Aawwwe jOe, not another bucket of cold water on my little dream of restoring a nice gun!
jOe's aversion to the restoration of fine old guns all goes back to the time a few years ago when he got taken to the cleaners on a sleever Purdey. He was so proud of that gun he leaned it up against trees and took pictures of it to "float in our punchbowl" here. The sleever Purdey was most likely an alright gun, but jOe took such a ribbing on this forum he got rid of it.
As for Rookhawk, he's been a perfect gentleman in this transaction. When I bought the gun he took the time to fully disclose the problems it had and share his ideas for a 'sympathetic restoration'. I have no problem whatever with what I paid him for the gun or with the way he handled the transaction.
I've thoroughly enjoyed investigating this extremely interesting and fine old gun and thinking through the process of bringing it back to a new shooting life. The provenance I recieved from Boss&Co. linking the gun to such a prominent British family during the heyday of shooting history has made the research even more enjoyable.
I promise jOe that I'll keep this project in perspective and try my best not to go broke in the process...Geo
