# Cleaning Damascus Barrels



## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in, but here goes....

I just inherited my great-grandfathers shotgun. Once upon a time it must've been a real beauty. It's a British (J.P. Clabrough & Bros. 52 Leadenhall Street, London) SxS with an engraving on the barrels that says "finest damascus." But great-grandad was a waterfowler durnig the market hunting days and the weapon got very well used, and it's been in less than ideal storage for a very long time. I already know it's not a shooter, and probably not very valuable, except as an heirloom. The exterior of the barrels could use a good cleaning/de-rusting. How do I go about this without doing further damage. I already have heard the "don't touch it, it will lose it's value" thing. But there's not much "value" to lose, and I'd like to stop the rust and make it to look nicer than it does. Any ideas?


----------



## hobtag (Oct 25, 2006)

if you are not worried about the value deminishing , try this

remove the barrels, I assume you know how to do that ,

plug the bores, (corks work real well)

strip the barrels down to bare metal, to do this use muratic acid, you can get it at any hardware store , make sure you use caution when doing this wear rubber gloves and steel wool (fine steel wool), the barrel will look grey or even silver when you have them clean,

after they are clean , rinse with water to remove all the acid,

then using clorox bleach on a cotton ball wipe the outside of the barrels with it , let them sit , they will rust , this is ok, then every morning and evening wipe them again, after a few days they will be very rusty, (outside only), after a few days using fine steel wool go over the outside of the barrels to take the outer layer of rust off, then apply more bleech, do this a couple of times till you get a dark brown rust,

once they look good run hot water over them to flush out any remaining bleach on the barrels 

then finish using linseed oil, will take a couple of coats,

when you are finished the barrels will have a deep brown , with black stripes (the steel and iron ) this really brings out the damascus in the barrels, if you have any questions feel free to contact me


----------



## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

Thanks, Hobtag. I'll let you know how it comes out.


----------



## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

Shoot it! Tell me how it goes.

No just kidding, don't do that!


----------



## trout (Jan 17, 2000)

There are a number of good smiths who can clean up that ol Birmingham gun.
Why do you say it is not a shooter? You might be surprised at the value as well.


----------



## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

Trout, actually it's NOT a Birmingham gun. I know that some of the Clabrough guns are marked "Birmingham," and some are marked "Birmingham & London," but this one is just marked "London." It's all pretty interesting, considering that Clabrough was a British Gentleman who founded his firm in San Francisco and then when it was established there he also began production in back in Britain. When this particular gun was new (est. 1875-1880) it was a beautiful firearm. However, it's in _really_ bad shape. The action doesn't lock up tight, and there are missing pieces. And based on my inspection of the inside of the barrels, I'd be a fool to shoot it - even with black powder or low pressure loads. Restoration is a possibility, and then maybe some Briley tubes to take it down to 20 ga., but that's more $$$ than I can invest in it at the moment. Someday that may be a possibility. However as a "wall hanger" over the fireplace, it can likely be made to look pretty good, thus my desire to clean/re-finish the barrels.


----------

