Doozy of a query!

[Harry Collins]

Jack has some great advice on cleaning these old girls up. I had not thought of Gunk.

The gauge could very well be 10. My 1881 12 gauge has .752 bores with about .013 constriction in each barrel. That means that if I were to mic the muzzel it woud tead about .739. My 1881 10 gauge on the other hand has .802 bores with about .030 constriction in each barrel. At first I thought the gun had wide open chokes because I measured them as you have your Parker. A standard 10 gauge has .775 bores and my muzzel measurement was .772! While at the Souther Side by Side Championship several years ago Jent Mitchel measured my bores and revealed the truth. The 10 was a popular gauge back then and they are great fun to shoot. Please keep us up to date as your project continues.

Kindest, Harry

[TARNATION !!!]

Gotta give credit to Richard Flanders for the Gunk soak but I pass that on to anyone facing rust removal issues. I did pass on in the old site an interesting observation. I placed small parts or groups into individual small locking plastic bags and filled with Gunk and headed off for a month holiday. Upon return, all bags were full of rusty liquid. The forend latch had a delicate lacework of rust that almost duplicated the part floating above it, including the dished-out finger hole. I touched the bag and it all disintegrated. I kicked myself over that, as I had taken so many pics and that rusty lace would have been a neat image.

I didn't swab the gun with Gunk, rather immersed all metal into the liquid, including the barrels. By using small plastic bags and improvised plastic bag sleeve for the barrels, I was able to get by with a small jug of Gunk for the whole job.

The archive seems not to have all the pics in the Second Chance Gun thread. Here's a couple just to give you an idea.

Cheers,
Jack

Hammer group after finally getting the action dismantled


Soaking in Gunk


No pics yet of end result but will get to that some day. My New Year's Resolution will be to actually finish one project as opposed to having all sorts of things apart (not just guns) That will surprise my wife and even me

Cheers
Jack

[Sean Harper]

I swear I'm enthralled by everyone here. Thank-you's just seem innadiquate.

Upon last evening's revelation that the work can be done by myself, a lot of progress has actually been made. I used Gunk's on the hinge, all bolts and screws, and on the fore end lever. This morning I tested the fore end lever with just finger-strength. It released and I was able to remove the grip plate. She still will not break, but removing that portion has enabled me to directly apply Gunk's to the hinge and cocking hook. I'm hoping this will help in loosening it up.

The serial number is stamped again on the underside of the grip plate. It clearly reads 19698. My previous consern about the serial number can now be put to bed.

I have decided that only finger strength will be used in dismantling the gun. When it comes to the finer screws and plates, I'll be very ginger. I'm tempted to use my finer woodworking tools. I have plastic pry's and small plastic hammers I use to seperate dovetailing and hinges from antique furnature. But have no fear gentlepeople, I shall refrain.

My questions at this point are simple. Now that the grip plate is off, is there any better way of removing the barreles? Is there a good way or a bad way? I'm very seriously considering purchasing Brownell's Rust Release for the soaking of all metal parts, post dismantaling. Evidently this product is superb when removing rust from antiques with delicate scroll and filigry. Any experience with this?

Big thanks to you Harry for your gauge post. I'm sure once the barels are removed and the grade is evident we can put this gauge mystery to bed. I have learned a lot from your post. Jack, your pictures are inspiring! I will take some pictures of my recent progress and post them shortly. Perhaps I should start a new post in the Restoration portion of the forum?

Thanks guys, more pictures very soon.
Sean