G Hammer 16ga 30"

[Bruce Day]

Photos of a western pioneer G Hammer 16ga in restoration. It is an 1885 gun, new cost $80 plus $15 additional for 16ga, total $95.

Original no checkering. The gun has been cared for, cleaned a lot, not abused. Original bores and chokes, with .022 left and .041 left.

A one family ownership gun. One person had difficulty aligning the forend to the barrels and over the years, created a groove in the forend plate from the barrel forend lug. One can also see scratches on the frame arm left table where he had difficulty aligning.

I am still applying finish to the wood. Cracks have been glued and fixed, just a few more steel wool polishing and finish applications. I am using PGCA member Brian Board's Timberluxe finish which I have become a real fan of for its ease of use, water proof finish and lustrous result. www.timberluxe.com

The action has been cleaned, and prior to reassembly, I will apply oil and grease to movement parts.

Photos show the serial numbers on wood and metal components, a mark of factory components. The stock has the 0 mark for correct size.

I will have the barrel inscription and barrel engraving recut. Its been worn down by hand polishing. If this was a high grade gun, I would consider re case coloring, but it is not so I will leave the action as is. Barrels will be re-browned by Dale Edmonds. There are no dents, bulges or pits.

I need advice concerning the DHBP which has turned brown in places. I would like to get the brown out and returned to black.

The 1882 Parker catalog on p. 10 provides a table of Charges to be Used, which for this gun is 1 oz of shot and 2 3/4 to 3 drams of powder , black powder at the time. With that loading, and considering that this gun has strong original thickness barrels and no wood issues, there is no reason why the gun must be used with lesser charges unless I choose to for conservation of shotshell components, lesser recoil for my shoulder, matching the load to the target, etc. We see frequent statements on this forum that these old Damascus guns must be used with light loads, but of course those statements do not come from Parker, and Parker provided us with suggested loads and service load pressures for use of their guns. I will likely use for hunting the Fed loads I have pictured and for targets, I like a 7/8 oz light load.

[Rick Losey]

nice transformation

[Erick Dorr]

Bruce, Thanks for the nice series of photos of this gun. Regarding the brown in the DHBP, I don't see a photo of it, but I seem to remember reading that the brown is from heat with age. Its probably not on the BP but in it. I would think a dye would be the answer. Maybe a black shoe dye? Someone with actual experience will no doubt give you a precise answer.

For my own education is the "0" on the butt of the stock an ink stamp? Is the chalk SN on the DHBP original from the factory as I believe I have read about in the past. Thank you for your contribution to Parker knowledge.
Erick

[Bruce Day]

An original DHBP will/should have the SN in chalk on the backside.

The stock will/should have a size letter stamped in ink on the butt in order to correspond with the frame size. Stock size corresponding to frame size has implications for people you see on this forum seeking take off stocks to fit on their guns.

I placed a photo of the browning on the DHBP. I think shoe dye would just be a cover and not a correction.

[Eric Eis]

Bruce do you find the Timberluxe finish similar to French polish but a better sealer of the wood? How many coats do you use? For the buttplate I too have heard using a dye, just not sure which one.

[Brian Dudley]

Sometimes the brown on the buttplates can be buffed off or at least lightened with Steel wool. However, you run the chance of loosing some detail on the buttplate.

[Erick Dorr]

Bruce, I appreciate your clear explanation of the markings.
My impression, as opposed to knowledge, is that the browning is a change or loss of black pigmentation from the original material and not a reversible material change. A dye that saturates the material rather than painted on would seem to not be merely a cover.
I'll stop here to let someone with actual experience chime in on a solution.

Please let us know your solution when you find it.
Erick

[Chuck Bishop]

I've used Kiwi black liquid shoe polish on grip caps before. No build up vs a paste shoe polish.

[Brian Dudley]

I had a Lefever that I had to put a replacement buttplate on. I used another original buttplate that I had laying around. I had to put more of a bend in it for the stock that I was fitting it to, so I put it in some boiling water quick.
As soon as it went in it turned yellow. So heat def. has something to do with it.

[John Dallas]

Somewhere I read that the antique radio restorers have a process for blacking up the knobs on their radios. Unfortunately, don't remember I saw it, or the solution

[Bruce Day]

Bruce do you find the Timberluxe finish similar to French polish but a better sealer of the wood? How many coats do you use? For the buttplate I too have heard using a dye, just not sure which one.


I find the Timberluxe less temperamental than French Polish and less tendency to streak. I put on several coats with fingertips, using 0000 steel wool between each coat. On the final coat, I rub the finish in hard with my palm , that creates a more satin finish rather than a gloss. I end up with about 5 thin coats.

The downside of French Polish is that being lacquer based, it will cloud with heavy moisture and with rain, the finish can erode. The Timberluxe is waterproof. I hunted for ruffed grouse in MN in light rain and at the end of the day, the finish on a little DHE 20ga was cloudy and worn. It eventually dried out and became clear again, but sometime this winter I will put a topcoat of Timberluxe on it to resolve that problem. The finish works for me and I know some of the big name stockmakers are using it.

On the DHBP, I think will try some RIT dye to see if that works and is more than just a surface treatment.

[Bruce Day]

So now I have refinished the stock, cleaned and oiled or greased the action and reassembled. The stock brightened up when the dirt and oil finish was removed. What you see is the result of six thin coats of Timberluxe finish. I glued the few cracks with Super Glue.

I dyed the browned DHBP with Rit dye, and thought it was warm enough when I started to put the buttplate back on the stock, but as you can see, it cracked through the lower screw hole. These old buttplates get brittle as the plasticizers leach out over 100 or more years. Warming them makes them more pliable, but it wasn't enough. I have a new one ordered that is a replica of the original.

What is left to do is to re-brown the barrels to bring out the Damascus pattern. I'll take this gun to Pheasant Fest Feb 14-16 in Milwaukee and after that, the barrels will go off to Dale Edmonds.

[Chuck Bishop]

Bruce, have you though of repairing that butt plate with Acraglass dyed black? Then dye the whole butt plate black. It may be almost be invisible. What have you got to lose!

[Bruce Day]

You think it would have sufficient strength? The whole plate has to flex to fit back on.

[Chuck Bishop]

I don't know how sturdy it would be. When I was fitting a new recoil pad (without the peak), I used Acraglass dyed black to make the peak. I drilled small holes in the pad, inserted a small length of toothpick in the hard plate of the pad, then filled in with Acraglass. It gave added strength and it's still holding in place. I don't know if you have enough width to do the same to both pieces of the butt plate. Just a suggestion, again, what have you got to lose?

[Mills Morrison]

Very well done. The wood looks great. Too bad about the DHBP

[Eric Eis]

I really like the finish on the wood. Nice job Bruce.

[Bruce Day]

Thanks, Eric, and that is the point I was trying to make. About anybody can do a finish like that. No sandpaper was used except to sand off a little glue overrun, and no loss of detail was caused to the stock. Anybody can do this.

[Erick Dorr]

Nice job. Shame about the butt plate. Acraglass sounds like it would be worth a try. Thank-you Bruce for sharing your work.
Erick

[Dave Suponski]

Bruce, The pattern on those barrels looks great. Why refinish them?

[Bruce Day]

I put Formby's Tung Oil Finish on them, which helped. That finish last for at least several months and should be renewed periodically. It can be taken off with denatured alcohol.

In the past controversies have been started here by calling this a tung oil , others saying other stuff is better, others saying paste wax is better, etc. Whatever works for people, I'm no expert, and I call it Formby's Tung Oil Finish because that's what the can says. I make no representations about chemical content, MDS data, museum purposes or the like.

[Dave Suponski]

They look great. Does the tung oil last? Or is it easily wiped off? Thanks.

[Eric Eis]

Great looking barrels Bruce, Dave the finish that Bruce uses is Tung oil mixed with a varnish and it will last the season depending on how much you use the gun and as he say just use denatured alcohol to take off the old finish.

[Dave Suponski]

Thanks Eric.I just picked some up and gonna give it a try.

[Frank Cronin]

Dave, use a lint free cotton patch and remember just a little goes a long way.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Don't know how I missed this post--maybe i need my eyes checked.
2 questions : How do you apply the Formby's--I have a can. Do you just wipe it on and let it dry? I have a GH 16 (barrels cut to 27",sigh) and G Lefever 16 (28', F/F) damascus barrels redone this fall.
Bruce, are the Federal Game Loads OK to shoot thru the damascus guns--I have 2 cases of Federal/Estates 1 oz game loads. I had heard that they were lower pressure than other promo/game loads.

[Rich Anderson]

Harold I would not shoot Federal game loads in a damascuss barreled gun. Each gun is different in the condition of the barrel's wall thickness and what might work in one gun won't work in another. If you have two cases of these shells either shoot them in a fluid steel barreled gun or sell them. I wouldn't risk shooting them, just my 2 cents. The ONLY way to tell the pressure of the Federal/Estates is to send them out for testing. I have shot both...in fluid steel guns only.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Rich, that is what I do. I have14 cases of factory game loads( RGL, FED, Herters), that I shoot thru my fluid steel guns, and then reload them to 3/4 and7/8 loads for the Damascus guns and clays shooting.