doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Cleaning up an older Uggie

Since you bought the gun, and paid for all the work, I wouldn't think it would be painful at all, for him.
Is this his only gun? If he is one of "those" (few who post on this sight will fall into the catagory of "one gun only" people) I doubt he would hurt anything with occasional, non magnum steel loads, especially through the IC barrel.
On the barrel flats, you can find information about the guns level of proof. I'm just guessing, but, I'll bet you find the number 900 and a stamp that says 70. This would indicate 2 3/4" chambers, and pretty typical non magnum European level of proof. 76 and 1000 would be a 3" gun, likely a better candidate, for hot steel loads, but, I believe 3" guns came later than this one. Remember, the pressure sneaks up on those fast steel loads, and that is a concern on older guns, double guns, and light guns-your brother's gun falls into all three catagories, so caution is warranted, even if it wasn't much money
Good luck. Somtimes an old double is a money pit, but, sometimes a few bucks spent on an old one makes up for a fine shooter, and there is satisfaction in bringing a piece of machinery back to a good looking and useful condition.

Best,
Ted

I believe, condering the gun was made in 1944, it probably is pressure rated at 850 kgs.
If I was to shoot steel, I would use 2 3/4" at not over 1350 fps; no more than 1 oz.; no larger than #4 and chokes opened up to no tighter than true modified. True means actual bore size compared to the muzzle; .019 difference for modified.
My son in law has shot steel at 1450 fps in his 1985 Uggie 30, choked at sk1 and sk2 with no problems. It is rated at 900 kgs.
I know one guy who shoots regular Hevi Shot out of his late 80s Uggie choked sk1/sk2. I told him he was pushing the envelope but he didn't seem concerned.

Thanks for the info on steel. Sounds like pressure is at least as important as the shot not being lead.

This will be my brother's only gun. He's hunted his whole life, but he's never owned a shotgun. Our dad, his father-in-law, and I have always kept a gun in his closet.

This fall he was talking about buying a shotgun and looking at side-by-sides. His wife is pregnant with their first child, so I just decided to go ahead and buy this gun for him.

I thought a 12ga game gun would be a good option as an all purpose shotgun for now.

You might consider hevi-shot classic which will cost similar to steel with the ten dollar rebate. See:

http://www.mackspw.com/Item--i-ENVCLASS12

Very good waterfowl ammo, I use it myself, but even with rebate it's along way from the price of steel. There only 10 rds. per box compared to 25 for steel.

Forgive me for resurrecting an old thread, but I thought adding to the old one would be better than starting a new one.

We got some early snow last fall and I didn't make it out hunting with my brother over Thanksgiving. The Ugartechea is still in my basement. I've worked on it a bit.







I don't think it's too bad, but I'd like to refinish it before next fall if I'm going to hold onto it. I'm thinking I'll do the wood myself and send the barrels and action off to a gunsmith to be blued.

I have a few questions...

1) In some earlier posts people mentioned a stock striping and oil leeching method called the Wanko Bomb. I can't find a link to it. Does anyone have a link, or can someone brief me on it?

2) It's 25*F in my garage right now. Will an acetone bath work even in cold temperatures, or do I need to wait until the weather warms up?

3) I'll need some gunsmithing screwdrivers. Does anyone have a set they recommend for a beginner who will never use them a great deal?

4) Any recommendations for a gunsmith to reblue the metal parts? I'm looking for someone who will do a decent job, but I want to balance quality with price. Consider that I originally paid $300 for the gun when thinking about where you'd send it.

Thanks again for all of your generosity in answering questions. Please also feel free to give any unsolicited advice that might cross your mind.

Caleb,

Here is my opinion for what it is worth within the context of owning a bottom of the line Ugartechea. First, consider this gun will never, ever be a collectible. Second, these guns are marvelous shooting guns and I can't think of a better shotgun for under $1000.

Putting those facts together, we are not limited by what is "ethical" to do to a collectible gun. That means you can do whatever makes you happy as far as beautifying the gun.

In that light, I'd probably save money and forget rebluing the boxlock and instead chemically strip it and give it a brushed coin finish.

For the stock, you can strip it yourself (protect the checkering!) and sand out some of the ugly shape in it as you go. Follow traditional oil stock refinishing methods and you'll get a great finish. You may even want to paint on some false grain as you go (people on this forum can explain how) and then oil finish over the top.

Total cost for supplies to do stock and receiver yourself? <$100.00

If the barrels need a reblue, spend it all on having a nice polish put on them AFTER you do all your refinishing so you invest as much into the barrels as is merited by the quality of your work on the rest of the gun.

Have fun with it. You can't really hurt anything and this gun will serve you well in the field for many years.

One final alternative that works remarkably well: Strip and polish all metal on the gun (and when i say polish, I mean wearing white gloves and to excellent quality) and finish it with HK black tactical paint. It sounds bizarre, but it makes for a very durable low sheen finish that is great for rainy gun work or waterfowling. I've had a $4000 beretta done this way and as crazy as paint on a double gun sounds, it actually looks pretty good. (think Beretta 686 Black Onyx for example)

The screwdriver set you need is the Wheeler Precision 89 piece set. Amazon.com for $79.95 and free shipping.

Nothing worse than not having the correct turn screw for a gun. You can hurt your guns and their value by using the wrong tool.

Take a look at several recent threads on Shotgunworld re refinishing and refreshing lower end or well used quality Spanish guns. There is a bit of a cottage industry in nicely refreshed Spanish guns that cost $300-$500 before the refreshing, and those guys can give you good advice.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php

First do no harm� I�ve found that it�s easy and cheap to make a tired gun look a lot better by doing a few simple things.
Stock � I remove the stock and soak it for 12 to 24 hours in acetone (the main constituent of Wonko's Brew), then after I let it dry, I rub it down with 0000 steel wool and start wiping on very thin coats of True Oil. I let it dry between coats and then lightly rub the stock down with steel wool again before I wipe on the next coat of True Oil. I repeat 10-15 times and I always rub the stock down with the 0000 steel wool after the last coat to remove that cheap lacquered-look shine. Be sure to only give the checkered areas only 2-3 coats since the valleys fill up.

Metal frame and barrels � I rub it down with light oil and 0000 steel wool to remove rust and grime. I�ve also found that soaking the action overnight in Coleman Lantern fuel will clean out must accumulated grime and goo. After I pull it out of the Coleman fluid I use a bottle of high quality spray lubricant and one of those long red nozzles to spray lubricant into the recessed areas of the action. I let it set overnight in a standing position so the excess oil can drain out, then I use my air hose again to blow out any remaining excess oil. Usually that treatment will get the action working briskly without having to take it apart.

Barrels (assuming black and not browned barrels) � I take the barrels that I�ve cleaned with a 0000 steel wool rub and hose them down with automotive starting fluid to degrease them (don�t be smoking when you do this!), after degreasing I rub the barrels down with a good quality cold blue treatment. Cold blue doesn�t hold up as well as a rust blue, but it�s simple to do (and redo the next season) and won�t hurt the barrels if you want to rust blue them in the future. Overall, while not nearly as good as rust bluing (especially in a side by side comparison) it will typically make the gun look a lot better than it did.

Be sure when you take the gun apart that all your screw drivers tightly fit the screws so you don�t bugger them up.
So that�s my free advice for the day, it�s always worked well for me.
Steve
PS This is something I put together awhile back and cut & paste it when this question comes up. Take what you need and ignore the rest, or ignore all of it for that matter. Good luck.