PHE Case Color Restored

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

This PHE was brought back to life by Brad Bachelder.

Brad was very pleased with these case colors. I hope my camera skills can do these soft colors justice.





























Don’t hunt with a gun that will embarrass your dog!

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Mark Ouellette

Brad was very pleased with these case colors.

And he should be!

[B. Dudley]

Those look very similar to my GH's colors. A bit calmer looking, but but very similar. I wonder if Brad recognizes my gun at all.

[Bruce Day]

Mark, most impressive. these case colors are soft and subtle and so different from much of what we see and what are called restorations that aren't. I am not an expert, but I have looked carefully at what I have seen of Brad's recent work and the engraving is still sharp, no buffing lines, no orange splotches, no neon waves, just nice, very nice.
For me as a small collector, the problem with most restorations is that they lack the subtlety and detail of the original, and I see the collector market significantly discounting these guns over an original in modest condition. With this kind of work, I for one see the market paying more for a restoration of this type than a modest condition original. We have seen time after time a modest condition original gun halved in value by so called restoration; that can change with this kind of work.

[edgarspencer]

While the colors are more subtle on the fore end iron, it appears that was also re cased when the action was done. I have heard, in the past, where some warpage was detected in the fore end iron, and it appears this gun has a pronounced difference in the right side radius vs. the left side radius, where the iron meets the front of the frame. This is probably correctable with some tweaking of the T section of the iron, so that uniform bearing is achieved on both sides.

[Ruff Hunter]

It is possible that the slight gap is the result of forend iron warpage during the case coloring process, but in the absence of before and after pictures, I wouldn't leap to that conclusion. It is also very possible that the gun needed to be resurrected because after 100-plus years of hard use, it was nearly worn out, especially on the bearing surfaces. There is no guarantee that the bearing surfaces are going to wear evenly, especially if the gun was used after becoming off face. Perhaps BFT can shed some light on that for us. Also, can anyone tell whether these are the relatively rare fluid steel barrels on a P grade, or just the more common twist that has been obscured by the new bluing?

[Parker Bachelder (Brad's Profile)]

Mark, thank you for the post. Really great pictures.
It is up to Mark as to how much of this guns lineage, he wishes to share.
What I can say for the sake of clarity is that the forearm radius is due to a prior attempted repair to the ejectors. We could not replace the ground out metal. The reciever had been buffed and blued atleast twice over the life of the gun.
When done properly, case hardening absolutely can not cause warpage. The Parker case hardening process minutely shrinks the metal due to surface density. New parkers required two fittings of parts due to this shrinkage, as noted in the book. Recasing older recievers usually will desirably tighten up looseness due to wear.

Brad

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Gentlemen,

To answer the questions presented;

1. The Parker Steel barrels are original to the gun.

2. The gun needed restoration after many decades of hard use.

3. Forend fit? Thanks for answering that one Brad!

Mark

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Brad Bachelder

What I can say for the sake of clarity is that the forearm radius is due to a prior attempted repair to the ejectors. We could not replace the ground out metal. The reciever had been buffed and blued atleast twice over the life of the

I was wondering that also, because the edge of the receiver
looked like it might have been polished. You're dead on regarding possible shrinkage. Anytime steel is taken above the lower critical temperature, grain structure is further refined. I sectioned loads of test specimens in the metalography lab and did photomicrographs in order to look at the grain structure. This can work for the gunsmith, and also against him, as internal dimensions can increase too, as I discovered one time re casing a Winchester High Wall receiver. To compensate for it, I had to build up the falling block and remachine it.

[John Truitt]

Mr. Q,

How long are those barrels? They look longish in the pictures.
34"?