too hot for fun

[horsepwr]

TweetThis heat has taken the fun out of going plinking. I have some clean guns though! And it's gave me time to give attention to the A-5. John Moses Browning's finest shotgun. The Browning 12ga Automatic 5 (A-5). It's a true work of art, and family heirloom. We have several, but this one really has direct sentimental value for me. I was very happy that my dad went ahead and let me get it. See, his father, my late grandfather, bought it for my father when he was 12yrs old. I can't believe that my dad hasn't kept better care of it over the past decade, or so. "I've just been so busy." That's his excuse for the condition of the guns in his house. But...the man is busy, and he lost allot of interest in things he used to really enjoy after a life changing event.

But, I've been thinking of stripping the wood and giving it a nice refinish. Is that a good idea? or should I leave it be? It's not in terrible shape, or anything. The wood just shows it's age and holds markings of some great quail hunting that me and my dad used to do. Some of the most quality 1-on-1 father/son times, those were. We used to be finished when it was game time though, on Saturdays. We'd go to my grand-dad's house at the farm to watch the game.

I think I just made my decision wheather to refinish the wood, or not.

[JsJs24]

TweetI would probably leave it the way it is. However, if it is sentimental value and you are never going to sell it, you could finish it and consider it as if you had an old car handed down from your grandfather to your father to you, and you wanted to restore it to its beautiful original condition. But with the gun having markings that you can relate memories to then I would avoid sanding it down. What you could do though is have the barrel and metal re-blued and just put a nice finish over the wood to make it shine again.

[horsepwr]

TweetThat's exactly what I'm thinking. The blueing and metal is fine now. It just needed a little TLC. It's a Browning. A good cleaning and lube took got her back to how I remember it in our hunting days. I've let a heavy coating of CLP on it, because it needs some brushing in places to get the metal looking really tip-top.
And I was thinking that I'll just re-oil the wood. Or, I could give it a very light sanding to bring back some brightness to the dark areas, like where grip/trigger hand went, then re-oil a couple times.
My dad would be ecstatic. I bet it would touch him deeply. Bringing it back to a newer condition, and look, like that might bring him back to a special time with his dad.