doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Armstrong Co.

I have an Armstrong Co. 2 1/2" 12 ga boxlock that appears to have been only lightly used. Are there telltale signs to look for that would indicate refinishing? The case colors I'd say are 40 to 50%. The stock has minimal handling marks and the gluing I'd say is 60% or better.

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Fixed it for you.







Would appear to have had a couple of trips through the proof house. Hard to buy an English gun that hasn’t seen some refinishing work, the climate is tough on guns.

Best,
Ted

For starters, it appears the Damascus barrels have been blued over without any etching done to enhance the Damascus pattern.

Seems it was common practice for the English take their guns to the Maker after each season for a strip and clean and touch up.
Nice boxlock , shoot it well.

Odds are good its been refinished.

The PC in the date code = reproof in 1989.

Look for how proud the metal is of the wood...each refinish takes it down a bit.

Refinished is good...there's little benefit to original condition. I'd rather have a refinished gun than a safe queen. There's virtually no stigma for refinishing English or European guns like there is for US guns, thank goodness.

If the barrels needed re-proof after fine boring it would be likely that they would be re-blacked at the same time, particularly when the cost of re-blacking a boxlock was not so disproportionate as it is now.

Does the maker’s name address on the rib show signs of the rib having been re-polished?

Nice gun thats been refinished long ago when it was worth doing from financial point of view. It's good time to be around if one wants to get quality for low price. Most old Birmingham and provincial British doubles now compete with lower field grade Ithacas, LC Smith, A.H. Fox,.... doubles.

As Geoff observed, it was reproved in 89' under the 1954-1989 Rules. 3 Tons is for a max. service pressure of about 9000 psi
Original bores were 13/1 = .719" to .728". At reproof R .728" and L .732" so likely not much honing.
Are the chambers still 2 1/2"?

Why would that be? I’ve had a few safe queens pass through my hands, still have a few, they all worked and looked as the manufacturer intended.

Best,
Ted

For me it's no big deal to tidy up a gun. I have most of mine touched up in some way or another.
Seems I have found most collectors of American fine guns prefer original condition where collectors of English guns may choose to have some re-blacking done or the wood and checkering touched up.
Main thing is whoever does it is competent and knows how to do it correctly.