Not trying to be smart or anything but just google Belgian proof marks and you can decipher all those.

 

I tried to help someone decipher the Belgian proof marks on this forum a while back and was corrected fairly quickly...

 

http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html

http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_Trade_Marks.html

 

That shotgun has nice clean lines, a friend and I used one very similar in the back half of the 1950's to hunt swamp rabbits ( hares ) down around Dundee Florida. Yep, still have all my fingers and eyes

 

I've got a similar one in about the same condition that says Hartford Fire Arms Co. Bad stock, loose lockup but mostly there. When I get enough ambition I'm going to start whittling on a new stock. Right now it's a wall hanger.

 

I've got a similar one in about the same condition that says Hartford Fire Arms Co. Bad stock, loose lockup but mostly there. When I get enough ambition I'm going to start whittling on a new stock. Right now it's a wall hanger.

Is the damascus pattern visible in your barrels? I have read about several methods to expose the pattern, and was thinking about doing it; however, I don't know if these cheaper Belgian double barrels would have a visible pattern. My barrel are plum brow and I can't see any pattern...

 

I broke everything down and started to epoxy the holes and cracks in the stock.

I took apart the firing pin assemblies. The ends of firing pins had mushroomed from years of dry firing and discovered two different firing pins. These were not original to my shotgun, because the firing pin assembly had been removed long ago, before I received it.

Are the firing pins free floating or is there supposed to be a spring? Which is the correct firing pin? I will probably need to make them since the overall length was reduced by the mushrooming. Any idea which pin is correct? The one that is not tapered would back out of the assembly about 1/2" or so, but would not come out, which makes me think they might have free floated.

 

I broke everything down and started to epoxy the holes and cracks in the stock.

I took apart the firing pin assemblies. The ends of firing pins had mushroomed from years of dry firing and discovered two different firing pins. These were not original to my shotgun, because the firing pin assembly had been removed long ago, before I received it.

Are the firing pins free floating or is there supposed to be a spring? Which is the correct firing pin? I will probably need to make them since the overall length was reduced by the mushrooming. Any idea which pin is correct? The one that is not tapered would back out of the assembly about 1/2" or so, but would not come out, which makes me think they might have free floated.

Mine are floating but I'm not sure if they are supposed to.

 

Mine has a one piece firing pin that is spring loaded. If that helps any.

 

Any chance you could pull the firing pin and take a picture next to a ruler? It would be gratefully appreciated.

I believe some of the replacement parts, including the firing pin assemblies came from a W H Hamilton marked side lock shotgun, but they seemed to fit perfectly. The right hammer is canted to much to the front to work properly. I believe it was also probably from the side lock, an at the time I was only looking to make it look okay, not function.

 

There should be visible patterns in the sheltered areas under the water table and forearm if the tubes are twist or laminated steel.

Larry Potterfeild has a good video on you tube showing how to bring out the patterns on those old shotguns.

I've only played around with Damascus knife blades and never played with a shotgun barrel, you will need a tank big enough to submerge it completely in an acid bath to make the patterns stand out. Once the steel has been polished you probably will not see any patterns in the steel until it's been etched.

Your shotgun might not be Damascus or twist steel, fluid steel was cheaper to produce. I'll poke around on Midway's channel and put up a link to his Damascus barrel video after I find it.

If you want a brown and white look skip the boiling in distilled water part of the process.

 

I would be happy to. The gun is completely broken down at the moment going through the resurrection process. (the thing is ROUGH!)
It will have to wait until I get home this evening though.

Thanks, I would appreciate that

 

I used some steel wool and cleaned a patch under the forearm. There appears to be a pattern, but it is not consistent.

 

It's hard to tell, but it looks like twist steel to me.

Sorry about the poor resolution. I really need a better camera. But this is what the firing pins look like layed out as it would be assembled. The one on the top is the same, but put together.

 

It's hard to tell, but it looks like twist steel to me.
Sorry about the poor resolution. I really need a better camera. But this is what the firing pins look like layed out as it would be assembled. The one on the top is the same, but put together.

Thank you for taking the time to do this. Now I have something to go by.

 

I have an old Belgian shotgun, probably a little older than yours. Has one piece firing pins with springs. I found that springs from retractable ball point pens work well if cut to length.

 

Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

 

I hope it helps. The gun I'm working on is a bit older, and a different model. But it's a pretty good representation of what was coming out of Belgium in that era.

Wait until you get to facing the breach. (taking the rattle out) That's all kinds of fun.

 

I was trying to take off the top lever and locking bolt, but could not figure out how to do it. I removed the screw from the top lever and nothing loosened up. I can't figure out how the lever is attached to the locking bolt or how to remove it. Is it pressed in place?

 

Not sure if this is the case, but I have run into some that were keyed to the receiver.
That is, they would only lift off in the "closed" position.
The wobbling screw is normal. The head of the screw is filed to the curved profile of the lever after assembly. So the head ends up asymmetrical, giving the appearance of wobbling when being turn out.

 

With the lever in the open position, I can move it up and down slightly. I will try it in the closed position later today.

 

You have to take a punch slightly smaller then the treads and fits into the hole and the hammer the actuating cam down and out. This may take some force. The lever will not simply lift off. The inside parts needs to driven down. I have had dozens of these guns apart.

 

Thanks, I will give it a try tonight. I just didn't want to risk breaking something or do it the wrong way.

 

Trust me on this one that is how you do it. It is about and inch or so long so one moving you need room for it to come out the bottom.

 

Got off early from work and punched it out. There is a slight bow to the bolt, shouldn't it be straight? I am thinking the bend was caused by shooting hot or smokeless shells thru it.

Now I need to figure out what to do with this. I stripped and stained the stock, that I had mended with epoxy. I wanted to leave as much originality to the shotgun as possible. I am soaking all of the parts in penetrating oil and will scrub them in a few days.

I don't have the resources to re-blue the barrels like in the Larry Potterfield video, and sending it off to get done would probably cost more than the value of this old gun.

Is there a way to remove the browning without totally destroying the finish underneath.

 

That browning is really just oxidation over time. so the only way to really remove it is to polish it.
This won't hurt the barrels, or the pattern as long as there is no pitting. sanding until pitting is removed can make the barrels too thin.
Boiling that red oxide (rust) turns it into black oxide. Probably the oldest form of bluing.
Any way you choose to go, you are going to need to protect that bare metal once you clean it up. More than a few of the shotguns of that era had polished receivers. But I've never known of one that didn't have blued barrels. (don't hold me to that. I'm sure somebody can prove me wrong.)

The bow to the bolt may be damage, or it may be a crude adjustment made in the manufacture.
If it functions OK I wouldn't straighten it.

 

That browning is really just oxidation over time. so the only way to really remove it is to polish it.
This won't hurt the barrels, or the pattern as long as there is no pitting. sanding until pitting is removed can make the barrels too thin.
Boiling that red oxide (rust) turns it into black oxide. Probably the oldest form of bluing.
Any way you choose to go, you are going to need to protect that bare metal once you clean it up. More than a few of the shotguns of that era had polished receivers. But I've never known of one that didn't have blued barrels. (don't hold me to that. I'm sure somebody can prove me wrong.)

The bow to the bolt may be damage, or it may be a crude adjustment made in the manufacture.
If it functions OK I wouldn't straighten it.

Any recommendations on how to polish the barrels so I can remove the oxidation?

 

I finished this earlier this year, and had some people ask about it, so I decided to post photos. I used the rust bluing and it came out nicely.

I found replacement locks, but wanted to keep the original lock plates with the gun. The locks looked identical, but had different spring lengths and thicknesses. I had to tweek them quite a bit to make them work, but I was able to keep the original lock plates with the dog on them. Now the hammers match and actually function. I found a variety of firing pins and firing pin bushings and turned them with a drill using a file and sand paper. Now the float and function.

When I snapped that action closed, the wrist broke again along the cracks that I repaired. I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy, but will try to repair it again with a stronger epoxy. Does anyone have a suggestion of a brand of epoxy?

 

Acraglass.

 

...and pins, if possible.

 

I have some questions, and can probably help some of you with your questions if any of you are still looking at this. Please let me know.
My Davenport double barrel shotgun is a 12 gauge. It is said to have "blown off the hand of" someone back in the 1920's and has been cursed ever since. Looking it over, I believe what happened is the breech latch came loose because the latch spring was bad, maybe even home-made. I am trying to see what an original spring looks like. Can any of you help with that?

 

BpS, this thread is kind of old, please start a new one.