20 gauge CHE found in a garden shed

[wayne goerres]

When you stop and consider the price of some of the newer high end shotguns it makes the cost of restoring a Parker look like a bargain.

[George Lander]

Originally Posted by tom tutwiler

George I need to shop where you shop.

Agree if the barrels are salvageable you can do it for less then 11K. However Gournet (or someone of that ilk) is going to charge a good bit to rengrave and restocking with high grade Turkish will certainly cost 4K because the blank is going to cost probably a grand. Now if someone is capable of doing a lot of the work himself then that changes the dollar investment considerably. If one sent it to Turnbull I don't think my 11K figure is far off.

Tom: It's not a close comparison but the last restoration that I had Jim Kelly do for me was on a 4 bore E.M. Reilly doublegun that had rested in an attic with a leaking roof for quite a long time. The stock & action were "as new" but the barrels and forearm were rusted on both ends inside & out. Jim restored this gun for, I believe, @ $2,500 including honeing the bores, recutting the engraving and rebrowning the barrels.

Best Regards, George

[charlie cleveland]

i too think this lovely old 20 ga should be restored..if i had found the gun i would not have the money to start a full fledged restoration on this but you can have the gun fixed or worked on as money be comes available...i do not look at most guns as investments but this gun done right sure would make you more money than putting it in a bank..also you could think of selling the gun to someone on this a a fair price who has the money and passion to fix this little 20 parker..i think this 20 ga will bring more than a 1000 in its present state.. charlie

[George Lander]

Originally Posted by tom tutwiler

George I need to shop where you shop.

Agree if the barrels are salvageable you can do it for less then 11K. However Gournet (or someone of that ilk) is going to charge a good bit to rengrave and restocking with high grade Turkish will certainly cost 4K because the blank is going to cost probably a grand. Now if someone is capable of doing a lot of the work himself then that changes the dollar investment considerably. If one sent it to Turnbull I don't think my 11K figure is far off.

For those familiar with the A.H. FOX Legend, Jim Kelly restored BO-WHOOP! 'nuf said?

Best Regards, George

[Mills]

Jim Kelly restored another CHE 20 gauge that has been on one of the gun websites for a few years, if you want to see what this one could look like. He did a great job on that one.

[Cold Spring]

I've had laser welding done by a friend with a business in the aerospace industry. This laser work was on small, specific areas of steel barrels, pits were ground out with some kind of micro technique right down to bare metal, and the steel filler was ~ matched with the barrel steel so they didn't have different or mottled colors after rust bluing. I once sent pics of a barrel similar to this CHE to that friend - and then to one of his welding techs - just to get an opinion. Actually its rusting was somewhat less extensive. They both said my barrel could be done and finish up to look OK cosmetically - but because of the very large total surface area to be overwelded, pressure integrity would be an issue for them and thus they wouldn't consider doing mine. Period. I know this input is kind of apples and oranges, but I'm posting it here as food for thought.

PS When posting here about laser welding I usually get PM's from gents asking for my source. Sorry, friend does this work for me as a favor, he is not in the gunsmithing business, and is not soliciting similar laser weld work from anyone else.

[Bill Murphy]

My "Gold Hearts Parker" was a rusty mess when it came home to my house. The restoration was limited to the two sets of barrels and the skeleton buttplate. The receiver was cleaned with oil and fine steel wool and the wood was left in its original finish. You would be surprised how good a gun can look without trying to make the receiver look brand new, just addressing the worst of the other parts. Attempts to recolor and reengrave a high grade receiver sometimes results in a horrible looking final result. Some of the guns from the late Jim Parker's collection are good examples of guns that should have been left alone rather than fully restored.

[Mark Conrad]

IMO, the barrels are everything. If they can be saved with over .020 minimum barrel wall thickness the restoration is in order. If the barrels need to be sleeved or lined the value of the gun will probably never catch up to the restoration costs. Personally, I would send the barrels to Kirk Merrington for his opinion.

I have measured numerous small bores that were made in this time period and the barrels tend to be thiner than the barrels made in the 20's and 30's. The thin spot is right in front of the choke.

BTW, a CHE with 30 inch barrels is very rare. There was a gun at the Southern in the same configuration except for a ball grip that sold in the mid thirties. It was not perfect but very nice original condition.

[Bruce Day]

Echoing Mark's comments, TPS lists the C grade guns on p. 298.

The above 30" 20ga with Titanic barrels is the only one made. There were 21 made with 30" Acme barrels.

The barrels of the poster's C are in poor shape, maybe they can be saved, maybe not, and its not possible to tell with the photos provided. Some barrels with rust pits have been saved in the past. The chicken coop 20ga D hammer was covered with a fine bloom of orange rust which was quickly removed. The only part with deep corrosion was the skeleton butt plate, which had to be ground to be fairly thin, then re-engraved. The B hammer had the sculpting on one bolster deeply corroded, which had weld material added. That area was not subject to stress.

[Brian H]

Thanks again everyone who has offered advice and direction on this. I am inclined to head down the road of restoration if the barrel can be saved. I took some measurements of the barrels now that finally had some free time.
Chambers 2 15/16"
Left and right bore 0.620
Left and right choke 0.030 down to 0.590
Left and right OD from mid way to about 2" from muzzle 0.694 and the end .695.
Simple math wall thickness is ~0.375.

As stated the barrels are Titanic steel and the bores themselves are super clean. What would be a minimum wall thickness the barrels could be taken to?