A tale of three shotspoons..

Mericet · Mericet's Garage

As most of you know, I am studying to be a gunsmith. One of the forum members that have helped me a lot is David (targa911s). I really appreciate it and asked him if he had a spoon that needed a stock. He sent me this:

It is a Stevens 311 in .410. I will make and finish the stock and send it back to David.

I needed a project for my current repair class that includes a stock refinish portion. David came to my rescue and sent me this:

David is also currently finishing a LC Smith for Henry Schmidt. When Henry sent him the LC, he included an old J.P. Clarbrough & Son shotspoon. David determined it was too far gone with too many missing parts to repair. However, he conspired with Henry and the shotspoon was donated to my by Henry as a project. Thank you Henry!

It has a few missing parts, most notably the locking lever. it does have some nice engraving though:

Buckterrier · 06-01-2012, 02:15 PM

Very cool. Good luck & enjoy.

Mericet · Mericet's Garage

The barrels on the J.P. Clarbrough have a few dents:

I started practicing my dent removal skills on Thursday:

The small mark you see will be removed by lightly drawfiling the barrel.

And onto the other side:

And what it looks like now:

On Monday I will have to lengthen the rod on my barrel dent remover as the drawings and use was for shorter length barrels. I will then tackle the largest dent.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Nice work!!

Seahawk · 06-01-2012, 04:54 PM

I really enjoy these threads...what a fine craft.

Thanks for posting.

targa911S · 06:21 PM

Neil you will do them all justice I'm sure. I had to chuckle looking at that brand new draw file. Man you should see mine... I got them from my Dad as he was a machinist all his life. He probably got them from the tool crib from where he was working as they were worn out then... they have seen many hands. Yours have many years to grow. Like Paul said...it's a fine craft. Be sure to watch your barrel wall thickness on your dents. Too thin is bad news. Not like you will be shooting any damascus guns any time soon, but it applies to todays barrels as well. Better steel has allowed them to make very thin barrels. You don't have much to work with. Good luck with you new projects. Have fun. I'm enjoying being part of it.

Baz · Baz's Garage

I agree - very worthy thread.....can't wait to see the progression!

Please keep us posted as appropriate...

Signed:

subscribed and rated 5 stars

Mericet · Mericet's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by targa911S

Neil you will do them all justice I'm sure. I had to chuckle looking at that brand new draw file. Man you should see mine... I got them from my Dad as he was a machinist all his life. He probably got them from the tool crib from where he was working as they were worn out then... they have seen many hands. Yours have many years to grow. Like Paul said...it's a fine craft. Be sure to watch your barrel wall thickness on your dents. Too thin is bad news. Not like you will be shooting any damascus guns any time soon, but it applies to todays barrels as well. Better steel has allowed them to make very thin barrels. You don't have much to work with. Good luck with you new projects. Have fun. I'm enjoying being part of it.

Unfortunately I had no choice but to buy new tools (with a few exceptions) which makes this expensive!

I removed very little from those barrels at this time. And I have seen some of the new barrels. It's a little scary!

BTW, you need to give a LOP and cast off for the stock. When you send me the trigger guard, make sure you send me a recoil pad as well.

HardDrive · 06-01-2012, 09:01 PM

Great threads!

Eric 951 · 06-04-2012, 06:35 AM

Very cool. Hail the power of Pelican!

Mericet · Mericet's Garage

I have done some work on each of these guns already. One of these days, I might even post some of the pictures!

Quick updates: I started working o the stock for the Stevens from the wood David supplied. I am going to put my own little twist on one part and I am sure David will like it very much.

Once I started work on the Crescent, I found some other issues with it. Once I contacted David about them, he promptly told me he never intended to ask for that one to be returned to him. Thank you David!! Very appreciated.

targa911S · 07-09-2012, 05:38 PM

Of course you are welcome. I talked to Galazan @ CSMC and they are back ordered on the the long tang trigger guard. They are saying 3 weeks. Hoping that will not wrench your schedule. Looking forward to your visit soon. I think you will be surprised at how much I do with so little.