16ga.com ~ View topic

*Last edited by skeettx on Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:50 pm; edited 1 time in total*

Brian
Well done on your restoration
Sounds like a great price for what was done Smile

Mike

[url=http://postimg.org/image/dtnegtsrr/full/]

*Last edited by skeettx on Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:23 pm; edited 2 times in total*

if you are wondering how I got it bigger
go to a picture in postimg then

go to "Show Codes"

then

click on "Copy to clipboard" right of Hotlink for Forums (1)

then paste here Smile

Mike

Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 686 Location: Ontario

I have about 20 SxS shotguns. About 8 have been refurbished or restored (Just referring to varying levels of work done from a simple re-blue to a full on restoration). I have about another four I intend to have work done on.

I agree with both skeettx and Brian.

First, keep and use the gun for a while. Once you really know the gun is when to decide what to do.

Second, once you've reached that point, do what you want. These aren't collector guns we are talking about. They are guns to be used.

I personally love hunting with a beautifully restored gun. Adds to my day. But that's just me. I take care not to harm guns for future owners and I try to use very good craftsmen to do the work. I'm never making money on any I have had restored but that's not why I do it.

I don't make money on my dog either but still love hunting with her.

Added: Forgot to add. Sam's right about the timing. I plan on it being lost to me for 18 months and if it comes back faster, so much the better.

Well said, you ever thought about running for office ?? Smile

Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 686 Location: Ontario

skeettx, if that was meant for me, thanks. I have successful politicians in my family but have never seriously considered it. Honesty is too important to me. LOL ' Laughing

'

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1698 Location: Minnesota

Brian, I wasn't meaning to give anyone bad advice. Maybe I was lucky to have the guy that helped me with the wood as a member in my gunclub. He was willing to answer a lot o f questions and give tips/suggestions etc. and help me out when I needed it. Personally I found it much more satisfying in the end to know that I did my part,although small, in getting the project completed. I knew I was going to have lots of time from when I sent the metal in to work on it so I knew to go slow. Accept for oversanding the wood where it meets the metal, there's not a lot to go wrong. Made for a nice winter project. He'll have to decide if he has the time/ desire/ skill to do it.

Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 265

SkeetX I just copied how to do it thanks! Sorry about the size of the photos, I have never used that website before. Andy Mac does his own CC that saves money on a project like that. He is also too fast, I was saving money every month to pay for the job and then he had the gun ready and I had to scramble.

Savage, I wasn't trying to offend and I apologize if I did. The point that I poorly made before is that only about 400 dollars of this project will be the wood, most of the cost will be metal. Of the guns I have had redone it seems like the price is always the same. For example I had the barrels and receiver redone on a different gun and it was almost the same price. I think sometimes gunsmiths give you a "bundle price" like a phone company.

this is a funny post where I kinda agree with everyone ! That gun just looks poised and ready to go as is - I'd do the skeetex rt . If it had a break somewhere that needed fixing , I'd start thinking rehab . It's an interesting thing getting a refurb , and we have a renowned Co here in Turnbull restoration . They would fix any thing that broke in the rehab . On the OTHER hand , I shoot with one of the old Creekside smiths every week (that's where the Turnbulls came from ) , and he always gets a laugh about how they do the case coloring . So unless you can direct the rehab yourself , I think there's a high possibility you may not be happy with the end result !....as an afterthought , the beginning of the end for the 20ga m12 in the steel post , was a rib/redo from Simmons GS . The gun went to hell after their work .

I too would use it for a while, and if you decide it's a keeper, do what you want to it. Being a relatively plain gun, it could use some sprucing up imo. You're going to spend a lot of time looking at it, so why not make it a bit more interesting? Or, as Marc Chagall (a famous painter) once said, "good art begins where nature ends."

Guest

I'd leave it as is. I'd feel more qualified to give this opinion if I saw it in person, or more pictures tho.

For example, an old Belgian OU I recently bought did require a minimal refurbish only because the wood was black with soaked oil and I worried about the long term integrity of the gun. I gave my wood guy strict instructions to keep the job "in keeping with the gun," or in other words, not too perfect and sterile. Yet my latest 16 is a prewar Simson with miles and miles of patina and field-wear, but it really can't me made "better" with a refurbish, and I think it looks wonderful in it's present state.

World's full of beautiful shotguns (with wild burl wood-which all looks about the same to me), lovely case colors or coin, fine checkering, etc., but there's an unspoken, undeniable beauty and honesty to a gracefully worn shotgun that can't be bettered or reproduced by refurbish dollars.

Just my thoughts.

Member Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 135 Location: Anchorage

Almost any Lebeau Courally is likely to be a wand they are fine guns normally made to high standards. As to whether you restore or not it is a personal choice. In Europe they maintain guns regularly far more than we do here so maintenance is fitting. I would have some caution about case hardening. I have read it can put a gun off face. I have seen fully restored guns with just that problem. It would make me proceed slowly and make sure it can be done without damaging your wand.

I'm a shoot-'em-as-they-are guy, but that's just me.

I don't have a shotgun at this time that I would consider worthy of restoration. I have a Model 12 that my dad bought in 1954. It was the gun I hunted with until I was out of the Army and school and was gainfully employed. I put most of the nicks and wear on the finish. I don't believe I would have it reblued/restored for the world. I also have my granddad's Stevens hammer double barrel. Granddad lost the left hammer sometime back before the war. Dad filed out a hammer for it. Not the sort of thing I would replace.

Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Posts: 258 Location: Nordern MN

Member Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Posts: 460 Location: Texas

I can certainly agree with both sides. Personally, I would use it for a while and test with various loads to see what combination works best, it may not need as much work as first anticipated. If after some time you decide to "restore" it, this would be a perfect time to have the gun personally fit to your dimensions & hunting needs. Stock, choke etc. Some will argue you will have way more in it than it's worth, but shooting a double that always hits where you look is certainly worth consideration. The only recommendation I have would be Doug Turnbull, his website has many fine examples of his work. !! Nice find !!