1,500 or more. Contact me via email: movie@damascus-barrels.com.

Pete

Hey there Pete. Good to know that even at my age I can still be the first at something. I'll contact you by email as well
Kirk

Thought I'd add a few more pictures of the gun. I had it apart to start working on it so for the pictures I just loosely assembled the major parts.

It's a matching number gun that as you can see needs some work. All the parts in the receiver look pretty good to me. The mainspring in the top lockplate isn't fully contained on the end and the lockplate seems to have a slight curve to it on the end. It also appears that the mainspring lock screw was lost and a makeshift repair was done.







The barrel and receiver aren't completely tight but from what I read it should be fixable.

The barrel hasn't been cut and has two small dings. Sorry for the one blurry pic but the ding is the fuzzy black dot in the middle of the picture. I'm going to take it to a local gunsmith to get his opinion.

Maybe the biggest issue will be the stock which is pretty roached. I do some carving and my uncle gave me a stock blank and I thought I could at least take a shot at carving it. Worse thing that can happen is that I have some good firewood or some handle blanks for carving knives I make. Pete (hope you're reading this), a question on the stock wood. I was reading an old ad on ebay and it said the stock was black walnut. Think it was a 1915 model with extensive engraving. Do you or anyone else know if this was the normal wood used then or just for this higher grade gun?







Well, that's all I have for now. Any comments, opinions, suggestions, recommendations are welcome. Any other pictures or information wanted let me know.

Kirk

As far as I have seen all grades used the Black Walnut stocks.
Thanks for the pictures.

Pete

Pete,
Any thoughts on a path forward?
Kirk

Have you looked at seeing if a 16 ga stock will work? I don't know if the 20 was a different size receiver than the 16 but many low grade guns share common stock sizes.

You will need a new stock. Before I did that, I would take it to a smith have it cleaned and make sure it works....

Keep the broken stock. You may need it if you have a new stock made up.

Pete

KY Jon, Not a bad idea if a person could even find anything.

Pete, ultimately that's what I'll do. Think I might strip the paint off first. I had the good fortune of winning a Ebay auction that has all the missing parts I need for my gun. Only thing missing is the firing pin spring.

Does anyone have an example of what that spring would look like or what could be used as a substitute?

Kirk

Kirk, I've yet to see a 20ga Meriden. Nice find. Probably not worth what it may take to put it right, but it is nice to at least see one.

The "stock doctor" types can put any cigar box full of broken wood back together stronger than it originally was as long as it all comes from the same gun. Try one before you give up on the original wood.

It will be cheaper than making a new stock. I did not believe that until I saw it myself...Geo

Thanks for the reply Geo. From what I have gleaned from the forum, putting it right can be very expensive. I'd at least like to clean it up a bit, maybe do some cosmetics and get it shooting. Hopefully that won't be too extreme. As I indicated, I "THINK" I have sourced all the parts I'm missing. I think I'll start with stripping the paint, cleaning it up and see if I can figure out how the parts get assembled.

I'm curious how this gun was originally finished. I've stripped the paint off the lockplates and they appear as if they are blued. Is that correct? What about the receiver? Also, how would the barrels have been finished?

Thanks
Kirk

The barrels were blued. The receiver and side plates were case hardened. The black walnut stock had a nice shine, possibly lacquered.

Geo,

Good catch.
http://www.thestockdr.com/

Pete

Thanks Pete. Were the barrels rust blued? I was on the stock doctor site over lunch and will check them out. Especially for this Parker double I have that is cracked at the wrist.

The stocks were shellacked. You can rub it out with denatured alcohol. Bullseye amber is a perfect match.

PS: yes the barrels were rust blued, that is what Petem meant. Pretty much all doubles are rust blued because the solder can't take the hot blue process - something to look out for when you are buying refurbished guns.

Thanks Judge. Having done more reading now, I realize that my question didn't really make sense. I was getting confused between rust bluing and browning.

rust bluing and rust browning are the same process...the only difference is the boiling that turns the brown too blue b4 carding off loose rust....

Yeah, I finally figured that out. Amazing what a little reading will do for a person.

On another note, I received my box of parts that I one off Ebay. Have to go through them to pull what I need. I have my fingers crossed that they will interchange since they are from a 12 ga.

Kirk

Well it didn't take long to see that things weren't going to go as I hoped although it was as I expected. Some of the parts are interchangeable (I think) and others are obviously off. The 12 ga receiver (which I don't have) is taller and wider. I'm hoping that with additional research I'll be able to figure this out.

Does anyone have any pictures they could provide of the receiver assembly for a late model gun? I'm curious how the various components went together, hoping that it's similar between gauges.

Kirk

I think this is a killer find. Lemme know if you decide to double your money.

What kind of barrels? I've mostly seen damascus on Meriden guns.

Hey Dawg, just saw your post. I'm hopeful that I can get this thing up and shooting but I don't think it's going to be easy. The barrels are steel. Not sure if you saw my post over on the main forum?

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...2071#Post432071

I appreciate the offer to double my money. 20+ years ago I took it to a gunsmith to see what some work would cost. Said he'd give me $150 for the gun. Who knows, maybe I should have taken it.

Kirk