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So, how many of you are dead nuts certain that you can tell if an all original gun has never been disassembled? Do you know for absolute certain that a really professional gunsmith has not, with the extreme care they are known for, removed those screws at some point in it's, let us say, 110 year "life".

Before you answer "Yes, I'm certain I can", ask yourself this .............would I bet everything I have on my being correct, would I bet my life?"

Even the best of the experts are wrong sometimes. Hacker Martin guns fooled more than one. We see so much buggered up gun work that we sometimes forget just how good a true professional can be.

Unturned screws? My answer is "Don't bet on it". What say ye?

SRH
I own a DM Lefever crossbolt that had absolutely perfect screwheads when I bought it. I was certain the gun had never been disassembled from the time it was built in 1902.

A couple years after I bought it, I was reading an article about these guns in Double Gun Journal. The author of the article was now retired Oregon Gunsmith Keith Kearcher. He had some photos of one of these guns in a partially disassembled state to show the innards. The serial number seemed strangely familiar. I checked my gun and was very surprised to find that this was the same gun shown partly disassembled in the DGJ article.

I looked even closer for any sign that the screws had been turned. Nothing! I learned that day that a good gunsmith with good tools and good technique can remove and re-install screws without marring either them, or the surrounding wood and metal. There is no reason to accept anything less, and no excuse for buggering a screw myself.
Screw slot condition in conjuncction with the amount of crud in the slots coild be indicators.

Besides, does it matter really? If the gun was serviced and no sign of it shows, that is a good thing. Not a big deal of it was serviced.
I agree completely, Brian. It never has mattered to me. I look for condition, not that.

Think about it, those screws (pins for some of our brethren), were turned when the gun was assembled, and if assembled properly they show no evidence of being turned. Why could another craftsman not do the same?

SRH
Originally Posted By: Stan
I agree completely, Brian. It never has mattered to me. I look for condition, not that.

Think about it, those screws (pins for some of our brethren), were turned when the gun was assembled, and if assembled properly they show no evidence of being turned. Why could another craftsman not do the same?

SRH


It's not a matter of being a craftsman, but having screw tips ground to fit pin slots and knowing how to use screwdriver correctly.
Originally Posted By: Jagermeister
It's not a matter of being a craftsman, but having screw tips ground to fit pin slots and knowing how to use screwdriver correctly.


Why on earth would you want to grind the tips of the screws Jagermeister?

That statement makes about as much sense as a guy like you, who doesn't own even one lousy double gun, pretending you know so much about them. But I'll bet you are quite the expert when it comes to your stuffed animal toys.
I meant turn screw tips or screwdriver tips.
Originally Posted By: Jagermeister
Originally Posted By: Stan
I agree completely, Brian. It never has mattered to me. I look for condition, not that.

Think about it, those screws (pins for some of our brethren), were turned when the gun was assembled, and if assembled properly they show no evidence of being turned. Why could another craftsman not do the same?

SRH


It's not a matter of being a craftsman, but having screw tips ground to fit pin slots and knowing how to use screwdriver correctly.


It darn sure is. A true craftsman knows that having properly fitted screwdrivers, and the proper use of the same, will prevent slot damage, through experience. An unexperienced jerk could take the same turnscrews and make a mess.

SRH
Stan I don't doubt that a gun can be taken apart and put back together without leaving a trace. The problem is not that it has been done properly but that it has not. How many have the skill, proper training, correct tools and patience to do it right? Apparently very few based on the number of screws buggered up.
So Jagermeister, you still think it's not a matter of being a craftsman? You think simply having properly ground screwdriver tips and the knowledge of how to use a screwdriver correctly will instantly turn you into a qualified gunsmith?

I see you are still trying to take away Ed Good's title of Village Idiot.
I've said it before. If you take your gun to a gunsmith, and it comes back with "evidence" that he's worked on it, then you really do need to find someone else to do the work.
+1 on what Mike Rowe said.

That said, I've been unpleasantly surprised by some highly recommended gunsmiths & several manufactures of not inexpensive guns & I once had a well known known gunsmith tell me that "you can't expect me to take the time to remove a tight fitting screw w/a thin slot w/o out buggering it up a bit."

I do all the repairs/disassembly I can on my own! I've got lots of time now that I'm retired & a buggered screw is a real pain to properly correct & usually easy to avoid w/a bit of care.
I thought that in the early years and perhaps today in the UK , guys would send there guns in at the end of the season for servicing. Taken apart. A done for many years, year in and year out. Still an original gun.
I make it a point to turn most of the screws on my guns, just often enough to cover the maintenance intervals.
Haven't wrecked one since I was about 17. That said, I own a few guns with less than perfect screws. If the gun is useful, and functions as it should, I can live with a tacky screw done by someone else, about as well as I can live with handling marks in the stock.

Best,
Ted
keet: this thread has inspired a new name for you...crud head...
Originally Posted By: ed good
keet: this thread has inspired a new name for you...crud head...


That is just mean-spirited and totally uncivil Ed. I hope a flock of crows that are infected with West Nile Virus crap on your head.
https://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/west_nile_virus/frequently_asked_questions.jsp
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