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.