A very nice example of a Grade 3. Your gun was made in 1880 and has some very nice engraving. It could be cleaned by a professional and if it was mine I would have the barrels refinished just to bring out the nice Damascus pattern to complement the engraving but I don't think I would do anything to the rest of the gun.... except to shoot it.

Any ideas what I could use to clean it a bit. I don't want to use anything that might hurt the gun. Just wiping down the barrels with some oil cleaned them up a lot.

Charles: First, do no harm. Be very careful and patient. Frontier pad and Hoppes #9 on the metal. No abrasives. Others here know more than me and will give good advice. Bob

Thank you Bob that is why I have not done any cleaning to the gun. I want to make sure I don't hurt the gun in any way. I am used to cleaning modern shotguns and riffles.

I endorse Frontier Pads too.

Something that should not be overlooked is that any time you are working on metal parts that are adjacent to the wood, such as cleaning, the wood should be removed so that pads and solvents won't cause any harm to the wood's finish. This is why I suggested a professional earlier. Some folks can do it properly but some nice guns have been harmed by the inexperienced hand.

Clean it like you would a modern gun. Use Hoppes #9 to soften the goo and then wipe it down. More Hoppes and then go after the hard to get to places, use a toothpick to get the crud out of the tight places being careful not to leave any scratches (wood should not harm the metal).

Looking at the wood, one side looks good and the other looks dirty. Did it spend years hanging on a wall with one side protected? You can use a soft cloth and furniture wood cleaner, like Murphy's Soap, to clean it up. Whatever you use, make sure its mild and don't get too aggressive; just remove the dirt & grime and not the original finish.

If you search this forum for threads on cleaning up a gun you will find several with more information. Try a search for "hoppes" or "soap" and you will find good information I am sure.

I used Murphy's on a gun a few years ago and I didn't like the result... maybe I didn't use it properly, but I haven't used it since.

Thanks for all the ideas. As long as I been around 30 years the gun spent it's time in a gun safe.

Don't touch it yourself unless you've done this before and are completely confident. Follow Dean's advice and have it professionally disassembled and cleaned by a professional. Brad Bachelder in Grand Rapids comes to mind and there are others. Members of this Forum may suggest others. It's too nice a gun not to have it professionally made ready for shooting. Also and in the future, you need to store this gun in a low humidity environment. The wood looks vey dark which might indicate it is oil soaked. This should be evaluated as well.