doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dilemma...To Clean or Not to Clean a classic..PICS

I agree with the others who have counseled you to carefully clean and preserve this gun since it has a good deal of original finish.

Here's a link to a thread which covered some techniques for bringing out the Damascus pattern in barrels that have a light even patina.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=412135&page=1

I still like to gently clean with very fine 0000 steel wool and WD-40. The method mentioned by Stallones using maroon Scotchbrite pads and Palmolive Orange Dish detergent works well too, but you have to be very careful with any Scotchbrite around gun metal. The abrasives in Scotchbrite are hard enough to scratch glass or chrome plating, so they will easily do damage to blued and case colored surfaces.

The wrinkled dirty finish on your stock looks like it might be old shellac. If so, it can be first cleaned with Murphy's oil soap or a solution of household ammonia, then rinsed and dried well. Then, the tricky part is to gently wipe the wrinkled shellac with a small lint free pad saturated in isopropyl or denatured alcohol. Shellac dissolves in alcohol, so you are trying to do a controlled job of dissolving the old finish and re-amalgamate it with the parts that aren't wrinkled. Essentially, you are dissolving and spreading out the original shellac finish. But if you haven't done this before, it is very easy to get carried away and remove the original shellac finish entirely. Not good. I'm hesitant to recommend it for that reason, and suggest that anyone who might wish to try it first practice on junk stocks. A lot of nice old guns have had their value destroyed by good intentions and overly aggressive cleaning.

IMO, the maroon pad is still too abrasive for a minor clean-up, but it's great for final burnishing before the first etch.

One process I'm a little hesitant to mention is the White Vinegar etch, since the barrels still have much of their original color.

Well, here it is anyways. After cleaning the barrels, degrease the barrels with acetone. Quickly coat'em with a WV soaked rag. Wait 20 seconds, then dunk them is a baking soda solution to stop the acid. (or wipe quickly with a sopping BS soaked rag). Rinse well with water. Towel, then blow dry. If happy with the pattern, heavily coat with oil, including bores. Burnish them lightly with 0000 steel wool while oiling. After they sit a couple of days, degrease and lacquer. If unhappy, etch can be repeated.

Caveat. No promises, it can potentially remove a lot of color.

Regards
Ken

I hope you'll use the gun, but there appears to be significant oil soaking at the head of the stock, and the gun would benefit from a full disassembly, check and cleaning the action, careful measurements of the barrel wall thickness, and some attempt to de-oil the wood followed by either glasbedding or cyanoacrylate impregnation. If an acetone bath is used, the stock will require refinishing.

Some barrel clean up ideas are at the beginning here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EGInyr3CsRadXkmTYRak4TWK-pCB3cN5Wgg51u_SnEM/edit

A very wise observation
"A lot of nice old guns have had their value destroyed by good intentions and overly aggressive cleaning."

I plan on using the gun for grouse or pheasants, although a grouse flush may be a little tricky with hammers.

I definitely don't want to remove any original finish, just spruce it up a bit. I appreciate all the helpful suggestions from everyone so far and plan on going on the lighter side of cleaning. Ill keep you all updated when I get the courage to do this.

Thanks!