Keith, this is a great thread jOe started and what an interesting start on vintage guns you got. Lucky you. I was raised on pumps. Specifically M12's. Nothing but. Shot a M12 16 gauge mostly through my teens. Then when I was about 20, I got a new Wingmaster in 12 ga. Used those two guns for the next 25 years. Then, one day, for whatever reason, I started looking at the old double my father had, but had never used. "It doubles....can't use it" was always the response when my brothers and I would ask about it. Which frankly wasn't often.
Shortly after picking up that old double for the first time in several decades, I met a gunsmith, who later I found out was an acquaintance of CJO, while trying to find someone to properly install a pad. The first "smith", and I use that term loosely, had botched the job terribly. When in this second smith's shop he and I started talking and he showed me a couple doubles that were in process for restoration. My eyes bugged out. I didn't know what they were but they were beautiful! Could not believe these old worn out beaters could be made to look so good.
I went home and talked to my brother (and main hunting partner) about what I'd seen and we grabbed my father's double and took it back to the smith. "Do your stuff" we said. And four months later we presented it back to my father, completely restored and with the doubling fixed properly. I didn't know it at the time but CJO had done the barrel blueing and CCH, so my introduction to this sort of thing involved the highest quality of work.
My dad loved the "new" gun. Sadly, it was only about 4 years later that he badly injured one eye in a rogue squash (the game) accident and at 80, decided to hang up shooting for good. He gave me the gun, which turned out to be a Fox A grade from 1909. It had been bought new by his grandfather. By that time however, I was well on my way to the full scale SxS affliction.
I was just with CJO last week and were talking about this exact subject. Funnily enough, it was a botched pad installation that got CJO started as well. We took different routes. "Someone must be able to do this properly" I said. "I could do better than that" said Claudio. Hahahaha! Rest is history.
