doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Damascus Refinish

I see the thread was locked on this original post so I would like to give my thoughts.
when I first got interested in refinishing barrels for myself, I was looking on how to refinish Damascus barrels. Dr. Gaddy had a post and i wrote to him and he sent me what he did and used. He recommended Radio Shack Etchant 15% which is Ferric Chloride, used it straight from the bottle into a 4" PVC pipe with a solvent bottom cap and a slip-on top cap filled with distilled water to a line marked on the pipe to allow a 32" barrel to fit without overflowing. I used Laurel Mountain Forge bluing and after striking the barrel finishing up with 320 grit. Dr. Gaddy said he never used any finer than 320 grit. I boiled these barrels in an aluminum tank that I made for steam bending the back posts of chair legs for was plenty long. I boiled them for ten minutes and then boiled again for 10 minutes then carded with a patch of denim from old jeans. boiled again, carded, and maybe again to see how dark they came. Took barrels and put them in tank with a string through the extension rib (L.C. Smith) for 5-8 seconds no more, rinsed thoroughly. carded again with the denim and that was usually the end. I didn't give it all that many boildings or dippings just enough to bring the pattern out

I definitely agree that 45 second dip in the solution and you would have no pattern left.

Like I stated this is from Dr. Gaddy's formula and it has been more than a few years since I have done another and like I stated, only for me.

Yes, the thread that Karen pulled up in an attempt to smear me was from 2008, long before a system was worked out in my first shop by my employee, Manito Lara. I now have my own system, I do not dip to etch but rather put it on with a brush, and remove it immediately. For the little amount of etching that I do, I use a 29% FeCl3 reduced to 1 part etchant to 9 parts H2O. Many thanks to Mr. Stallones for getting me over the hump and sharing his knowledge with me.

Barrels by Manito Lara:



Twist barrel I did along with a bench made sight, gold bead inlaid by Charles Lee:




A set of shotgun barrels I did:

Those tubes look pretty nice to me. Great job!

Thanks, the more rust boiling and etching you will get a nicer finish, but in my opinion why do that on a gun that hasn't had the rest redone.

Well, you do what you can. In the case of my Smith gun, the stock looked good enough, but needed to be cleaned and inspected. While the gun was apart, the rest of it needed attention as well. Since my buddy volunteered to refinish the tubes while everything else was being cleaned in the ultrasonic bath, I took him up on that offer. The checkering was almost gone on the forend and the ebony tip was missing, so I had him address those issues as well. The gun certainly doesn't look "new" but it looks fairly-respectable to me now, which was my goal.

Lloyd I think he did a very nice job on your gun. I have quite a few "elsies". My favorites are the hammer guns and guns like yours that have the joint check up until 1899 when it was discontinued. I like that they open far enough to get the shells out easily.

Ah, hammer guns! Yeah, those are pretty neat too. You know, all I really wanted was a decent Field Grade to shoot clays with, but I ended up with this one. In my mind, it's the best of all the lower grade guns, at least for my purposes. This gun has so-many nice touches for an entry-level gun, the joint-check, the bushed firing pins, the English Walnut stock, and the nicely ( better) shaped action. Even the line engraving looks good to me. Nicely understated. I'm looking forward to it's use.

Mr. Williamson:

Perhaps you would know this. My 'smith suggested that I coat the tubes with a little oil after I shot it, which I did. I had some "Rangoon Oil" here that I had picked up several years ago from Woodcock Hill. This oil is supposed to leave a protective barrier on the metal even after it is wiped off. In this case, it seems to have also changed the color of the new finish from a more-olive hue to an almost grey tone (which is just fine) but... Is that expected?

Lloyd you are so polite but call me David. As far as putting oil on your barrels after shooting and cleaning, Dr. Gaddy recommended using used motor oil after blueing and or etching barrels. I use either a silicone-based cloth or a very light coat of Rem Oil after cleaning. I am lucky in that my hands do not leave any fingerprint rust marks like my wife's do. Any oil will work so use it sparingly. A couple times a year I would also take the locks off (make sure the gun is cocked or you won't get them back on) and use a Que tip dipped in Hoppe's or a cleaner of your choice to clean any residue and then use a Que tip with a little oil to protect the bare metal there or sooner if out in the rain.

Thankyou David, I will do that.

Steve:

Your barrels look darn-fine too!