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Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Had the smith check it out and he said "buy this gun quickly before they raise the price". So I did. I will attach these pix for your perusal and critique as to where I should begin. What can I do myself to save some money and clean this gun up? How should I remover any rust on the exterior of the bores and receiver. To what level of disassembly can I take it when cleaning? Screws are not buggered and I don't want to change that. I don't have any quality smithing srewdrivers either-what ones should I buy and how much do they cost? Bores are pretyy much mirror and choked Full/IC which is a great combination in my book. Here's spme pix:

Looks like you did good brother-congratulations and it's always neat to see a wonderful old gun get a good home!
WD 40 and OOOO steel wool will remove the rust from the brls (just keep it out of the action) and will remove any old cold blue (but not the original).
Flitz will clean up the metal on the receiver.
Then protect both with a good wax per the other recent gun cleaning threads.
'A man's got to know his limitations' and certainly the gun deserves a check and clean by a genuine gunsmith esp with the exterior rust-you gotta know what the insides look like. I personally do NOT attempt to disassemble Fox, LCs, or Parkers.
Did you confirm 2 3/4" chambers?

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Thanks-Yes, the chamberes are 2 3/4 as most Utica guns are (right?)
I'm gald to have picked this up so I could become part of this brotherhood that I've come to really appreciate. And, after running through every gun sale/auction site around I could not find any 16GA Sterly's worth having that were under $1500 bucks or so. The 16's seem to draw a higher price by far. I was at another shop looking at 3 nice 12 GA philly sterlys priced from 650-850 that were in durn good shape and it was tempting to save some money and get one of those. But, I really don't need another 12 GA and they werent near as light as this. This filled the niche in my armory well. I will hunt with it as is for the rest of the season, then probably send it out to Keith Kearcher for a complete once over, part of which will be the re-blue. This thing locks up almost like it was brand new as you can see the lever well right of center. And no, it hasnt been peened or welded. I will be taking it out to the skeet range sometime soon - maybe tomorrow. i just finished scrubbing the bores and steel wooling the exterior of the bbls and trigger guard the inside of the receiver is about 98%. How someone would allow the exterior of the bbls ever rust at all is beyond me. But had there been no issues with this gun I wouldve never got it for 1,000 somolians.

Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 781

take it to the pattern board and throw it up and shoot the same peice of paper with about 4 shells. You'll find out where it shoots in relation to where you look. I think that's much more important than figuring out how the chokes perform.

Keep us posted on your progress with the new addition to the family.

Jeff

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Just did the serial number look up and it's a 1930 gun. I'm happy its an early Utica gun.

Member Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 110 Location: California

Congratulations Jig! I hope you have a great time with it.

Mine is also a 1930 model, and was sold to me as having 2 3/4 chambers - but when the Rev measured it with his whizbang bore gauge, it showed 2 9/16 chambers. Guessing my barrels may have been some holdovers from the Philly days, but no way to really tell.

I sent mine to Kearcher this summer for the safety resetting on discharge. Very happy with his work, and the quick turnaround.

3Doc

Congrats; enjoy!

Member Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Tucson, AZ

What are the chokes? Enjoy the gun! Wink

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

IC/Full

Member Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 114 Location: Tucson, AZ

Sounds good! Glad you found it and hope it "fits" well. Best to you in the new year. Wink