Refinishing Grand Father's Isaac Hollis sxs shotgun-12 bore

[perfectionist1]

Guys,

I am scared as well as exited, going to refinish by grandfather's directly imported from london SxS, Isaac Hollis & Sons shotgun.

Project Date: 25-June- 2012.

Present condition of the guns:
1. Stock - perfect and shiny, somewhere patch of blacks due to oil deposits.
New the buttplate slight chipping of wood, because of maybe fall off from my father.

2. Barrel - Blueing perfect, just few dots of rusts somewhere (target area)

3. Side Plates - Gone black, engravings and shine not visible.

4. Over all functions - perfect.

Action Plan:

1. Apply Robla Kaltentfetter (Cold Degreaser) Fluid on the side plates first and rub with cotton cloth, till I see the shine and engravings.

I am not sure if this will take off the original bluing. Please suggest.

2. Apply Ballistol everywhere (Iwill be conservative inside the barrels, as they are cleaned by pulling cotton clothes), then w\ipe it clean.

3. Will fix the chip off walnut wood

4. Will fix a ventilated recoil rubber pad at the butt\

5. Change the hanging sling.

Please do let me know if degreaser is safe or I will need cold bluing stuff.

Bobby Sindhu, perterdk your reply is solicited.

Cheers....

[winnie_the_pooh]

You will,in all probability end up messing up the shotgun even more than what it is right now.I would suggest that before you start anything,spend some time gathering information,buy a book or two,gather the right tools and then try your 'skills'.As a first step,try to get hold of a gunsmiths screw driver set or else grind screw driver bits to fit the shotgun screws.

Issac Hollis sold guns in India.There was no need for any one to go to England to buy and then import one of their shotguns into the country.

Bobby Sidhu is a gunsmith and if you want to avail of his services,you will need to contact him.Peterdk is a cheat and has disappeared after defrauding people of their hard earned money.

A ventilated recoil pad on a vintage shotgun is going to look ugly.

[Vikram]

You would do very well to listen to Winnie.He makes a lot of sense.

Best-
Vikram

[dr.jayakumar]

this sounds like a perfectionist.
regards
dr.jk

[perfectionist1]

Dear WTP, Vikram, Dr.JK,

Thanks for your comments and support.

1. I did research on Ballistol, looked harmless.
2. However, degreaser looked sinister. Because it may require rebluing.
3. WTP, my grand father most probably acquired the gun in 1945-50. This was first hand acquisition.
4. I am waiting for ventilated recoil pad to arrive by courier, let me handle it before fixing. Open to rejecting it. I will post its pics for your suggestion, before getting it fixed.

Thanks. Will contact Bobby.

Cheers...

[winnie_the_pooh]

The post war years were not particularly good for the British gun trade.

1.Re. the sidelock plates,it is probably the lacquer that has darkened.You can get lacquer for this exact purpose,but not in India.

2.Re. the stock,a shiny finish is no indication of the wood being in good condition.The visible patches of oil may indicate considerable damage to the wood under the finish(normally around the neck) or it may be just cosmetic.You will know this only once you remove the stock.Removing oil will require removal of the finish.Refinishing the stock would require some knowledge and skill.The worse that you can do is to start with a too coarse sand paper.Try to ensure that you do not sand off too much wood or the metal will be proud of it.So....

remove stock from the action...........remove old finish.............remove oil soaked into the wood(can lead to shrinkage in some cases.......steam out any dents.........sand the stock smooth........refresh the checkering (required in most cases).........apply a stock finish

3.Re. the chip in the stock near the toe,it takes a lot of skill to match the repair to the stock otherwise it is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

4.For the recoil pad,if the shotgun had a butt plate,try to get hold of one.If you want to fix a recoil pad, a solid rubber pad is the one you should fix (silvers/galazan). You can do this when you refinish the stock.

Do not do anything to the shotgun immediately or you will regret it.

What you will need

1.Turnscrews/gunsmiths screwdriver that will fit the thin slots in the screws of english shotguns, needle files to repair the slots if hey have already been damaged.

2.A hair dryer or any other heat source and talcum powder to remove the oil in the wood

3.Paint remover to strip off the old finish.You will also need rubber gloves and a stiff brush.

4.Wet and dry sand paper of varying grits.

4.Sock finish.Many use Truoil.There is an excellent article by Mack The Knife on applying it.However if you believe that it is an oil finish,it is not.It is actually and oil modified varnish.Your shotgun might even have been finished with varnish as it was cheap and fast.Most post war guns did not have the care and time spent on their manufacture that the pre war and in particular pre WW I guns had.

5.A single line checkering tool for flat top checkering.

6.Checkering oil

7.A solid recoil pad (Red looks classy)

8.Brass wool to remove the rust spots
and finally

Lots of experience.You will gain some by ruining your grand fathers shotgun

[herb]

My thoughts, the gun has sentimental value for you. Don't mess with it.

You should have worked on at-least 4-5 guns before you can expect to do it reasonably well. Your should first try it on a beat-up wall hanger if possible.

Can you please post a few closeups of the gun. I am sure that old gun has lot of character. Do the gun and yourself a favor, get a professional to do it.

[Pritu79]

[quote][/quote]and finally,
"Lots of experience.You will gain some by ruining your grand fathers shotgun"



perfectionest1 I mean no offence, or the slightest intension of discouriging you. but couldent help react to winnie's quote.... which to be honest is really true..because acording to me you can read about others experiences which can prevent you from goofing up, but differing surcanstances and situations leed to goofups and eventually you get get first hand experience. I hope i made sence.
Like you I had a pending project of refinishing my grandfathers sporter Mauser 98 which after gathering a lot of confedence and working on a number of projects i finished last year. Though this was not that complicated off a project....but i did not want to mess it up, the final result was satisfactory. what i got to learn out of the mauser project is the metal is quiet hard and i could not achive a superfinish which eventually showed in the blueing, as in i got a deep black colour but a semi glossy finish which was satisfactory.
What i sugest like winnie is gather as much information as possible, for the oil stains thinner and toothbrush also does a good job provided you have a number of brushes lying around (as they start breaking in thinner).
I would avoid a ventelated pad as they are quiet thick, which lead to sight alignment problems and alters the length of pull. lenght of of pull is fine but most probable the thich pad may it be pachmayr or what ever, will end up raising your barrel a bit when shouldered..... Oh yes it does make a difference.....it happened in my case.

cheers.

[ckkalyan]

Hi perfectionist1,

Firstly, congratulations on having access to such a treasure from your grandfather's time!

A very noble aim indeed, to restore such sentimental beauty back to perfection. A whole lot of research and study would definitely help make your dream reality.

You have got some very good suggestions here, from knowledgeable IFG shot-gunners on your proposed project.

One suggestion - I think that it would be a good idea to post detailed images of the weapon in 'as is' condition for review by interested IFG'ians. This way, you are likely receive better informed feedback on possibilities and how to move forward.

I must admit - I haven't checked whether you have already posted pictures of the shotgun earlier in this forum.

Good Luck!

[perfectionist1]

Dear WTP, CK, guys,

Thank you so much.

by your inputs, I have decided to first take the As Is pics and post it for you.

Secondly, I have located a very good gunsmith in my area, I will do all that is planned MYSELF but under his expert supervision, I will be the apperective

I will certainly post the pics for your review post the job is done.

Will do fine....

Cheers

[perfectionist1]

Sirs,

Today I have recieved my gunaccessory.com ventilated recoil pad, its of black color. Not really bad, but good though.

I went to pachmyr site, they have similar recoil pad for shotguns.

Cheers...

[perfectionist1]

Good evening guys,
Ufortunately I have to travel and could not get to do the gun till 15 July. Will be definitely posting the pics then.

Sorry for the delay.

Cheers...

[perfectionist1]

Guys,

I have done it on last Sundays and Monday, invested 10 hours of sweet labor and the result is WOW...

I thank you all for you feedback, which made it possible, thanks Bobby ji for your advice, I didn't use de greased.

Thank you Ballistol, it worked wonders.

For wood stock chip and repolishing the butt used professional gunsmith services (not very happy with polish color, shades of black) but okay for time being .

I bought ventilated recoil pad but did not use it, instead got nice rubber pad which was very thin, fixeg, no spacer
I have taken lots of pictures at all stages will post it for your review, later as today I have no access to laptop.

You will love it.

Cheers

[perfectionist1]

You will,in all probability end up messing up the shotgun even more than what it is right now.I would suggest that before you start anything,spend some time gathering information,buy a book or two,gather the right tools and then try your 'skills'.As a first step,try to get hold of a gunsmiths screw driver set or else grind screw driver bits to fit the shotgun screws.

Issac Hollis sold guns in India.There was no need for any one to go to England to buy and then import one of their shotguns into the country.

Bobby Sidhu is a gunsmith and if you want to avail of his services,you will need to contact him.Peterdk is a cheat and has disappeared after defrauding people of their hard earned money.

A ventilated recoil pad on a vintage shotgun is going to look ugly.

Thanks wtp, no ventilated recoil pad used.

I check with my father, grand father imported it from London in 1936, it came packed in a box.

Cheers.....