Speedo66
Member
I was at a friends house yesterday when a friend of his shows up and asks what he could do with an old gun he had discovered in his mother's belongings.
He opens a plastic supermarket bag and there surrounded by cartridges is the gun in question. As he pulls it out I recognize it for a Remington style derringer, minus all finish in gray.
I ask to see it, open it to be sure it's unloaded, and look closely at it. There in tiny letters on the little narrow rib on top of the barrels is written "Remington Arms,Ilion NY." OK, so it's an actual Remington, not a knockoff. I look in the barrels and see next to nothing as far as rifling, corrosion has taken it's toll. The lever that latches the barrels is a little loose, not confidence inspiring.
The grips are in good shape, and the exterior is not rusted or pitted. At the top hinge, there is brass solder on either side, evidently the hinge was weak or had actually broken at one time.
I don't see any indication of caliber on the gun, but the bore looks too small to be a .44. In the bag I pick out a cartridge, .38Spl., it drops right into the barrel. I caution the owner never to fire a .38Spl. in the gun, too powerful, and look at the other cartridges. Aside from another .38Spl, the other 10 or so are .38 S&W.
My take is that with the loose latch and the repaired hinge, the gun's shooting life is over, and tell the owner that. He looks at my friend and asks what he should do with it, clean it, reblue it, or what? I say what little collector value there was would disappear if he touched the finish. Clean it, oil it, and display it, but don't shoot it.
What say the gurus of The High Road?
He opens a plastic supermarket bag and there surrounded by cartridges is the gun in question. As he pulls it out I recognize it for a Remington style derringer, minus all finish in gray.
I ask to see it, open it to be sure it's unloaded, and look closely at it. There in tiny letters on the little narrow rib on top of the barrels is written "Remington Arms,Ilion NY." OK, so it's an actual Remington, not a knockoff. I look in the barrels and see next to nothing as far as rifling, corrosion has taken it's toll. The lever that latches the barrels is a little loose, not confidence inspiring.
The grips are in good shape, and the exterior is not rusted or pitted. At the top hinge, there is brass solder on either side, evidently the hinge was weak or had actually broken at one time.
I don't see any indication of caliber on the gun, but the bore looks too small to be a .44. In the bag I pick out a cartridge, .38Spl., it drops right into the barrel. I caution the owner never to fire a .38Spl. in the gun, too powerful, and look at the other cartridges. Aside from another .38Spl, the other 10 or so are .38 S&W.
My take is that with the loose latch and the repaired hinge, the gun's shooting life is over, and tell the owner that. He looks at my friend and asks what he should do with it, clean it, reblue it, or what? I say what little collector value there was would disappear if he touched the finish. Clean it, oil it, and display it, but don't shoot it.
What say the gurus of The High Road?
