So I convinced Dad to let me take a whack at getting Grampa's gun back in working order. Grampa won this gun in a shooting match before he shipped off to Korea. I pulled it apart and found out that really the only thing keeping it from running right was swapping the friction rings and cleaning a ton of crud from the internals

Told the old man that I got her running again and he told me to see about getting her re-blued. I'm sure some folks will gasp at that, but the gun will never leave our family and if it's what the old man wants, it's what he gets. So I ordered the blue wonder kit from Midway and knocked it out this afternoon/evening. Here are the results.


She was about down to bare metal from more than a half a century of service, and I hope we get even more.

Looks Good!

Looks good. Man I bet that ol gun could tell some stories...

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Man I bet that ol gun could tell some stories...

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They'd all start the same way.....'Back when I was owned by a real man...........'

Dammit Fido!

But yeah, I can only hope to be a fraction of the man my Grampa was. He fought in Korea, taught HS Ag for 30+years, treated every student in a manner that they felt they could learn no matter their abilities, spoiled the hell out of every grandchild he ever came across, and absolutely loved taking my older brother and I down to the tank to teach us how to shoot right at the expense of thousands of turtles.

[This message has been edited by EagleFordEarl (edited 12/14/2012 9:19p).]

Good bull!

Let me know if you ever want to sell it!

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Let me know if you ever want to sell it!

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the gun will never leave our family

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There's always a chance!

No chance, my Grampa was a tough old cuss right up to the last. I'd hate to have to go find a switch once I got to heaven.

We have one very similar to that. Similar stories, I'm sure.

Fido.

hey rock, I've met Fido and understand his comment is in jest. I don't know you, go shtt on someone else's thread.

Nice job, looks great!

Earl,

That an A-5 or M-11? Either way good job. Can't really tell but was that humpback set up as a skeet gun? Seems like a short barrel with the Cutts attached but I understand Cutts setup skeet guns ruled 'back in the day'.

Cut my teeth on an A-5 sweet-16, shoulder can still feel the whack.



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The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. ~Charles de Gaulle

It's definitely an A5. the choke set-up is a "POWerPAC" and has three tubes that are simply labeled long, medium, and short range. I love this old gun and am absolutely pumped to get it back on some birds this coming dove season. I love the way it shoulders and before I reworked it, had been looking for a suitable A5 to use in its place. Before re-bluing it I put it through its paces at a buddies ranch on clays and she's just a true as she was when we safed her ten years ago. Thanks for the compliments.

I'm in line for a pass down 12ga A-5 from my FIL and am planning on having it restored as soon as I get it in my hands. I'm going to go with cerakote and have the stock refinished and pad replaced. I've got a 20ga from my grandfather that is nice enough to keep as is and has that same choke system as yours.

That wood looks awesome!

MaL:

You are rignt on all points... As best I can remember that A-5 was a pre-war (WWII) production.. pretty well used up when I got to fire it.

Glad to have graduated to 870s & 1100s..

*******
The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. ~Charles de Gaulle

Gave the gun back to Dad tonight. We did Christmas early because my older brother and his wife are headed out of town to see her folks this year. He retold the story that Grampa told us growing up about how he won it before he shipped off to Korea. We all got pretty choked up during the story. This was a damn good Christmas.

very nice...

did you get the blue out the carpet?

Not yet

I like it.

I have a couple of Remington Model 11's (12 and 20). Awesome shotguns, built like a tank and to me don't thump all that bad.

One of these days I will run across a 16 Sportsman, and that will round out the collection. The 20 was my grandfather's first gun and my first gun as well. I would love to know how many rounds have been pushed through that old gun. Made in 1908. The 12 was manufactured in the early 30's.

Schmellba, if I remember from earlier posts you are located in or near the valley. Glicks has had quite a few sweet 16's on their shelves in the past few years. Only thing that kept me from getting one was the usuall Glick markup and not wanting to spend the $$ on 16 gauge shells.

[This message has been edited by EagleFordEarl (edited 12/22/2012 9:43p).]

restore =/= I'm going to go with cerakote

Horrible idea. If you want to do it right, get it reblued. By someone that specializes in A5's. Specifically, I would recommend:

http://www.artsgunshop.com/

Earl:

Stories like this drive the anti-gun bunch wacko. Glad you have had one ome good opportunity to capture the spirit of grandpa.

Was looking at my OLD 870 today..memories. Killed a lot of dove and white wing around Delta Lake...quail around RGC.. in the day

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"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." —Richard Henry Lee

Have the exact same gun with a very similar story. By far my favorite of the shotguns that I own. It's a dove killing machine.