Starting a project

[ROMAC]

After a long search I found a great donor gun for a project. The donor gun is a Savage era 16 gauge Sterlingworth with 30 inch #2 barrels, double triggers and ejectors. Dan Rossiter will be doing the metal work and Geoffroy Gournet will be doing the engraving, which will be to an XE upgrade with perhaps a few flourishes that I am still thinking about. This is in its' infancy but I have the gun and the wood which came from Cecil Fredi in Las Vegas.

Here is what i have to start.



A little Marblecake on one side:



Some Feather crotch on the other:



It is going to be a fun 2 year project, I'm sure!

[vaturkey]

Super for sure. I was at Dan's yesterday and he worked on a little A grade 16 gauge project gun for me. While there I finally got for him to pose with the Abby gun. For those who wonder what Dan looks like here's a picture:



PS. I think your project will be outstanding. Also your choice of a starting platform is fantastic as well and of course Cecil has some killer wood.

[ROMAC]

The heavy barrels on the 16 are a bit of concern. The total weight right now is 6 lbs 14 oz. Dan says he can work them down a bit. Some of the forward weight should balance better when the new stock is done. The new stock will be at least an inch longer.

[MilRob]

Should be a really nice project. Looking forward to the pictures.

[ROMAC]

New issues keep popping up that I need to make decision on.

I can get anther stick of forend wood that matches from Cecil Fredi, and I think I can get an extra barrel in the white and foreend iron.

So the question is: Do I go with a 2 barrel set with a 28 inch as well as the 30 and keep the 30 heavy?

Such decisions.

[Twice Barrel]

New issues keep popping up that I need to make decision on.

I can get anther stick of forend wood that matches from Cecil Fredi, and I think I can get an extra barrel in the white and foreend iron.

So the question is: Do I go with a 2 barrel set with a 28 inch as well as the 30 and keep the 30 heavy?

Such decisions.

Go for it. A two barrel set is nice to have especially for traveling and you don't have problems with adjusting to different stock dimensions when changing guns for different shooting situations.

I would keep the 30 inch barres at Full and Modified or Full and Full and open the chokes on the 28 inch barrels to say Skeet 1 and Skeet 2 for closer upland hunting over pointing dogs.

[Twice Barrel]

New issues keep popping up that I need to make decision on.

I can get anther stick of forend wood that matches from Cecil Fredi, and I think I can get an extra barrel in the white and foreend iron.

So the question is: Do I go with a 2 barrel set with a 28 inch as well as the 30 and keep the 30 heavy?

Such decisions.

Go for it. A two barrel set is nice to have especially for traveling and you don't have problems with adjusting to different stock dimensions when changing guns for different shooting situations.

I would keep the 30 inch barrels at Full and Modified or Full and Full and open the chokes on the 28 inch barrels to say Skeet 1 and Skeet 2 for closer upland hunting over pointing dogs.

[vaturkey]

Tough call, but I'd still go for the 2 barrel set. The only issue is going to be balance. If the gun balances with the heavy 30' barrels it will no doubt be muzzlelight with the 28" barrels, because they are probably going to weigh quite a bit less. That said, I'd rather have a well balanced gun with 28" barrels and a slightly muzzleheavy gun with the 30" barrels. A think a 30" gun would be awesome for sporting clays and the 28" would be better for carrying in the field. There is just something about having a two barrel set that makes a custom gun even more custom

[ROMAC]

Well, a bit of time has gone by and things are starting to move forward. I purchased the 28 inch ejector barrels in the white and all the parts for a second forend. Everything has been shippped to Dan and the long list of desired metal work is coming together. So now it will be a two barrel set, both with ejectors and measuring 28 and 30 inches. Balanced for 28 inches with slightly muzzle heavy weight forward for the 30's.

As you can imagine, there are dozens of small details to consider and I've seen enough custom guns to know just how good this could be if I let these guys do their craft. I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I am going to blow through my original budget.

[fox-admin]

Keep us posted sounds very interesting. Craig

[TOOL MAN]

Hey ROMAC....budgets are meant to be BLOWN....just look at how our politicians in Washington handle them!!
BTW, the AHFCA rallying cry at this year's Vintage Cup was: "Yuh can't take it with you...write the damn check!!"
LOL....good luck with your project!!---TOOL

[kgb]

Looks like the stock will be a cut or two above X, but X engraving would look good no matter the furniture level, to my eye at least.
Will the forearms be identical? I would think there is some leeway in balancing the gun via wood as they fit up two different length and weight barrels. I'm in general agreement with the decision of balancing neutral with one set and slightly weight-forward with the other barrels, but do have one gun balancing slightly to the back which shoots very good for me at several different types of shooting. I wouldn't have guessed this would be the case, but like so many things shotgun there are other variables to likely make the difference more than purely weight bias.

Am watching for further progress, good luck!!

Kirk

[Goldenfox]

ROMAC,
I see that your 30" barrels are #2 weight, quite heavy. My 28" barrels are #3 weight. I have a question....what weight are your 28" barrels? If they are #2 also, you could have your gunsmith strike the 30" barrels a bit and have them weigh the similar to the 28 inchers. The dynamics would be a bit different, but the balance point would be the same. You have an interesting dilemma. Good luck.
Any updates or progress photos yet?

[ROMAC]

There will be a substantial amount of striking going on.

I'm trying to get up to his place soon for the stock fitting and to go over the final details etc...

[eightbore]

Romac, is your gun in the "model stock" stage right now or are you going up to be fitted with the final stock? My project is in the "model stock" stage right now. Get Dan to show it to you. My gun will be a working Becker style pigeon gun with way less than X Grade engraving. I think you'll like it. I will be visiting very soon.