Hope nobody here uses their O/U shotgun as a paddle, especially in salt water!
- Thread starter Picher
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243winxb
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Browning salt wood?
DukeConnor
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You did a great job. what brand is that. I have an older browning that looks similar
ColtPythonElite
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That is what I guessed, too
bannockburn
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Picher
Great restoration! You do some mighty fine work for someone who is self-taught!
Great restoration! You do some mighty fine work for someone who is self-taught!
It's a Winchester 101.
George P
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That's what it looks like to me. Brownings from the late 60s to the early 70s are notorious for salt wood causing those exact symptoms.
Sure looks like a Belgian Browning to me
I'd never heard about "Salt Guns", so looked it up and that's truly what it was...a malady of a certain run of Brownings, Winchesters, and Weatherbys of a specific period. That's a good reason to check those guns you put away in a closet or basement and rarely looked at. It's apparently preventable with careful maintenance.
I KNEW it! I guessed it might be a 101 from the first picture where it shows the barrel-selector/safety latch. I just sold my Win 101 to a good friend.
Nice work Picher. If you're like me, sometimes it feels good just to know you saved a patient like that one!
Darned right it feels good. That gun has a lot of history with both my son and myself. There's a #8 birdshot imbedded in the right side of the buttstock near the pistol grip, where I hit it when we were hunting and got separated. I thought he was about a 100 yards ahead, as I had made a deviation in travel to look over a grouse "hot-spot" and was going back toward the two other guys when a bird flushed. I fired and one pellet hit the back of his right hand and another was a little more than half-way imbedded in the buttstock. He didn't let me remove it and still carries the pellet in the web of his right hand. It serves as a good reminder that we need to not shoot low unless we know where everyone is, including the dogs. (It's been over 20 years and have had no more incidences.)
DukeConnor
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unfortunately I was on the receiving end in a similar circumstance. I have carried the memory in my right calf for 40 years.
243winxb
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The internet has info. There are still guns out there. There are 3 photos in album.https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/browning-superposed-salt-wood.962/
George P
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Salt wood came about as a way to dry wood stock blanks in a much shorter time frame than just air drying - which could take months if not years. Unfortunately, when the salt wasn't completely removed, the salt would corrode the metal in contact with the wood.
You've got to seal the bare wood on the inside of the stock to minimize future rusting, especially where it contacts metal. Put a few coats of linseed oil or some other sealant/coating on the inside of the stock and forearm and the rust should not return.
I don't have the gun and lost contact with the owners, but believe I did coat the inside of the stock with either Acraglas or stock finish.
KevininPa
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You sir, are a magician. I bow to you and your skills.
Gordon
Member
Yup , a MUST to steam inside stock with hot water a few rinses , let dry, and then some sort of synthetic sealer (like ureathane) blending the inside sealer with the outside as much original finish as you can save. I did it to my Browning superposed Lightning and an A-5 Lightning and a SA22 .
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