Beretta Silver Hawk SxS 16 gauge - Restore or Not?

Steyr101

Steyr101

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I acquired a Beretta Sliver Hawk in 16 gauge a few years ago.

I'd suspect the previous owner didn't take it out of the case for 50 years, and as such, most of the blued metal is rusted. Not major, but not minor either. The rust is very tactile, as in easily felt. Once cleaned up will likely leave quite a bit of minor pitting.

So, the question is what to do with it. The wood is in great shape, as if the french grayed receiver parts. The barrels and trigger guard need quite a bit of work.

It's certainly not a collector anymore, but it is a good action by all accounts. It would need a good once over by a smith competent in SxS's.

Open to opinions on how to tackle this or what do to with it. Tried to show the rust situation as best I could in the pics.

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Years ago I had a .22 Browning semi auto with a similar rust problem. At the suggestion of gunsmith (he's here on CGN) he bead blasted the metal work and then blued the barrel without subsequent polishing. It resulted in a finish that hid the minor pits and looks like it's been parkerized in a dark mat fashion. He chromed the receiver (also bead blasted) and it came out with a satin like finish. The combination of the mat blue and the satin chrome is quite striking.

With part of your shotgun already slivered or chromed mat bead blasted barrels could look very sharp. It did not cost a lot to have the work done on my Browning
 
Well, what do you plan to do with it? The blued metal parts will need to be struck down and polished out to remove all traces of pitting and then they will need to be rust reblued. Price this work out from at least a couple of gunsmiths who are familiar with doing this on doubles, then you will know what this will cost. No matter how pretty it ends up, it will always be lower in value than an original one in similar condition, your restoration cost could exceed the value of the finished product. No competent gunsmith works for minmum wage. What is it worth to you? Another obvious option is to clean it up the best you can and just shoot it. Third option of course is to sell it as is. The previously mentioned bead blasting prior to blueng, while not an original finish would look good and might be cost effective.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

I'm no stranger to gunsmith fees, especially for those who are competent and well respected. I've had a few guns built that i'll never get my money out of, and i'm ok with that.

I do like the idea of the sandblast with matte blue finish afterwards. I don't think trying to restore this to original condition (or as close as possible) is the best option.

As far as intended use, I just intend to use it like I do my other SxS shotguns, upland gun for grouse in the fall. If it'll bring me pleasure in the field, it'll be money well invested.
 
I would just bead blast or even sand and clean up as best you can by hand and slow rust blue. The finished result is gonna be what it is but at least it will look somewhat better and you can shoot it.
 
Don't forget, the external rust that you see may not be all there is. If it was in a case with some moisture present the interior parts could be just as bad or worse and could quickly lead to functional problems. Dam shame, carelessness can be costly.
 
Ashcroft said:
Don't forget, the external rust that you see may not be all there is. If it was in a case with some moisture present the interior parts could be just as bad or worse and could quickly lead to functional problems. Dam shame, carelessness can be costly.
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For sure. It might not hurt to remove the stock and have a look at the internals. Regarding the barrels, the bores are likely chrome lined so are probably okay but if there is any pitting in the bores, I would forget about it. If the bores are good, then pull the stock and have a look.
 
Research on how to refurbish the barrels by converting the rust with a steam/boil bath. Pretty simple and it works really well. Mark Novak's u toob site has alot on this. It can be a do it yourself deal with minimal cash outlay.

Darryl
 
As someone mentioned, the action is very tight and doesn't isn't timed properly.. it definitely needs a full disassembly and once over. If feels almost as though there some dried up oil/grease, so hopefully nothing serious.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.
 
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