This Could Save Your Butt

[Rod N. Gunn]

I'm cleaning up a top-lever hammergun, not trying to restore it, just cleaning up the oil and muck trying to make it sound for once a year use as a turkey gun. Everything has gone well until I took a soft brush and some dish soap to the butt plate (which had a little faded, UV-exposed, oxidized look to it along with a lot of crude). To my dismay, when it dried it was clean but had turned a hideous yellow color. After some searching I found a product used by antique pen collectors (many old pens are made of hard rubber) and vintage car restorers (for hard rubber knobs) that restains faded and oxidized hard rubber. It seems to have worked pretty well. Before and after photos included for your review and comment.

[Labowner]

Dave what is the name of the product you used?

[Rod N. Gunn]

Oops, sorry, its called "Great Knobs" its sold by a guy in San Jose who mostly caters to pen collectors. "Pensbury" is the name of his business.

[Autumn Daze]

Dave,That is a great tip for recoloring hard rubber butt plates.How well do you suspect it will last? On another note I once knew a girl......Aw never mind...

[Labowner]

Thanks Dave, just ordered a bottle for my NH, it's but plate has turned a lite brown for some reason.

[Autumn Daze]

Bob,I have seen this"lightning or turning brown" on many of the Dogshead butt plates. I think it is just the natural aging process of the gutta percha that they are made from. Or it may be a result of excess sunlight...

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Dave Suponski

Bob,I have seen this"lightning or turning brown" on many of the Dogshead butt plates. I think it is just the natural aging process of the gutta percha that they are made from. Or it may be a result of excess sunlight...

GUTTA WHAT

[10ga Hammer]

Learn something new here every day! Makes for a good Parker trivia question!
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1456

[Austin W Hogan]

Gutta Percha was an imitation? a synthetic? rubber like substance made from the sap of other than rubber trees. Henley's Formulas(1907) gives a process for making imitation gutta percha from the black extract of birch bark and india rubber.
The 1899 Parker catalog identifies the DHBP as the "rubber butt". This might be translated to the American version containing india rubber.
The fact that dhbp's and grip caps lighten indicates that lampblack was not used as a sunlight inhibitor, as it is in modern rubber products.

Best, Austin

[Harry Collins]

Dave,

By the wear on your butt plate I would suspect your hammered Parker has not seen heavy use. What is it?

Harry