doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wall hanger or worth the money for repair

A rather lengthy question and topic to all. I recently purchased two hammer 12 ga Baker guns. Both are a little off face and one has a visible air-gap between the breech and the barrels. The wood is so , so mostly dirt and scratches but no cracks in both guns. My main question is, can someone purchase proof loads for testing and where can these loads be purchased? I want to take these guns behind the barn attached to a cord a lead sled as well as secured to a car tire. If one or both survive the test then they might be worth getting properly repaired for use. I paid $50.00 for both guns.

their being off face is not a big problem, it can be repaired. A more important check is the condition of the barrels in terms of rust, pitting, and minimum wall thickness. If the barrels are good that is a good foundation. So check the barrels out in detail and if you do not have the tools or experience to judge locate a good gunsmith who understands old double guns to evaluate the guns.

Once barrels check out, look at the stock dimensions, can you shoot them as is or will they need alteration or replacement. Replacement can get deadly in terms of thousands to have it done right.

I will not go further as I am sure others will, but those are the first two things I would look at

It depends. I'll give you the standard answer. No one on the internet can make that determination, it takes a Gunsmith that knows about doubles and inspects the guns to give you that determination. It would be highly irresponsible to give you info on proof loads over the internet as well.

Since I buy restoration guns, (I'm not a gunsmith) I'll give you my opinion, and hopefully folks more expert will chip in as well.

If a gun is loose and/or off face, the last thing I would do is shoot it. There are several threads about that condition, as far as use of feeler gauges to give a general idea of how unsafe the gun is. I'll let another more expert person provide that degree of guidance.

Bakers are nice guns. I have several of them. Having said that, unless your guns are of higher grades, you'll never get your money back if you pay for restoration. One of the neat things about Bakers is that you can buy a lower grade model at a reasonable price. That's why they make such nice introductory Vintage shooters.

Pictures would be nice, it sounds like they're not in too bad condition, so they might be worth some degree of restoration, especially if you enjoy projects.

Regards
Ken

Hang one over the mantle and one over the kitchen window.
JR

Sell 'em for $100 each and tell the next owner to hang one over the mantle and one over the kitchen window....


Best,
Ted

In America we buy old guns based on the barrels. Simply put unless the barrels are good it does not matter about the stock or action. It just becomes a endless or at least a very deep money pit. There is no sleeving option for a few hundred dollars. If the barrels are bad the gun is most likely not worth the effort or price to fix.

So first thing to do is look at the bores. Are they pitted? Do they look like the craters on the moon or the inside of a sewer pipe? How do they look on the outside? What is the wall thickness? You need a setup the check this or have it done. Are the ribs tight? Do they ring like a church bell? Are there any dents? Have they been cut short by some one? If the barrels are in good shape there is always hope.

Next does the action work properly? Does the gun function? Will it go bang? If a hammer gun are the hammers a match or even the correct ones? Saw a nice hammer gun last month with replaced hammers which would not even hit the firing pins. Looked great but not a functional gun anymore.

A gun off face can be put back on face in several ways. They range from a few dollars to many hundreds. Proof loads are not readily available here.

So just look at the gun and go down the list. If every thing is a yes it might be worth doing if you can do most of the work yourself. But before you dump big money into a project gun look around and see what a decent shooter would be worth in a Baker hammer gun. Perhaps $300-500 so do not put more than that much into the best one of your guns.

You don't say what models your Bakers are. If they are Model 1897s, they were advertised as being made for use with smokeless powder of the day. New Baker Models were made before that and had no such advertising. That said, I shoot a couple of New Bakers with Polywad or RST low pressure 2 1/2" shells.

One of the Baker's is marked A which I assume is an A grade the other does not have a mark that I can see or find. I found out some history on the guns from the person from which I bought them. He stated that they belonged to an older woman who stated they belonged to her Father who used both guns exclusively for hunting for many years. I will try and contact her after the holidays to see if I can find more information.

Pictures, or at least serial numbers would help identify the guns. No hammer guns were A Grades. Guns with exterior hammers would be marked with a model name and serial numbers.