[Vanmoo]

1955 Browning A5 Standard weight 12 gauge, with a light weight Barrel. Customers gun recently inherited from a grandfather, he wanted a full & complete re-build and re-blue. Several of the Receiver Screws and Lock Screws wouldn’t budge. So a combination of heat and widening the thin factory screw head slots got them out. Then start the process.
A. Long hot sonic cleaning, pre-boil to get off all traces of grease and oil.
B. Media blast down to bare metal. There was rust on it, but not a lot of deep putting, so buffing was minimal.
C. Acetone bath.
D. Multiple timed cycles of rusting in the humidity/heat controlled damp box. Boil, card, reapply rusting solution, back in the damp box. Then cycles of accelerated rust blue.
E. 24-48 hour oil soak to set the blue. Oil removed with Eds Red solvent.

Reassembled with a new screw set and rebuild kit. The cut outs (for the Locking Screws) on several of the new screws have to be cut, fastest way is to set up a 3/16” End Mill Bit. Screw them in the Receiver, mark them, take ‘em out and make your cut. All wood completely refinished, this shotgun still had the original horn Buttplate (cracked & bug eaten) so that was replaced with an NOS plate from inventory. Test fired.
Vance Moore
Whynot Gunsmith Shop
Meridian, Mississippi
Facebook: Whynot Gunsmith Shop
Instagram: vance_gunsmith

 

[Subsonix]

That poor shotgun. Nice work, Mr. Moore. Another one saved.

 

[idriller]

How long does it take to redo one like this?

 

[Vanmoo]

How long does it take to redo one like this?

5-7 work days total. It’s a labor intensive process to say the least.