CeilingCat
Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2010
- Messages
- 17
So here's my dilemma. I have an early 1897 12ga. Its in OK condition but not superb. It was originally a long barrel but was cut down at some point. I believe that its all original parts. However all the bluing is gone. It has the worn and used patina to it. I tore it down and cleaned every moving part. Mechanically its sound and works fine. Still needs to be racked vigorously to feed reliably though. The stock and fore-grip are both cracked and in need of repair.
So do I leave it as is and proudly display/use a 111 year old shotgun that has survived this long un-touched? Or do I re-blue every piece and replace any worn parts and replace/repair the wood to bring it back to as-new condition?
So in car world terms; should I keep it as a survivor or full restoration? If I go the restoration route, I might be interested in marking it and adding a heat shield and bayonet to make it a replica trench gun. Or replace the barrel and mark it to replicate a riot gun. I don't really have any plans to ever sell it as its not really worth a whole lot. So it would be more or a personal pride.
But before I deface a operating survivor, I wanted to poll you guys to see what the general opinion was.
-Greg
So do I leave it as is and proudly display/use a 111 year old shotgun that has survived this long un-touched? Or do I re-blue every piece and replace any worn parts and replace/repair the wood to bring it back to as-new condition?
So in car world terms; should I keep it as a survivor or full restoration? If I go the restoration route, I might be interested in marking it and adding a heat shield and bayonet to make it a replica trench gun. Or replace the barrel and mark it to replicate a riot gun. I don't really have any plans to ever sell it as its not really worth a whole lot. So it would be more or a personal pride.
But before I deface a operating survivor, I wanted to poll you guys to see what the general opinion was.
-Greg