I have been tinkering with the workings of firearms for as long as I can remember – much of it without my dad’s knowledge of the fact that I had made a key for his safe! This systematically developed into an eye for perfection and trying to fill the gap between legitimate damage from use, such as the scratch from a barbed wire fence, and, unfortunately, a great deal of illegitimate damage from either abuse or well-intentioned, naive or inept repairs.
This progressed to minor repairs and refinishing of stocks to making the odd screw and finally being able to rust-blue barrels. My own collection has grown commensurately with a distinct penchant for the British sporting gun. This collection is representative of all gauges from .410 to 12-bore, boxlocks and sidelocks, ejectors and non-ejectors, Damascus and fluid-steel barrels, and the like.
A neglected treasure
For a few years before Covid hit, I became aware of a particularly badly abused 20-bore Stephen Grant side-lever hammergun. The gun
