Old Double barrel Need Info

G

gadawg31

New member
Hello all,

I have one for all you gun nuts, hopefully you all can help me piece together some info and maybe get this shotgun restored. My neighbor gave me an old double barrel shotgun and it is in really rough shape. The stock is broken off and the trigger/hammer assembly looks to be in tack but is in bad shape. The only markings I could get from the gun was from around the trigger/hammer area; "Right side of gun there is: Pat June 20 1883", "Left side there is the following: The Continental". Anyone have any idea who made this gun, is it possible to get parts, where can I go to get info on it? My first stop was Numerich and no luck there, but I am still searching the web. Any and all info is greatly welcomed. I would like to restore to a hang over mantel type and give to my dad and if I can get it into shooting condition, well that would be icing on the cake. Thanks.

BTW, this is an old rabbit eared shotgun, two hammers.

JD
 
Your shotgun is almost certainly one of the early Belgian export guns that were very popular from the 1880s through the beginning of World War II. Quality ranged from really bad to pretty good. For the most part, they were sold through hardware stores and mail order and were what you might call a "farm gun". They were inexpensive and good for hunting and keeping poachers out of the corn fields. At the height of their popularity, you could order one for around $10 or $15.

The problem with restoring one is that there just aren't any parts out there, unless you're lucky enough to find somebody with the same gun, but without the same broken parts. They really were work guns and, because they were designed to sell for as low a price as possible (and also because they were black powder shooters), they just plain wore out.

Yours probably has a Damascus barrel, so even if you got it into shape to shoot, you'd certainly want to limit that shooting to moderate black powder loads - definitely not smokeless. But, from a value point of view, if what you have is in the kind of rough shape that it sounds like, you'll be putting money and effort into what would probably end up being a $100 wall hanger.
 
Thanks guys. I was afraid of it being a money pit and I most certainly don't want to pour money into something I am just going to hang on the wall. I will keep looking around and maybe get lucky with a parts gun. I kind of doubt it, but its worth the try. Thanks for the info.

v/r
JD
 
If you have the parts of the stock, it can be glued with epoxy or urethane (Gorilla) glue. But first be sure you have devised a way to clamp the parts in correct alignment. Excess and squeezeout can be removed after it cures- do not attempt that while it is wet. It is not necessary to glue every part in the same session, it can be done sequentially. Restore it to the point of being a piece hanging over the mantle.
 
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