Rem 11-48 re-finish or not?

[Sisco]

I have an 11-48 12 ga. that belonged to my Dad, metal is in very good condition but the wood is scratched & dinged.
One thought: the dings & scratches add character, they got there from Dad using it during pheasant seasons.
Another thought: If he had left me a classic car that was scratched & dented I'd restore it.
Not sure what the gun is worth, doesn't matter wouldn't sell it anyway.

 

[sappyg]

Another thought: If he had left me a classic car that was scratched & dented I'd restore it.
Not sure what the gun is worth, doesn't matter wouldn't sell it anyway.

There's your answer. Restore it.

I'm guessing you can go from mild to wild as far as detail and degree of restoration. That's probably the biggest decision. How much to spend and how far you want to take it....IDK.

 

[Starter52]

+1 to restore it.

 

[PapaG]

Fix it up. No harm.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I got mine for $250 at the LGS a few years ago. Most seem to be right about in line with that, give or take a few bucks.

Mine is a lot like how you described yours, good metal, but lots of scratches and dings in the wood. Mine was a Sportsman model, so it didn't have the best wood to begin with, So I just buffed it down a bit and painted it.

Depending on what your stocks look like, you may want to look at replacing with higher grade, period correct furniture. If its a Mohawk or Sportsman model, they were the lower end of the quality spectrum and the wood wasn't all that great to begin with.

To me, there's a big difference between a classic car and a utility shotgun.

 

[loose noose]

My dad's Model 11 Remington, had premium wood, and metal. However after many years of use in the woods, and marshes of N/E Wisconsin took it's toll.
Needless to say I did a complete restoration of that shotgun, even though I know it's not worth too much, except to me. Now if that gun has sentimental value to you, why not clean up that Model 58, I'm sure he'd be right proud.

 

[DanLee]

If your dad was still around, don't you think he'd appreciate your efforts to restore it? I did that for my dad and he got misty eyed.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Just make absolutely sure the guy you take it to knows what he's doing. I took in an old Model 10 Remington for a repair and restore. What I got back was broken even worse, and the idiot took a wire wheel and stripped off nearly 80 years of patina. Found out later when looking at it that he actually bent the barrel a few degrees to the left, too, about 10 inches back from the muzzle.

He never did make it right for me, either. Never replaced the pieces he lost, zero compensation. Just didn't charge me for his "work" or the few replacement parts he did use. Not that it mattered, he made sure with his repairs the gun was never going to shoot again and made for an ugly wall hanger.

That model 10 belonged to my step dads father, bought new off the rack (if you can believe the Remington date codes) in 1926.

 

[Sisco]

Finished it up today, Dad would be proud! Mechanically it was fine, just needed a through cleaning. Bolt charging handle needs replaced, have one on order from Numrich.

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