Old Shotgun Repair and Pricing Questions.

[wewoapsiak]

Hey guys. I recently acquired a J.C. Higgins Sears & Roebuck model 101.7 / 311A 16ga double barrel and a Savage Arms Model 94F .410, from my family. Neither have serial numbers. They've always been used for hunting and such, so they are in a little rough shape and I'd like to fix them up.

The 16ga has a cracked stock (but still functions fine), and portions of the barrel was scrubbed to remove rust so it needs re-blued. I took it to a local place today and they said $100 at least for the stock, $200 for the bluing, and 3 months in the shop.

The .410 needs a trigger guard, and the front hand rail will come off if you pull on it with just a little force. The shop had no idea how much this would be. Same thing for bluing the barrel on this one too.

I'm new to the game so this is the first time I've had to look at gun repair before.

1) Does these prices sound about right?

2) If I want to blue the barrel myself with the kits they have at stores.

3) Does anyone know if the front rail on the .410 is supposed to come off like that?

Thanks.

[Karnage]

1) Does these prices sound about right?

2) If I want to blue the barrel myself with the kits they have at stores.

3) Does anyone know if the front rail on the .410 is supposed to come off like that?

1) I would say $200 for bluing a long gun is about right. If that quote was just for the barrel it might be a little high. You can buy the stock yourself here Stock, Plain Hardwood, w/ Buttplate for $72.55. For a shop to charge $100 for the stock is not out of line especially if that includes installation.

2) The cold bluing kits that you buy in the store will not even compare to a quality hot bluing job.

3) The forend should not come off like that. I would guess that the spring that holds the forend is worn out. It is part #33 on the schematic here Numrich Gun Parts Corp. - The World's Largest Supplier of Firearms Parts and Accessories and is $4.90 to replace. The trigger guard is part #28 and is $12.30 to replace.

If you decide to order parts from Numrich you can call Numrich's order line (866.686.7424) and press 1 they will give you a code to receive free shipping if you hang up and order from the website.

[Bassoneer]

I did some old shotguns last summer with the Birchwood Casey stuff. The wood turned out great with their stain and TruOil. However, I agree with Karnage, the bluing leaves a lot to be desired, and is obviously nowhere near what a gun company (or pro gunsmith) could do. One of these days I'll probably get the bluing done professionally, but I find it hard to believe I could be happier with somebody else's wood refinish job. If you are patient and know anything about refinishing, you could knock out the wood part yourself, but if you want a really nice job you need a pro to do the bluing. Best wishes, B

Edited January 2, 2012 by Bassoneer

[wewoapsiak]

Awesome. Thanks for the info guys.

[Guest springfield lady]

I KNOW A GOOD GUNSMITH IN CLEVELAND, TN THAT WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE. THESE PRICES SOUND HIGH TO ME. I HAD HIM REBLUE A SHOTGUN FOR ME AND IT WAS $175.00 FOR THE BLUEING AND IT LOOKED REALLY GOOD WHEN I GOT IT BACK AND HE ALSO REFINISHED MY STOCK AND FOREARM FOR $75.00. IT MIGHT BE A BIT OF A DRIVE FOR YOU BUT HE IS GOOD. give him a call jfmgunsmithing 423-790-2780

[MarkInNashville]

Here is something I was told recently by a gunsmith (he had been GunTroil on here but is no longer on TGO). He said that reblueing an entire gun takes about 4 or 5 days! The nicer the finish you want the longer it takes and that much more work involved in it. That said I would think it would be reasonable for someone to charge MUCH more (I think he told me that he charges $200 - $250) than the going rate is.

[redfsr]

I just reblued an old remington .22 today that had been damaged in the 2010 flood. The metal was in horrible shape. I picked up a bottle of Van's Instant Blue after watching Van do a demo at the gun show in Franklin last weekend. I was skeptical but his demo convinced me it was worth a shot. I used 600 grit sand paper to smooth out the metal where it was rusted. When I was done, it was pretty much all white metal. Afterwards, I degreased it really well and heated it up with a hair dryer. Low and behold, when I applied the instant blue, it worked. It looks like original blueing. You can make it as dark as you want. If you get it hot with a hair dryer, you can make it look black. I've tried the blueing kits in stores before and made a mess of a couple of guns. This stuff was only $10 for a 4 oz bottle. I barely used any to do a whole rifle, receiver and all.

If anyone has hesitated to try this stuff, don't. It works.

Here is the website for the product: Home of Van's Instant Gun Bluing and Arrow Wood Finish.

Edited January 15, 2012 by redfsr

[redfsr]

Since the last post, I've done two more guns with the instant blue. One was just a touch up of another gun that had slight flood damage to the metal. It blended perfectly. The other was of a shotgun I've had since I was a kid. It was in like new condition except for one spot on the receiver where I once got too aggressive with steel wool and the normal worn areas on the magazine tube from the slide action. I touched up the magazine and again, it was a perfect match. The receiver took a little while as it was difficult to get all the oil off of the receiver. The bluing kept wanting to just roll off the spot I was trying to fix. After several trips to the hot water and degreaser, I finally scrubbed it down with 0000 steel wool and degreaser and that did the trick. It blended in perfectly. It now looks as good as it did when I took it out of the box.

The real test will be to see if the stuff actually stays soaked into the metal. With it on 3 different guns, I should be able to tell soon enough. So far, I'm impressed with the results.