Antique British gun case restoration project

[Phil Giordano]

Fantastic work, you really do have great skill!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Russ, I used a small diameter awl to pierce the leather and wood

Circled are the old holes for attachments.

Again, I have never repaired one of these. I learned a lot one this one. And the second will be easier, faster and better.

I may even tackle making one from scratch.

 

[AZDAVE]

Nice work. I learned something in that I always thought the interior linings were high quality felt. Thank you for sharing the article on blaise. How do you find the leather treatment product vs say neetsfoot oil?

 

[PARA45]

Wow, you sir have a great talent. Beautiful so far.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Dave, I had never heard of Baize. Of course Rookhawk gave me the lesson on the difference in quality. It’s the same material used on high quality pool tables.

Neatsfoot oil has its place. But it darkens leather and can make it greasy feeling.

Plus all those Neats had to sacrifice their feet to make it. I’m not comfortable using a product knowing all those Neats are running around with no feet

 

[rookhawk]

Nice work. I learned something in that I always thought the interior linings were high quality felt. Thank you for sharing the article on blaise. How do you find the leather treatment product vs say neetsfoot oil?

Neatsfoot eventually dissolves thread. It’s why it’s no longer used in the saddle industry. They do make a new version that is safe on thread, but it saturates leather which may weaken older leathers.

What @Altitude sickness chose is a better option. Pecard Leather Dressing is another option. Renaissance Wax is a third option. Lexol is a fourth. “Above all else, do no harm”.

@Altitude sickness any chance you can get the forend attached to the barrels and get it to fit into the channel? Never crazy about a forend flopping around in a case if it can be avoided. Overall, it looks exceptional and virtually identical to the case when made new circa 1900.

There are a number of clever ways to age and blend materials in vintage cases as well. It’s a good idea when matching old and new materials, but I hesitate to discuss them online out of fear a counterfeiter may find more value in the techniques than an honest restorer.

The case in this thread is a true ground-up restoration going for an as-new interior. It’s hitting that mark beautifully!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Thanks Rookhawk. As “selective ” as you are. I’ll take that as a compliment.

I made these blocks easy to adjust or move. So fitting a different gun wouldn’t destroy the bottom or side material. I’ll remove the blocks circled in green and shorten the two blocks at the blue line. The forend fits nicely over the cleaning rod. Thanks

 

[AZDAVE]

@rookhawk Thank you for the information on the leather care. If I take on a restoration vs build from scratch project I will contact you offline for some advice.

 

[PARA45]

@rookhawk, you are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

 

[RLL]

Good work and thank you for sharing!

 

[Lumaberpat]

Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Green Chile]

I loved reading through this and looking closely at the photo documentation. I wish I had the courage to work on some of my original cases but my common sense kicks in and says you would cock it up!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Hello All, During this past holiday season our own Rookhawk had a sale and I bought a well used leather gun case from that sale. I had intended this case to be for my 1869 Scott 10 gauge hammer gun. But the case was not wide enough or tall enough for the barrels and hammers. So I modified the build midstream to a Parker DH Hammerless.

Also, I wanted to learn how these cases were made and wanted to restore one. So I bought the perfect donor from Rookhawk at a very good price. He also walked me through how these things are made. What materials are used. And how to keep it as original and period correct as possible. For my lack of skill level.

So I will do a picture timeline of how it’s gone to date. I still have a few details to wrap up. It’s 99% complete.

First pics are the case View attachment 659107as purchased.

View attachment 659108View attachment 659109View attachment 659110View attachment 659111

@Altitude sickness
I would just give it a good clean up and use some leather restorer in it to bring the leather back to life then just polish the locks.
Bob

 

[Altitude sickness]

Bob, I used 100% glycerin soap to clean it. And have been treating with Leather N Rich shown earlier in the post. And I’m adding the treatment everyday to bring back this 150 year old leather

Before.

After

 

[rookhawk]

If you want your buckles to look patina to match them to original brass:

Take a hard boiled egg yolk and put it and the buckles in a zip lock bag. The brass will oxidize.

 

[baxterb]

Nice work. I learned something in that I always thought the interior linings were high quality felt. Thank you for sharing the article on blaise. How do you find the leather treatment product vs say neetsfoot oil?

Me too... I have seen guys use a cheap felt on wood gun racks and it left a mark on the barrels - always wondered how these cases avoided that - now I know!

Anyone interedted in cased check out Kade Giles - that guy does some AMAZING work

 

[Altitude sickness]

Thanks Rookhawk I’ll give it a try

 

[Altitude sickness]

 

[rookhawk]

View attachment 660166

You might want to rub acetone on the buckles to degrease them for faster oxidation. Nothing wrong with the buckles you chose, but pointing out in the earlier era they used roller buckles and two keepers around 1900. The bar style buckles came into fashion in the 20s or 30s. MANY of the older cases had their straps swapped out to use the buckles you've selected so no major faux pas.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I looked for those style of roller buckles. Everything I found either was not solid brass or the roller was cheap
I’ll keep looking for those buckles