Yes HE did the work ;-). There are more people out there but it's very scary having them do work for the first time. There is a new gunsmith just a few blocks from my house and I took a stock and Silvers pad over for him to fit. I went into great detail about what I wanted and said several times about NOT touching the original finish. I'm sure he thinks I'm nuts but he did a nice job. If I can I do some of the work on projects but I know my limitations. The biggest hurdle is understanding how the original maker did it and what the end results were. I don't think any two used the same finish, all were one form of linseed oil or another but different formulas. The last Adolph stock i worked on the back half of the stock was dried out with no finish to speak of. I tried everything I could think of then used a bottle of stuff that had turned to a jelly and it matched perfectly.
Today there are many re-bluing damascus barrels, thirty years ago there was one and the person I got his name from made me promise not to tell anyone else.
