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W & J Davis barrel browning.


Velocette
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I got an old hammer gun from a member on here a few years ago and used is occasionally with home loaded black powder cartridges. Recently its been sitting in the cabinet gathering dust so when giving it a look over I noticed an old rust patch under the blued barrels which needed tidying up. A rub with wire wool revealed some lines which suggested that there may be something other than the  fluid steel that I assumed they were made of. Its not a good picture but you can just see the lines.

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The barrel was rubbed down to 800 grit and then a series of etches tried to get the pattern out, starting with Boric acid then ferric chloride and finally Copper sulphate which revealed this.

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Clearly each barrel is made of a slightly different twist material and it was hard to try to reveal the LH pattern. The first rusting didn't show much but I persevered 

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Eventually I managed to get this pattern out, not perfect by any means but I did discover that by gently steaming the barrel after the final rust and before the final carding increased the contrast somewhat.

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1 hour ago, figgy said:

Looks very nice, what finish did you use?

The finish is just the stock oil that I mix. 2/3 boiled linseed, 1/3 turpentine and a dash of alkanet oil to give it a reddish tinge. Rub it on the barrel as you would an oiled stock and leave to set. It takes a few days to dry and definitely hardens with age.

2 minutes ago, archiebald said:

Oh wow! Nice to see my old gun! Had some good times with it. It now looks amazing!!

Nice to hear from you. The gun is still doing what it does best.

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57 minutes ago, archiebald said:

Oh wow! Nice to see my old gun! Had some good times with it. It now looks amazing!!

Just a thought,,would you like it back for what I paid for it ? I'm looking for another project now and am running out of space! I put in a new top lever spring and one firing pin.

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21 minutes ago, Velocette said:

Just a thought,,would you like it back for what I paid for it ? I'm looking for another project now and am running out of space! I put in a new top lever spring and one firing pin.

Thanks for the great offer, But I'm at full capacity and no longer using black powder. I bet it would make a black powder enthusiast very happy if you decide to sell it. 

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