SILK PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR?

[J. A. EARLY]

Well, not really. Maybe a cotton purse. I'm admittedly a bottom feeder. But I get great satisfaction out of turning another man's junk into something very usable. This VH was a disaster. Worn checkering, three dents in the barrels, no finish, pinned and split head stock, no bluing on the barrels, and rusty inside from being hunted in the rain since 1916.

Dents removed with a set of pin gauges, a home rust bluing, cleaned all internal parts, polished the brown frame with Flitz, Nitre blued triggers, trigger guard, safety, and forend release and tip, and had my retired wood master recheckered the stock and finish it beautifully. Have $500 in it now. But with 28" VH barrels, .008 and .025 chokes it will be a great game gun. Yea, it's not high grade, and not restored, just refurbished, but it is as tight as a bank vault and is a perfect 107-year-old hunting gun.