Turnbull Restoration

[CraigC]

Doug does beautiful work but in cases of valuable firearms his restoration work can create a showpiece but sometimes LOWERS the value of a gun. I had a very good friend (coincidentally Turnbull sells an homage to my late friend) who was a master gunsmith - the real deal. He and I worked together on restoring a first gen black powder Colt SAA .32-20 I bought at a gun show in Allentown PA in the 80's. John Kopek in CA did the casehardening, Jerry and I the rest. Gun is beautiful - I get a million comments on her - but today worth LESS than value in original condition (although things that John did when he was still working are gaining in value).
And for my own tastes, some of Turnbull's work - especially his case coloring - is TOO bright and shiny, far gaudier than I've ever seen on even high-end factory pieces.

IMHO, if you are restoring a true collector grade Colt, you're barking up the wrong tree and Turnbull probably won't do the work anyway. That said, restoration work is typically not done to make money.

Turnbull's case colors are very close to original Colt colors. If you see an original gun that has been properly stored, the colors are bright and vibrant. What makes Turnbull's colors stand out is the clear lacquer applied over the colors. In fact many 3rd generation Colt colors are very dull and I think this is why many people think they're supposed to be. Nobody seems to care that hot salt blue is completely different from the original charcoal blue.

In general, Americans are really weird about guns when it comes to refinishing or restoration. When you think about how best grade British guns get refurbished all the time, guns that cost tens of thousands of dollars, it's rather comical that people would balk at refinishing a $500 Ruger, or even a $2000 Colt. Too much obsession with originality and monetary value, too little focus on things that actually matter.

 

[daniel craig]

As I qualified above, I understand the cost; I am inquiring about fit, finish and detail from those who have had that experience. This rifle is a part of my hobby, it is not an investment so return on investment is not an issue. Wood to metal, screw head uniformity, stock finish surface consistency, general service, etc - no cost issues would be appreciated.

It doesn’t get much better than turnbull, at least stateside.

 

[sharkman]

I’ve got two Turnbull guns. First is a USFA SAA. Not a collector’s piece but it’s beautiful. Second is a 1894 Winchester in .32-40, circa 1905, that I inherited from my Dad. Other than the tube magazine looking like someone had used steel wool on it, it looked like a nice old rifle. Except for the bore. Calling it a sewer pipe would be an insult to sewer pipes. How it got that bad while the rest of the rifle didn’t is a mystery. Couldn’t shoot it so, long story short, sent it off to Turnbull Restorations. What I got back is a beautiful rifle, and a good shooter as well. Expensive, yes, but no regrets.

If I can find the picture of the bore I’ll post it

 

[DanInNJ]

I purchased a call tag from Turnbull to ship my rifle - it will go today - I was told a 3 to 4 month backlog of wait. Thank you for the work quality reviews; as far as “the investment”, I purchased 1,000 shares of GME in late August of 2020 (“a dog with fleas” at the time) - hopeful of a vaccine come back - I got out on a late trade on January 27, 2021 - I wasn’t shrewd or sophisticated, I was just plain lucky. The Turnbull cost doesn’t matter to me, I do not care if I get my money back and firearms are my hobby and not my investment. Thank you again for the help.

That's why Turnbull has so much backlog - his pieces are a work of art. His "homage" to my friend Jerry is a gorgeous piece; it would grab anyone's eye from across the room.
https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/gun/open-range-klufas-model/
And anyone would be lucky to own one. And the lever gun above is simply stunning. And Steve I'm sure your rifle will be the same. What I think I'm saying is that certain guns with historical value should be left alone, but these are only a very, very few pieces. 1st Gen guns in my heyday were easy to find; I used to see a couple dozen at the Allentown PA AgHall show each year. Now? Almost none, and the few I see are hugely expensive. But the whole thing is starting to remind me of late 60's muscle cars - guys are pouring a tremendous amount of money into restoring them, and while they DO sell at huge numbers they are 90% of the time (despite the silly TV shows that completely fudge the $$'s for the audience) HUGE financial losses. Like guns, restoration is a labor of love but a financial gamble. My fear is that as the guns seen so commonly in the 70's and 80's disappear folks may think twice before restoring a increasingly rare black powder SAA or Henry lever gun - or '69 Chevelle! Both will end up stunningly beautiful but put a big old dent in the ol' wallet. But a Cimmaron or USFA clone (I own a Great Western somewhere in a closet myself) like Craig's? Or that 1866 of Plastikosmd - I still see lots of them around, although far fewer lately in .50-100 - stunning. I'm all-in.

 

[Red-5]

I purchased a call tag from Turnbull to ship my rifle - it will go today - I was told a 3 to 4 month backlog of wait. Thank you for the work quality reviews; as far as “the investment”, I purchased 1,000 shares of GME in late August of 2020 (“a dog with fleas” at the time) - hopeful of a vaccine come back - I got out on a late trade on January 27, 2021 - I wasn’t shrewd or sophisticated, I was just plain lucky. The Turnbull cost doesn’t matter to me, I do not care if I get my money back and firearms are my hobby and not my investment. Thank you again for the help.

I had work done on an 1892 Winchester I purchased in White. It turned out beautiful. As far as 3-4 month wait, don’t count on it. I was told the same, it was closer to 7 months, but the end result was worth it.

 

[CraigC]

That's why Turnbull has so much backlog - his pieces are a work of art. His "homage" to my friend Jerry is a gorgeous piece; it would grab anyone's eye from across the room.
https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/gun/open-range-klufas-model/
And anyone would be lucky to own one. And the lever gun above is simply stunning. And Steve I'm sure your rifle will be the same. What I think I'm saying is that certain guns with historical value should be left alone, but these are only a very, very few pieces. 1st Gen guns in my heyday were easy to find; I used to see a couple dozen at the Allentown PA AgHall show each year. Now? Almost none, and the few I see are hugely expensive. But the whole thing is starting to remind me of late 60's muscle cars - guys are pouring a tremendous amount of money into restoring them, and while they DO sell at huge numbers they are 90% of the time (despite the silly TV shows that completely fudge the $$'s for the audience) HUGE financial losses. Like guns, restoration is a labor of love but a financial gamble. My fear is that as the guns seen so commonly in the 70's and 80's disappear folks may think twice before restoring a increasingly rare black powder SAA or Henry lever gun - or '69 Chevelle! Both will end up stunningly beautiful but put a big old dent in the ol' wallet. But a Cimmaron or USFA clone (I own a Great Western somewhere in a closet myself) like Craig's? Or that 1866 of Plastikosmd - I still see lots of them around, although far fewer lately in .50-100 - stunning. I'm all-in.

As I said, people aren't restoring collectible guns. They're restoring the ones that notably are not collectibles. Guns that have been abused, neglected and/or refinished. No one is taking a rare collectible Colt in original condition and restoring it.

Restoring guns and restoring cars for profit are really two different things. Anyone with a modicum of automotive knowledge and skill can restore a car. So that person can work on cars in his spare time and make a little money doing it. Once you have to hire a professional, things change dramatically. Only a true artist can restore guns. I mean a true restoration where pitting and polished off edges must be welded up and trued. There are talented gunsmiths who build custom guns who cannot do restoration work. When you send a gun off to a shop like Turnbull, you're paying for art, not mechanic work. You do this for art's sake, not for making money.

And a three to four month backlog is nothing. I have a friend who just took possession of a custom gun that took five years.

 

[Sniper66]

I had the fun of touring the Turnbull shop in upstate NY a couple of times. They had several guns on display and all remarkably well done. There was one old SxS 12ga brought in by a family that wanted "grandpa's gun" restored. It was probably a Sears shotgun with very little collectible value. In spite of telling the family that it would cost a lot and be of limited value, they still insisted on it and paid for it. The staff said that such restorations were not unusual.