16 Sterly upgrade question

[ylwdog]

Hello Gents,
I'm considering sending my 16 gauge SW ejector gun off to have C engraving on it. I also want to have the wood upgraded My question is do I have the stock work done first or the metal work ? thank you for your input.
ylwdog

[bbman3]

I would get it restocked before engraving. Bobby

[bamboozler]

There are a few questions that you need to answer first:

1. Will the action be scalloped and/or rebated?
2. Will you be converting it to a straight grip?
3. Will you be having the tangs bent up so as to not have a funky looking nose of the comb?

If you answer yes to any of the above, then the metal work needs to be done first. It then goes to the stockmaker, it may or may not have to go back to the metalsmith to clean up any file marks your stockmaker left after doing his fitting and also final polishing and annealing before it goes to your engraver. It then goes to the engraver who does his thing, then again back to the metalsmith for final finishing (case coloring, rust bluing, etc.)

If you answer no to all the above questions, then Bobby's recommendation is probably the way to go.

[ylwdog]

Thank you for your recommendations. I know who I will have do the metal work but don't have a stockmaker yet any direction would be appreciated. I really just want standard C grade engraving
I want a16 gauge CE to go with my 12 and 20 gauges . I like the 16 for upland game.

[Brian]

I used Dan Rossiter, Custom Stocks An Steel for my last project. He has another Sterlingworth to do a full upgrade on. He does excellent work.

[vaturkey]

I used Dan Rossiter, Custom Stocks An Steel for my last project. He has another Sterlingworth to do a full upgrade on. He does excellent work.

Ditto for me as well. Dan has restocked three Foxes for me. Not everyone can capture the Fox Style correctly and they do certainly have their own style to them. He has a Don Allen Duplicator and trained on that same machine for years working for someone else part time. It will take a while to get done because he has a bit of backlog, but it will be done right.

[Doug Mann]

You have received some excellent advise so far. However, if you plan on having engraving done please have the frame, top lever, trigger plate and forend iron annealed first. You will make your engraver much happier and if you plan on having any rebates, scallops, top lever shaping or bead work done your metal smith will almost certainly require that it be done. Also if you have the tangs flattened it has to be done! If you don't you stand a chance of cracking the top or bottom tang.

So with all of the above said here is the schedule:

1. Anneal the parts.
2. If you are going to have metal shaping done now is the time.
3. Reassemble the gun to check for functionality.
4. Stock the gun.
5. Engrave the gun
6. Reassemble the gun and enjoy it.

I'm posting a picture of a Fox that I did almost fifteen years ago to illustrate what can be done with a Fox. I did all the work on this gun except the engraving (Jim Nixon) and the color case ( Oscar Gaddy). IMO they are wonderful raw material for a custom gun.

[bbman3]

Doug what a Fox! Bobby

[bamboozler]

Doug, assuming you've had the parts annealed and you've done the action sculpting, shaping and polishing would you recommend the parts be re-case hardened after engraving? Alternatively, if the parts were never annealed, sculpting/polishing done and then engraved, would it be necessary to have the parts re-case hardened?

[Doug Mann]

Doug, assuming you've had the parts annealed and you've done the action sculpting, shaping and polishing would you recommend the parts be re-case hardened after engraving? Alternatively, if the parts were never annealed, sculpting/polishing done and then engraved, would it be necessary to have the parts re-case hardened?

I personally would always case color after annealing. I just feel that these early steel actions need the hard surface to stand up to the wear of recoil. I have nothing to base that on - just my gut feeling.

I would not under any circumstance re-case harden an action that had not been annealed, it would just be inviting frame warping.

Many people do not like the bright colors of new color case and I'm kind'a one of those, so on the last gun that I did for myself I removed about 75% of the color so that the engraving would show and you could still see the color case. When I was done I lacquered the metal surface for protection. I'm posting pictures of the rifle (A Steve Earle Fraser) for a visual. BTW, the first 75% were very easy to remove - the last 25% was very tough so it was easy to stop were I wanted - I'm lazy. These photos are only to illustrate the process not to advertise Frasers.

[Ithaca1]

Doug,
What did you use for the color removal? Also the sheen on the Fox stock is perfect. Any tips on how to achieve that?
That is some fine work my friend!

Bill J
Magnolia, TX

[ylwdog]

Wow ! What a beautiful shotgun Doug ! Thank you all for the advise. It is very much appreciated.
ylwdog

[Doug Mann]

Doug,
What did you use for the color removal? Also the sheen on the Fox stock is perfect. Any tips on how to achieve that?
That is some fine work my friend!

Bill, I used 0000 steel wool for the initial rough work if you can call it that. Then I used a Pearl Pink eraser for the final removal and polish. The steel wool did not remove any engraving that I could see and there is some pretty fine Bob Strosin bulino work. The finish was nothing special other than I had lots of time to do it over a 2 month period.

[vaturkey]

My understanding is toilet bowl cleaner does a wonderful job of removing case coloring using a extra fine brite pad.

[Doug Mann]

My understanding is toilet bowl cleaner does a wonderful job of removing case coloring using a extra fine brite pad.

It will and I have used it where I was going to "French Gray" the receiver. HOWEVER, the stuff that I use is very fast and you have ZERO control of the amount of color that you want to leave - if any. Engravers love "French Gray" because it shows their work perfectly, I just prefer the aged look for my own personal shotguns and rifles.

BTW, I spent no more than 45 minutes doing the Fraser rifle. The top layer of color case has a very loose bond with the metal.