doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 16 gauge Nitro Special cleanup.

I won an auction for a 16 gauge Nitro a while back, with the miserly bid of $275. The gun featured a bit of rust on the tubes:





I like the way these bottom feeder guns handle, in 16 and 20 gauge. This one has 26" tubes and somewhat unusual cylinder and modified chokes, and factory 2 3/4" chambers, perfect for a lot of my use. It weighs about 6 1/4 lbs. There had been no modifications to the gun, and it still had the original buttplate. When the gun got here, I dismantled it, for a good cleaning. Looking at the guns innards, the insane amount of case colors left, the beautiful condition of the stock wood, far right of center opening lever, the perfect screws, and perfect breech face, made me question if it had ever even been fired.



I thought about leaving it just the way it was, but, decided to have a board artisan blue the tubes and trigger guard. I don't know if said board artisan wants a bunch of work coming his way, and if he would like to, he can identify himself. His work was more than fine, and I am very satisfied with the quality and price I paid.

Back together, a few little problems came to light, problems that may have contributed to it being in such nice shape. The safety was almost impossible to get to move, and the forehand didn't want to come off, either. The safety required a tweak of the internal cam, to center it in the lever, and to have at the spring and plunger, under the cam, which, were a bit furry with rust when I got it, and in need of a good polish. The screw that holds the forehand in place was tapped just a little too deep, and would bottom against the iron, making it difficult to pull the wood off. I just backed off of it a bit. The spring is no slouch, and I doubt the screw will move under the tension of the spring.

I touched up a few spots on the wood that had finish scraped off, and just cleaned the rest of it. I did put a bit of spray lacquer on the case colored parts, and, it is a bit too shiny now, but, the next guy who gets it can strip it off if he wants, and he will still have colors to look at, anyway. I suppose it will tone down with use, also.

The gun came out of Maine, and I'm guessing someone didn't take a liking to it, and put it in a basement or closet that got damp, and forgot about it. All the screws, save the one I tweaked under the forehand iron, are in perfect north/south aligment. I wouldn't have guessed any attention to that was paid on these guns in the era this one was built, around 1936-37.

The neglect left a few tell-tail spots on the old gun, but, it looks so much better.

I'll take a few birds with it this fall.



Best,
Ted

The 16 and 20 ga. Nitros are pretty much bullet proof and handle better than most people think they would. Well played, Mark

Ted;
Great deal, but I do wonder if you should not remove that forend screw & shorten it just a bit. It doesn't seem like a good idea to leave a screw even the slightest loose which is securing the wood to the iron to me.

About the only issue with them, like many of the American guns of that age, is stock fit. According to my A&F catalog from 1936, standard stock dimensions were an LOP of 14", drop 2 3/4". If the stock is maybe half an inch too short, that makes the drop issue worse. Not as bad as some of the vintage American doubles with 3"+, but definitely an issue for those used to a higher stock.

Years ago we had a young guy out of college join our staff and with his hunting background we quickly became friends. I got him interested in SxS's and his first was a 16 gauge Nitro. I took him grouse hunting and on that first day he bagged 4 grouse (to my none) with gun. Years later when that wire-haired pointer died and my young friend knew I was pretty distraught, he came over with a plaque with the 4 fantails and my dog's name wood-burned at the bottom. He's had many SxS guns since, but I haven't seen him shoot any of them better than that 16 gauge Nitro.

Thanks for the reference Ted.

I have to credit Doug (PA24) who greatly assisted in my knowledge acquisition, I use his work as a standard to which I compare my own.

I also credit the other members of the Board who are too numerous to mention, and are so gracious in sharing their expertise and knowledge.

Regards
Ken

Didn't want to out you without your input, Ken. Nice job polishing my turd.
I'll get the starter pistol back to you, one of these days.

Best,
Ted

Shortening the screw wouldn't help the problem. I'm guessing the hole should have been drilled/tapped so that the screw bottomed before making contact with the spring loaded plunger that holds the forend on to the barrels. That would allow the screw to be tight, and the plunger to move back and forth.
I'm surprised at just how stout the spring for the snap on forehand is, even in the most relaxed position, which, is off the gun. That little screw has a lot of tension on it. I'm going to keep an eye on it, but, I'm not worried greatly about it. If it gives me trouble, first step would be a good form of locktite, second would be having a new screw made, or trying a few used screws from Numrich, I suppose.
I penciled a witness mark where the screw slot located, and I'll look at it again after a round or two of clays to see if it moved.

Best,
Ted

No hurry. That's the benefit of lucking into already trained dogs that need a home. I don't have a need for it.

Regards
Ken

Larry,
The stock measures 14 1/8, with just about 2 5/8 drop. Not terribly different then the catalog from the era. I usually need about 2 1/2, and I can't shoot real high dimension shotgun stocks, especially if they have a thin comb, which, most of them do.

For me, it feels a touch short when I'm wearing a T-shirt, but, when a wool Pendleton long sleeve shirt goes over the T-shirt and I head out the door with the dog, I'm betting it will be just fine. I have about 8 flats of Eley V.I.P. and Westley RIchards 2 1/2", the last of a mixed pallet of English loads I bought years past, and a bunch of older Federal 2 3/4" game loads, purchased at well below retail from a gent who was too old to use them, that need to be burned up. I also have an Ithaca 37 in 16, with a 28" barrel with modified choke, but, it patterns a bit tighter than I like for grouse hunting.
I hear the grouse numbers are up in the state. We shall see.

Best,
Ted