doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Out of proof?

p. 26, 1954 'Rules of Proof', Gunmaker's Company courtesy of that fella in Maine

CC/DT & Drew,
I had to chuckle at Italiansxs post.
'It would be interesting to hear the opinion of a good double smith as to the restorability of this shotgun.'
Dave, do you know one?

If the bore's not deeply pitted and does not have to be honed a whole bunch, that gun just might surprise everyone. Certainly looks a mess now, but as noted above, if it does not reach .010 beyond the specified bore diameter, it might pass proof as originally marked. Even if more than .010 has to be taken out, if sufficient wall thickness remains, it might still pass proof but at the next larger gauge. That is to say, if it started life as a 12, it might end up passing proof as a 12/1.

Those pits are much much deeper than .005". I just finished restriking the outside of some rusty tubes, they took a fair bit of work to clean up and did not look near this bad. My guess is that at the very minimum the pits are close to .010" deep. That is a lot of honing, and I be they are really much deeper than that. It will be interesting to see the final outcome. My guess is it will require sleeving or tubing.

You can't tell anything until you remove the rust. Here is what I use. I let these soak for 24 hours, replace the vingear with fresh vingear and let sit another 24 hours. Cold water with a scotchbrite pad does the rest in a couple of minutes.












Now you can see how much actual pitting is involved.

Pete

Thanks Larry and Steve. We're scouring the boonies in Maine looking for a smith that's the dog's bollocks with Brit guns.

Salopian:
My appologies if this double is already in the hands(crosschisels?) of a competent smith. I didn't detect it from the preceding posts and thought all that had been done so far was for the finder to send these pictures to Drew.
Jim

Gents' of the Grand Order of DB GUNSHOP". Have just"Turned ON", Tuned IN"....Been Scouring the Sea-Coast for a"Good Double-Smith"! But have come to the conclusion that IF the Client decides to give me the opportunity to run my Chamber Cutters down into that 'Dark & Murky' Red looking Hole'It will be Interesting to see if there is any Steel there, that is not Rust!It might "Put Paid" to my 'Clymer Chamber Reamers". But I have a Set that I made"Back in the Dark-Days"(And we all know what"Rust" can do to the cutting edge's of sharp tools!)..Well, this Little Thread has become 'Quite Humorous'! Glad I sent the Photos to Dr Drew. cc/dt

Ok crosschisles you got me! I concede,surrender,give up, and I guess I owe you my first born. I should caution you however she's extremely high maintenance as her husband has found out. If you're still interested I'll put you in touch with him. Good luck and I hope you have extremely deep pockets!!
Jim

Italiansxs,
No apology ever required, I go through life laughing.
You could send your daughter as a peace offering.
If she gets here by the 24th she can have a look at my Country house at Woodstock, Oxfordshire.I am having a few friends round on the 25th 26th & 27th July.All are welcome.