I belong to a number of firearms pages, groups, and assorted other venues. Lots of times I see guns for sale, which with a little TLC, and some imagination, can be excellent producers.
Take if you will an example:
My father, being a fit, hale and healthy septuagenarian, decided that the pursuit of most things waterfowl didn't suit him anymore. Evidently getting up at o-dark-hundred, and getting out into a blind was not something he yearned for when the Summer turned to Fall.
Being a practical man, he passed along his prized waterfowling piece to me, his only son.
Now this gun, was what could be considered a premium semi-auto in its day. It was a Winchester 1500XTR in 12 gauge, with 30" barrel, and fixed full choke. My father even supplied the original receipt of purchase from Simpsons, and in 1984 the retail price was $369.99 Canadian.
This gun was kept immaculately, and my father admitted it barely had 3 boxes of shells through it.
To say this gun was beautiful, was apt. It was high gloss wood, and deep black, high gloss bluing.
Now, not exactly what you're going to see in any duck blind today, the high gloss anything seems out of place against the Max-4, Max-5, Shadowgrass Blades, Bottomland, etc to be found in abundance come duck season opener.
1st order of business. The 30" barrel precluded using the gun for anything but waterfowl hunting. The fixed full choke however needed to be opened up to accommodate steel shot. A gunsmith with a lathe will usually do this for $50. I however decided to have the barrel wall thickness micrometered to see if there was enough material to machine in threads to allow the use of chokes. Good news, there was. Of course given the amount of material available, they would have to be "thin wall" chokes, but hardly an issue. Machining a barrel for chokes will typically cost around $90, plus the cost of whatever chokes you wish to use. So I opted for Mod, Imp, and SK1 ( skeet improves anyones game). At $25 per choke, that put the total at $165 for the gunsmith work. Not a bad cost considering it now made the old girl able to function in the modern duck blind and skeet field.
The gun was chambered for 2 3/4" shells, which some newer hunters will scoff at, but the fact remains, before the Magnum revolution in the 90s, 2 3/4" shells accounted for 1000s of birds without crippling them. Never mind the fact that only a masochist truly wants to shoot 3.5" all day.
Now....appearance....
Krylon? Wrap? Leave as is and hope the ducks are blind?
Since this was dads gun, I opted for a less "permanent" solution than spray painting it, and stencilling on camo. For $40, a pre-cut wrap kit, in Mossy Oak Shadowgrass Blades was the order of the day.
After watching the youtube instructional video thoughtfully done by the manufacturer, I felt confident enough to give it a whirl.
Armed with my trusty xacto knife, heat gun, and a free 45 minute period it came off without a hitch.
Now.....the old glossy girl has been tastefully updated.
So for the guys out there perusing the gun pages, and seeing lots of blued - woody, shotguns for sale, either pump, or semi.....don't be so quick to move on....with just a bit of work, they can be just what you want with you out in the blind.
Enough reading.....go shooting.....
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