Specialty Smith to Re-Solder and Regulate Damascus Barrels

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I Dont Care About You

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Anyone know of a gunsmith who can re-solder and regulate an old set of Damascus shotgun barrels? I also want the barrels re-finished in a rust brown.

Sadly, some dumbass, exposed these barrels to a hot brown process, which caused the lead solder to soften and lose the regulation on the barrels. :(

The gun is British made, ca. 1875 and I really like it. Someone put new wood on it, which looks gorgeous. Would love to put the barrels back the way they were supposed to be.
 
A few years ago, I would have recommended Nick Makinson, as your first and best choice for the job. These days, Martini Gunmakers, or possibly Wil Bilozir, might be able to point you toward someone with the skills to re-solder and regulate the barrels on your gun. There may be others, but none that I can think of, right offhand.
 
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Have you checked with Chris Dawe of Stillwater Restorations. I don't know that he does it but he might. Whoever does it, it won't be cheap if it's done properly. Be sure it's a gun you value.
 
Nothing against Chris, or anybody else, but Nick was 20 minutes away and shared his expertise generously with me. Nick had 20 or so of my guns on his bench for one thing or another. I always thought the guy should send me a turkey at Christmas. me being such a good customer.
 
This is very specialized gunsmithing work. This is not a skill taught to military armorers, machinists or in gunsmithing schools, you need to find a craftsman gunsmith who completed a full apprenticeship in Britain or Europe. They would have learned the skill but they still might not want the job. It’s hot, very messy, fussy and very time consuming with many steps, with satisfactory results unconfirmed until the end. And because of these factors this is a high dollar value job ( hundreds of dollars each for the browning and for the regulating) if done by a competent gunsmith. I too have no such craftsman for this job, good luck. If it’s a valuable gun you could consider sending it to Britain where this service is regularly performed by qualified trained gunsmiths.
 
canvasback said:
Have you checked with Chris Dawe of Stillwater Restorations. I don't know that he does it but he might. Whoever does it, it won't be cheap if it's done properly. Be sure it's a gun you value.
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It is 150 years old and it is both gorgeous and still functional. It deserves to be put back the way it was supposed to be before some hack buggered it up. Besides, I want to shoot it more. ;)

I didn't pay a lot for it because, probably the same guy who buggered the barrels, someone installed a new wood butt, which was very nicely done.
 
canvasback said:
Have you checked with Chris Dawe of Stillwater Restorations. I don't know that he does it but he might. Whoever does it, it won't be cheap if it's done properly. Be sure it's a gun you value.
Click to expand...

I tried to send him an email through his website but the system didn't like that. Any chance you have a phone number or email for him?

Thanks
 
I’ll follow up tomorrow.

As Ashcroft said, it’s an ugly job. I’ve had it done to one gun and that started life as a meticulously made Best gun quality. The need to do it arose during the process of repairing dented barrels. We’ve lost a few good European trained smiths in the last number of years. Not just Nick. It’s created a bit of a vacuum.
 
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I ended up sending the barrels to Chris Dawe in Nfld. He just sent me pics of the refinished barrels and they look beautiful, exactly what I was after. Price was pretty reasonable too, less than I had been quoted by other smiths in the past.
 
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