doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Stock Wood damage, how

This is the second time I have seen this on L.C. Smiths. The first one I saw is on a 1927 Field Grade Longrange that I just bought from an internet dealer that never showed a picture of it or would send me other pictures. This one is from Cabelas with the same damage in the same spot.
Any answers? I took mine apart and there is no oil saturation at all, it is clean.

Maybe it is damage from hanging out the truck window...Geo

I'd have to guess that someone used something on the metal that was very unfriendly to the wood, if it is not oil soaked inside, as you said. The forend shows some of the same.

It sure looks like oil damage; however, if the finsh is off it may be moisture damage. If it is moisture caused you should see some rust in the action area.

I'm guessing it was either a routine use of a cleaning solvent or a particular brand of oil that had an additive. It'd probably be some kind of product from yesteryear that may or may not be available today. Maybe Marvel Mystery Oil or some such thing?

Thanks for the replies. No, I seriously doubt that it is from oil on mine, and I doubt from moisture. The wood is still firm not soft. I repeatedly used a very wet cloth and a steam iron and was able to raise the wood some to where it is not blackened now, but still looks porus.

I wasn't kidding (entirely) about the damage being from hanging out the truck widow. Look how the damage pivots around the trigger-guard and how the notch in the head of the screw is polished. Wasn't road hunting for partridge a major pass-time in Pennsylvania up till a few years ago?...Geo


Speaking of use by a PREVIOUS owner, of course!

George, I'm sure in northwestern Pa. along the old logging roads it did and probably still does happen. On the gun that I have it is a 32" full/full choke gun that weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz. Chambered for 3" shells, a great duck/goose gun. The one from Cabelas, I forgot the state it was being sold in, but it might be possible with that one.

It almost looks like a burn. Either from heat (?) or some type of solvent. Like the Browning salt guns, something has reacted between the metal and the wood. Could it be from someone using used motor oil on it, yet it never soaked the wood? I know a lot of the old timers used it on guns. Have you ever removed the trigger guard screw to see what the wood looks like down in the hole? If you have, is the wood rotted out deep down in the wood? Or just on the surface? Or could it be some type of fungus that didn't grow until after it left the plant? Surely it didn't leave the factory like that.

Wow! I have one just like it, dry wood, no oil problem, case color is 100% in the area and there is not even a light scratch on the metal to indicate any bruise from handling? The only clue I can add is the finish was wrinkled from some unknown cause. I refinished the wood and the results were great except at the "burns". I then tried to glass the "burn marks" and the results were not great.
wthigo?
bill

Those areas appear to me that it is a chemical burn (reaction. That's my best quess, the wood appears to be charred.

A lot of guns suffered "bruised" wood, usually on the fore-end, from being used to press down the lower strand of barbed wire to go through a fence. The fore-end damage is sometimes blamed on dog-gnawing because that's what it looks like. I don't see any evidence of the metal being marred though in the pictures. Still I suspect the damage was caused physically rather than by some chemical. Just an unproven opinion, though...Geo

Glad you asked David, my well used 06' 00 has similar marks, though more obvious gouges. It doesn't seem to be oil soaked.

Rev., I'd bet money your gun was damaged by traversing barbed wire fences. I've done it and seen what it does...Geo

sweaty hands and finger rings?

I wonder if this rather strange addition to a 12 gauge Durston Special Lefever I recently bought is to repair or prevent the above described handling action? I haven't yet been able to dismantled to view condition or damage underneath. It looks like brass brazing joining the cross bar to the forward portion of the trigger plate.

Cheers, Bob

I don't know about the Durston, I had just assumed these marks were from hanging the gun on nail ar two...like you still see in farmers barns

Robert, that is an interesting possibility. Both sides damaged from switching to left-right in hanging. My only thought on it is there isn't any damaging scrathes on the metal, at least on mine, but still is a good explanation as to how it happened.

Edumacated guess as to sequence of events. Wood marred by wire, nail, or other hard surface. Protective shellac/varnish/etc. comes off. Routine oil, sweat, handling causes color change. To refinish will require oil removal and dent raising. That's my SWAG of the day! Best, Dr. BILL

Given the location and extent of that damage-and taking the given that the wood isnt oil soaked, it would seem that the finish was probably destroyed by a second incompatible finish. As if somebody decided to go ahead and cover that area while putting a coat of lacquer on the case colors. Anybody know if lacquer over an oil might react in such a way?

Barb wire fences....

Maybe its an LC Smith thing? I vote for all of the above, fences, exposure of wood, sweat etc

I once owned an absolutely mint Smith that looked the same on its underside, right behind the frame. I never figured out with certainty what caused it since the gun was probably never out in the field nor even out of a gun cabinet. I finally chalked it up to some sort of chemical reaction that caused the varnish to "bubble" behind the frame, probably where a solvent or whatever likely soaked into the inletting cuts there.

The bubbled varnish on the Smith looked just like a kitchen table we once owned. The table was a high end one from Ethan Allen and while it's surcase was walnut-looking formica, the end pieces were real wood, varnished or maybe lacquered. After many years the finish bubbled up and the wife always said it was because she used a liquid furniture polish on those end pieces. Silvers