12 Ga GHE

[Michael Kerr]

Hello,

Im new here and I am the proud owner of a GHE grade 12 Ga that is a family gun. I believe it has been in my family since it was new in 1911. I will know more about the history when my letter comes back.

Anyone have any good ideas for protecting my old gun? At some point I would like to get some resto work done but am very cautious about who and where I would take it.

Thanks and any help would be appreciated....

Mike Kerr

[Dean Romig]

Hi Mike and Welcome!!

You're right to take it slowly and ask questions. Ask a specific question (or several) and I'm quite sure there will be a lot of good advice coming your way.

[Michael Kerr]

Thanks Dean,

I see that the majority of the people are east coasters??? I sometimes hang out at my ranch in Montana which I see there is a small following in that state?

I would like to find someone to enhance the two sets of Damascus barrels I have. They are in good shape and have never been messed with so the cleaning should be an easy process...

I cant wait for my history lessons on this gun.....

Mike

[Bruce Day]

Fine steel wool rubbed on the barrels with a lot of Hoppes No. 9 can remove oxidation from old damascus barrels and get them as good as they can be without refinishing. If they are shiny now, there are a couple good damascus refinishers.

Here is my 1911 GHE 12ga for comparision. The wood was lightly refinished and the barrels were redone by Dale Edmonds, 816 444 2040. The G grade was a step up from the basic Parker grade, the ejectors cost quite a bit extra, and these damascus G's were considered very nice guns, and still are. I use mine a fair amount.

Yes, most members are easterners but there are a few of us out here.

[Michael Kerr]

Thanks Bruce,

My only concern is I looked at a gun with Damascus barrels and someone had over done the steel wool application and in my opinion ruined the barrels finish. I have some OOOO but wanted some input from the more experienced

Mike

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Bruce,

but I wanted some input from the more experienced

Mike

Mike, not that Bruce needs anyone sticking up for him but he's one of the more experienced PGCA members there is in regards to Damascus barrels.

[Michael Kerr]

I think my comment was taken the wrong way. I totally trust the people here at the PGCA.. I had an outsider tell me to use some other methods and hearing the steel wool suggestion made me feel a little more confident in the durability of the Damascus blueing.
I appologize if my comment sounded like I was questioning Bruce's expertise...I was absorbing the knowledge here and questioning the outsiders...

[Michael Kerr]

I consider the PGCA "the more experienced"!!!

[Dean Romig]

Sorry, I misunderstood your comment.

Dean

[Michael Kerr]

Just to make things completely clear....I decided to Join the PGCA because of the expertise of the membership!!!

[Bruce Day]

The best thing to do is to post detailed photos of the gun. I assume the stock has scratches and worn areas. The stock can be cleaned with Murphy's Oil Soap and then a topcoat finish can be applied that will fill in the scratches and worn areas.

I assume the damascus barrels are dark with oxidation. A damascus finish is differential oxidation, so what you want to do is take off the crud by light rubbing with fine steel wool and a lot of oil. I have also used Flitz abrasive to take off the black oxidized surface. The key is light cleaning, if you rub too hard, all the finish will be taken off, and you will have no alternative but to have the barrels refinished. If there is nothing under the crud but a uniform, shiny surface, the barrels will need to be refinished, like the photo of my barrels. There is Dale Edmonds for whom I gave you his phone number, and also Brad Batchelder, who advertises here, plus several others who do good black and white restoration.

Good luck. Damascus G's can be great looking guns.

[calvin humburg]

Theres bronze wool also I use it for cleaning old cartridges. Like a wise man here once said (Harry) your ansters but that wear on that gun they made it what it is. Its got charcter. Just give it a good cleaning and shoot it. I'd start with a piece of tee shirt on the barrells and hopps you can always get more drastic but once you rub it off, well. just a thought glad to have you on here, i'm an ol flatlander from central America. ch

[Michael Kerr]

Thanks guys.. At this time my gun is in my gun vault at the ranch. I will retrieve it on the next trip. The barrels are in very good shape and not dark at all. The pattern in the blue is still very visible. Yes there are some light scratches in the stock and at some time in the past a cheek pad had been cut into the stock. I was thinking maybe a restock at some point if the modifications werent done by someone qualified.
Ill search my photo archives and see if I have the pictures of my gun here.
Thanks again for all the input!

[George Lander]

Michael: The finishing process for Damascus barrels was/is called "browning", but the above advice is on target. Clean the barrels and you still have original finish, re=brown and you have refinished barrels.

Best Regards, George

[Michael Kerr]

George,

Thanks for the continuing education on Damascus Barrels. I did kind of feel funny calling that detailed finish Blueing.....Browning sounds so much more fitting! The more i hear from Members...the more comfortable I feel around my gun.

Thanks again!

[Dave Suponski]

Michael, The phrase"browning" may be a bit miss leading. English guns with composite barrels have a distinctive brown hue to them. Parker Bros. barrels are finished with a black and white contrasting finish. Quite beautiful to my eye.

[Russ Jackson]

Michael ,Here is a set of 16 Ga. DH Grade barrels that Brad Bachelder recently did for me ,I have also had the Gentleman ,Bruce suggested ,Dale Edmonds do a set of barrels also ,both Gentlemen do beautiful work ! I apologize ,I can't find the barrels in my pics. that Dale did ,but I am sure some one can post some for comparisons ,but remember each set are a bit different on the amount of figure they show upon completion !

[calvin humburg]

Russ, Wow Russ thats a nice job on that gun. Who did the case on your above gun was it cinide or bone and charcole. When they use the cinide method do they have to heat the metal up? I really like that 20 you sold charlie sweet little gun seen charlie make a great shot on a quail with it. good day ch

[Russ Jackson]

Good Morning Calvin ,I bought this little gun from a Gentleman in Virginia a number of years ago ,on GB , It is a DH Grade 16 Ga. ,built on the O frame ,it is indeed a nice Parker ,Thank You ! The man I purchased the gun from had no idea who did the coloring or the wood refinish ,but when he bought it ,some one had blued the barrels ,it looked very nice but just wasn't correct and it always concerns you when Damascus barrels have been blued ! The barrels were near perfect inside ,I had never shot the gun but eventually I got around to sending the gun to Brad for a " looksee " and sure enough the bores were good but the rib had a few issues ,Brad only did the work on the barrels ,but he Relaid the rib and refinished the Damascus barrels and took the ugly huge plastic beads off and made a pair of Ivory Beads and reattached and I am very pleased with the work and also the turn around time ! Yes that is a nice little 20 that Charlie has ,he really loves the little gun ,wouldn't a set of 28 Ga. barrels be nice on it ! Russ

[Bruce Day]

Very nice damascus browning that Brad did on those barrels, Russ. Very nice, and very correct case colors, too. So many restorations really aren't, but this one is excellent.

For those who don't know, the issue with blued damascus barrels is that the hot bluing solution often loosens the barrel ribs which have to be relaid, at extra expense, along with the cost of correct damascus browning. So, quickly, you have a $500 barrel job.