1883 Hammergun Question

Eric Estes · 01-23-2011, 05:08 PM

I have #32888 a top level hammer gun with 30" barrels (Twist) that my father picked up somewhere in New Mexico about 40 years ago. I think it is a 10 GA since the chamber is .875 x 2 7/8 and a 12 GA snap cap just falls in past the extractors. It was to be a restore project that he never quite got around to. I am not sure if he intended to clean it up for a wall hanger or a shooter. Now all these years later I would like to see if it can be resurected, hopefully as a shooter, if not a wall hanger since it has been in the family for quite a while.

I doubt it has much if any collector value other than parts. I believe it is a grade #0. The only case colors left are a bit on the underside of the foregrip latch. It is very well worn and the outline engraving is almost gone. The big negative is that the stock is snapped off and I do not have all the wood pieces to repair it. There are only traces of the checking left on the stock and foregrip. On the plus side the insides look great, all the serial numbers match and there is no rust on the locks or other internal mechanisims. It locks up ok, but with a little rattle that I imagine could be tightened up by a smith. The bores look fairly good to my untrained eye.

Now finally my question. I live in the Columbia, Maryland area and I am looking for a gunsmith that can evaluate the barrels and tell me if it is safe to shoot. If so it is worth me cleaning it up and putting a replacement stock on it. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or reccomendations.

I have been trolling through this forum for a week now and I must say it is a treasure trove of information and knowledgable people. Thanks to everyone here for what you do!