1st Phase of GH Restoration
 

So as some of you know and saw at the Major Waldron's New Year's Day shoot, I recently picked up a GH 12 gauge that needed some TLC, mostly with the barrels and stock. However I was given the blessing and was able to shoot it, which was an extremely good feeling.

Well this past weekend was a great day to be indoors and to get a start on the project. As a disclosure I am not a professional and am running off of research from articles, books and advice from the forum here.

These first two pictures really define the purchased condition of the barrels.

Good luck with your project!

Using various sanding blocks to provide a rigid backing and all cloth backed abrasive, I went to it in order of 80 grit, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220 then finally with wet sanded with 320 grit with oil. 80 and 100 grit are the only grits that really remove any material, the others did a great job of smoothing out the marks made by the 80 and 100 grits. Some deep pits required the use of a smooth file with light strokes so remove some of the pitting. I apologize for the crumby iphone pics.

Being careful to stay away from any engravings on the barrel, as I do not want to send the barrels out to have the engraving re-done. The barrel had some heavy pitting underneath the rust on the first picture.

The end result of the 320 is as such.

The last picture has the barrels soaked in oil, they are also stored that way.

There are a few pits still left which I am not sure whether I should go back and tackle or leave as is as to not remove to much material.

What do you guys think? Either way the next step is to slow blue the barrels with the use of a damp box. I have everything I need except for a metal tank. Thinking about just buying one off Brownells.

This is only my opinion but the slow rusting process tends to cover up small imperfections. Being we don't know what your barrel wall thickness is in that area advise would be pointless.

I have done some amature wood refinishing but never metal work. I wish you success in your endeavor.

What you have so far looks really good.
I would recommend working some more on the spots of pitting you have left. It wont take much more to get that taken care of and of course the end results will be much better if you do. However, i do not know how much material has already been removed and without you knowing how much you have to work with, it should be handled with caution. You would be amazed as to how much pitting can be removed by only removing a few thousanths of metal.

These are damascus, right? If so, a proper black and white finish must be done to obtain the contrast. Not just a simple rust blue (which will be all black).

If you dont want to mess with doing the black/white yourself, i would recommend NO ONE else currently than Dale Edmonds to do it for you.

Dale Edmonds has refinished composite barrels for me and I have been pleased with the result, however..... there are other barrel refinishing experts who do an equally nice job of it. Brad Bachelder comes immediately to mind - Brad has refinished (and repaired) composite barrels for me and I have been very pleased with the result. There are others as well... do some research for yourself on this Derek - advice is good but not exclusive.






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Exactly... I have my recommendations and you have yours.