Light Remodel of a Utica Sterlingworth

This is a late Utica-built Fox Sterlingworth. These guns aren't known for their fit and finish and sadly, this particular gun was at one time the victim of some hack's buffing wheel. The goal of this project was to simply "clean up" the frame shaping and rectify as much of the buffing damage as possible. This is not a full-blown custom gun, just a minor facelift. I've included some video of the "heavier" work as well as photos. It's going to get simple single-line borders on the panels and a banner on each side with A.H. Fox inside.

Here it is after annealing, before any work was done.

Here is the right side with the fence done and the cheek flattened. I also continued the raised rib at the bottom of the fence up to the top of the side panel.

Here are some photos of the finished frame. All of the screws are of the pin spanner type which will hopefully discourage any "unauthorized entry" later. The floorplate screw hole was so badly funneled from the buffing wheel that I had to machine it to a larger diameter in order to get rid of the damage. Obviously a new screw with a larger head had to be made to fit the new hole.

The triggers were cleaned up and I filed a scroll into the web of the front trigger.

Here is the finished project.

A&A toplever spring replacement

Here's an A&A Model 453 with a failed toplever spring.   I fabricated and fit a new spring, as detailed below.

The failed original part, clearly the failure was the result of the toolmarks left on the surface of the original spring.

A piece of 1095 flat stock was selected then it was heated and forged over onto itself, forming what will become the V form of the spring.   It was then machined on both sides leaving enough material to hand file the locating stud.

Once the locating stud was filed, each limb was filed to shape.

The spring was wrapped in stainless wire to hold it while heating for hardening, and quenched in oil.
It was then tempered in a Nitre salt bath for the appropriate time and temperature.

After hardening and tempering, the part is polished (by hand) to deny cracks a starting point and it's ready to reinstall.

Repairing a Browning A5 stock

This isn't the usual type of shotgun that I work on but the owner is a good friend and client, so here it is.  It's a Remington-built, Browning-marked A5 with a buttstock broken at the hand and missing a couple of pieces.  If it were a Belgian-made Browning, it would have been more cost effective to simply replace the stock, but since it's a Remington-made gun that was not an option, as the stocks are different.

Here is the condition as received.

Once the finish was stripped, prepared the surfaces for the new pieces to be grafted in place.

The new pieces (with closely matching grain flow) were prepped and epoxied in place.  The piece from the other side was able to be salvaged.

Once the epoxy cured, I let the metal into the new wood and shaped the exterior contours to match the original shape.   I then laid out the missing part of the checkering pattern and recut it.

The stock will be refinished with amber shellac as original.

Dakin (Holland clone) striker disc repair

Here is a Dakin SLE that needed some help.  It's a Spanish-made Holland & Holland clone of medium quality.  Sadly, the criminal incompetence visited upon it was the work of an actual, in-business "gunsmith" who apparently did not know that the striker disc is retained by the vent screw in the fence.  The aforementioned gunsmith proceeded to force the striker disc, in the process damaging the breechface, breaking the vent screw and damaging the frame at the radius where the standing breech meets the flats.  What should have been a one hour job, including actually making the new firing pin, becomes an eight hour repair.

Behold the result of ignorance mixed liberally with hubris...

After removing the remains of the vent screw, the striker disc was extracted along with the broken firing pin and spring.

As is typical in gunsmithing, the screw threads and sizes are proprietary.  The bushing thread is .336" diameter with a thread pitch of 36 per inch while the vent screw is .145" by 36.  These threads are easily cut on the lathe.  Here is the striker disc before being cut from the raw stock.

After cutting it from the bar, the location of the drive-pin holes are marked...

 ...and drilled.

The new bushing is then installed and filed flush to the breechface.

The vent screw hole is then drilled in the new bushing.

Next, the new vent screw is turned.

These two photos illustrate the way in which the vent screw locks the striker disc in place when assembled.

The vent screw is cut from the stock, slotted to index correctly and filed to match the contours of the fence.

Then the head of the screw is engraved to match the original before being case-hardened along with the bushing (disc).

After fabricating and heat-treating a new firing pin, the gun is reassembled and the job is finished.
The breechface and radius damage is cleaned up as much as possible and hopefully the amateur that did the damage in the first place finds his true calling (maybe changing tires at a truck stop).

Another Victim of Home Gunsmithing

Here is a Francotte Sideplated Boxlock Ejector imported by Abercrombie & Fitch, a very nice BLE with intercepting sears.  Unfortunately some hobby "gunsmith" with Sears Craftsman screwdrivers and a claw hammer saw fit to work on it at some point.

The photos will detail making and engraving new screws to replace the damaged originals.

Here are the floorplate and triggerplate screws as the gun came to me.  I had to machine the floorplate screw out because the slot was far too mangled to use any sort of screwdriver.

 The screws are removed.

The new screw blanks have been machined and installed with the slave heads.  The slot locations and rough height are then marked and the screws are removed and cut to their approximate height.

Once the heads are cut down, the slots are cut.

The screws are then reinstalled and filed flush to the surrounding metal.

Then they are engraved to match the originals.

The finished floorplate and triggerplate screws.  I use a 20X Amscope microscope and push gravers for the engraving.

Here is the breechscrew.  The toplever screws were made the same way.

The screw blank machined from barstock.

Slot cut and filed up.

The finished breechscrew