Look at any of the "best" quality shotguns from London over the past century and you won't find the shiny oil finish like the above poster's rifle, but rather a finish with an understated sheen, almost a glow.
Hmmm quite strange although I cannot afford the likes of Purdey, Holland & Holland or even William Powell & Son however I did have a very nice English game gun made by A. J. Russell of Maidstone in Kent. A small provincial gunmaker it was No2 of a pair made prior to WW1 from the proof marks. The action once Colour case hardened had been polished to a "Coin Finish" when it was overhauled and the barrels tightened on the action face.
Oh darn it I have not got any full photos of the stock
must have lost them with that worm attack a couple of years ago
The Shotgun was traded off for a rifle and some cash as I don't use a shotgun much and have a couple more but here are a couple which hopefully wil give and idea of the finish :-
The gun is of course a 12 Bore Ejector and had 30" barrels with 2 1/2" chambers as was the vougue of that time
one of my other shotguns is an old Cogswell & Harrison SxS 12 Bore NE whihc funnily enough also has ashiney finish to the stock which was on the wood when I acquired it years ago. It has only had a small amount of Stock Oil rubbed in every year or so to maintain the finish and protect it from rain etc
. Oddly enough I have never taken any photograph of this plain shotgun ............... hmm must rectify that at some time
.
The Oiled finish on Best Guns improves over time with the added attention which such a stock finish is given over the years. Once a year or after the gun has got very wet and then dried tatally a small drop of BLO or stock oil is rubbed into the wood. Hardly a chore nor a hard thing to do however it will over time deepen the shine on the wood.
Glossy stocks are high maintenance items. It all comes down to how much you get them in the woods and how long they sit on the rack or in the gun cabinet. Having a glossy rifle in the woods can be a detriment, if you are out after sly, old game. For a show piece gloss is probably preferred, for a practical piece, it is not. Just walking through brush or thick woods is enough to keep a person from hunting where the game is when worrying about the finish of the rifle.
High maintenance?
not that I have ever noticed
Now I wonder how specticle wearers get their game after all they have two very shiney windows on the eyes and even if they wear cammo from head to foot those shiney windows are still there yet it does not seem to stop they from getting their game ............................. does it? I hunt with all my rifles, gloss oil finish and deep blacking on the barrels and actions
and yet that does not cause me problems.
Now this rifle which is fairly new the oiled finish on it has not acquired the gloss which it will in years to come. The metal however has a deep gloss black and is highly reflective the Roe Doe was shot and about 60 yards and was one of two Does which at one point had been about 15 feet from me. The came in from behind whilst I was watching fro the group of Fallow. The rifle was lent against the Beech tree I was using as cover from the Fallow Deer, the reason that shot was taken at 60 yards instead of 15 feet was simply that I didn't have the rifle in my hands and once the Doe saw me move slightly they ran up the hedge row about 60 yars before stopping to look back and as I have a nice clear shot then I took it
. The rifle is a one off Bespoke rifle and is the most expensive rifle I have. Chambered in 30-30 Winchester with handloads it's very accurate even in my hands and using 130 Grn Spire Points at about 2800 fps it's also very effective
. but as you can see it's used in the field, the Doe was shot on Dec 4th 2005.
Now I must agree with
victorcharlie that what some call "High Maintenance" is just normal cleaning. I have never used wax polish on my stocks althoug I have just re-finished a single barreled 12 Bore BSA shotgun which looks like it's never been shot. The stock was dry so I oiled it with BLO then gave it a light rub down using 800 grit wet & dry then I used a new stock finish kit which as a small ti of wax in it. I may try it on this BSA as it's likely to stay unshot. It's part of my BSA collection
and how often does one find a 47 year old shotgun which has never been used?
