DHE Restoration
 

A while back I sent my well used reproduction DHE to PGCA member Brian Dudley (bmdgunstocks.com). He restored it to look more like an original Meriden Parker, actual case coloring, barrels reblued, nickel plated trigger, etc. Needless to say I’m more than happy with the results.

Another.

Before.

At first glance 3 things catch my eye:
1) Wood
2) Wood
3) Wood

Very nice, Brian does great work for sure.

Thanks for posting this Kirk. And thanks for putting up a few more 'before' photos. I only had a couple that you had emailed me at the beginning of the project and they were not as "good" as these ones.

The repros can really clean up well to make very nice looking guns

This one has a gold inlayed "2" on the trigger guard. I guess it was number 2 of a two gun set. I wonder where number 1 is. ??

A lot of these have very nice wood and this is a great example. I once saw one where the engraving had been chased to deepen it the case color redone using the bone charcoal method and the stock refinished and the gun was fabulous looking.

And the proper checkering borders too. Great gun - great job!!
Bob Jurewicz

The original checkering on this gun was a real mess. It cleaned up nicely though.

It seems Brian forgot to put one of the triggers back in during reassembly. Seriously, one wicked nice repro.

Beautiful work, Brian! Thanks for posting, Kirk!

Kirk what gauge is it? My guess is a 20.

Brian did one that looks close to that for me only he remembered the other trigger. He fit a pair of 16ga Krieghoff Bbls as well. Fantastic work and I decided to wait a bit and wear my original Case off then have him re-do it. The OE Claro stock broke through the wrist on clays. Nice write up on his web site.

What a gun! Bobby

Great work, Brian. See you at Ernie's.

I was really happy with how the wood turned out on this gun. I dont know what was on the stock from the factory, but it had a real reddish color to it. I used no stain on the stock when i refinished it. Just pro custom oil. The natural color of the wood was great without any help.

Brian -What was the original finish on Reproductions? Urethane? If so, how did you remove it?

Yes. Some sort of urethane. Acetone will soften it some. But sanding does most of the work. 120 grit works well.

Here is one Mr. Bachelder did the work on. I think it is a lovely gun now.

https://i.imgur.com/WKxnUJ3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/x6AsRXw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/X0Rpquo.jpg

Acetone did nothing to remove the 'urethane' finish on one of my Repros. The thing that really did the trick was a paint remover Kathy uses in refinishing furniture that has had several coats of different colored paints, problem is I don't remember the name of the paint remover.





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I think Brownells sell some sort of thermonuclear paint remover for urethane finishes. I understand it helps, but it's still a bear to strip off the urethane

I had Remington 700 rifle stripped and refinished in oil. The stocker said it was very hard because even though it was stripped, the wood pores were still sealed, making absorption of the oil very difficult

I have seen that urethane stripper from brownells, but was leary to spend the money to try it. I dont do enough of it to take the chance on finding an “easier way”.

I stripped and refinished one Repro. I used a product called "Zip Strip" based upon good results on other projects previously. Using a home-made plastic scraper (delrin) the finish gave up the ghost without much trouble but, it did take more than one application of stripper and I was able to tune up the sharp edge of my scraper with ease whenever it was required. When all was scraped-off I followed with bronze wool dipped in the Zip Strip.

I was surprised how many voids were in the wood that'd been filled with whatever finish originally used, hiding them. I wouldn't do it again unless there was an issue with the gun or, as Kirk ventured, to restore a gun.

*I have one gun that required a small repair to the original finish. I wasn't having any luck at all blending the area until Brian kindly suggested Urethane..I used wiping urethane and the problem area disappeared right away..nothing else seemed to work (thanks Brian)

Great gun Kirk and great work Brian!!

I found the same to be true when I had finished stripping mine.




.

Brian, I am surprised that you would recommend using sandpaper, especially one as coarse as 120, as opposed to using a scraper. I could, however, see using an abrasive paper, followed by a scraper. I know a lot of old school furniture guys like using a piece of glass. I find using single edge razor blades effective. The trick is keeping the blade perpendicular to the wood. Razor blades, with some sort of tool, raise heck with arthritis.

Edgar, I can definitely see how the blade would be effective and I've known others (professional cabinet makers) to use the same. Somehow, I'm just not brave enough to put anything metallic to the task because I don't want to sand at all when refinishing if I can help it. (I wouldn't be concerned using a r-blade for something flat) It occurs to me an old credit card with a bit of a burnished edge akin to a cabinet scraper would do the trick.

Furniture refinishers break a pane of glass and wind up with any angle scraper they need.






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That's pretty clever..never heard that one before. Thanks for sharing.

Homer Formby lived here

Well... i dont know what to tell you...

Remington 700
 

John... Remington used a finish on their ADL and BDL 700's
called RKW. It provided a very hard glossy finish. I was told
it was basically the same finish on bowling balls. Impervious
to harsh weather, hard use, and, yes, difficult to refinish!

I used the glass technique on an 870. It worked like a charm and effortlessly. I was careful not to scrape too deeply though and then finished up with sandpaper. Final finish was tru-oil. I would highly recommend it.

Edgar........:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

Pictures tell the tale, Brian. You do nice work.

..now I have to buy another pane of glass for my new shed because somehow, one of the pcs I bought last week's been broken..

The Zip Strip mentioned earlier rings a bell with me. I stripped a 682 Beretta stock in several stages, one of them being Zip Strip. I remembering using more than one strength of the same brand of stripper to get the results I needed. One thing about the long abused Beretta, all the imperfections and dents were in the finish, not the wood. Refinishing the wood after stripping was a piece of cake. The big Beretta trap stock is now adapted to the action of a Model 42 Winchester to make a man sized .410.

Zip Strip has been around since at least the early 60's and is likely the most prolific stripper ever made. I've only used it a few times but it generally gets the job done.

Someday Brian; someday.........

Brian, did Turnbull do the colors on that DHE? Well done

Brian redid my VH 0 frame a while back. He does amazing work. I am looking forward to having him do a new forend for the set as well.

Everything about that restoration is dead on right. It's nice to know that someone out there can do that quality of Parker restoration. What really impresses me is that Brian made the checkering a color which is in concert with an older gun. I don't like to see a restored Parker with a new checkering look. It's just not appropriate to my eye. I have been doing this for years and its good to see it on this gun. Wonderful attention to detail and work. None better in my opinion. My hat is doffed to Brian.