Fine Gunmaking

Last time I gave a broad overview of Doug Turnbull Restoration and the history of the operation Turnbull has built over nearly 20 years. I also described the color-case-hardening process and Turnbull's business origins based on reliably recreating case colors authentic to factory originals. This time I will look more specifically at the company's double-gun work.
Turnbull offers a spectrum of services depending on customers' needs. Moving from the most basic to the most involved, options include metal finishes alone, applying various coloring treatments to pre-polished gunmetal; polishing and finishing, including both the preparation for and application of metal colors; metal-only restoration, including repairs and parts replacement prior to polishing and finishing; complete restoration, including full restoration of metal and wood, which may include repairing and refinishing, or replacing a stock and re-cutting the checkering; upgrading, which usually means a complete restoration of a lower-grade gun with the addition of fancy new wood, grip alterations and greater coverage in more elaborate engraving, resulting in a higher overall degree of finishing and attention to detail than was on the original gun.
Complete restoration usually includes metal repair work, starting with the almost universal need for renewing the screws. This may include reforming the screw heads and slots or replacing them with new parts, or making new screws one at a time from scratch. Shotgun bores often need to be honed, the chokes altered or the forcing cones or chambers lengthened. Actions may need tightening, and single triggers often need adjustment or repair. Turnbull offers each of these operations as individual repairs or as part of a complete restoration.
Stock restoration may include repairing cracks or breaks, removing dents, sanding and refinishing the wood, or re-cutting the checkering. In extreme cases or when the client wishes to alter the stock dimensions, a new stock may be required, and Turnbull will work with the client to develop a pattern stock and duplicate it in the new configuration. A complete restoration will include all of the above, returning the gun to as close to factory-new condition as possible.
In the past upgrading got a bad rap because all too often the intent was fraudulent-the work done with the spurious notion of making a common gun into a valuable jewel. This attitude has changed, and Doug Turnbull, by advertising and promoting upgrades as a means to own a nearly unobtainable example, has helped legitimize the process. With both honesty of provenance and rightful pride in the work, most of Turnbull's upgraded guns are marked with a T inside a D on the action flats. Turnbull has upgraded VH Parkers to A-1 Specials, Field Grade L.C. Smiths to Monogram Grades, and Fox Sterlingworths to X and F Grade guns. These projects have garnered much national press, and there never has been a question of passing them off for anything but what they are.
A very good example of the quality of Turnbull's restorations was uncovered by way of a recent auction catalog. Turnbull was looking through a catalog from auctioneer James D. Julia and noticed a Marlin rifle he had restored. Looking further, he noticed several other guns that he thought had been through his shop, so he called Julia. The upshot was a trip by Turnbull to New England to look over the group. Including the Marlin, which had won an NRA Show award for "Ten Best Guns," a few Winchester rifles and several Parker shotguns also had been restored by Turnbull. Julia revised the catalog with the updated information. For the Marlin, the revision stated, "Please note: We have just learned from Doug Turnbull that this was completely restored by him many years ago. Doug, as most people know, is one of the foremost firearms restoration artists in the world and this job is indicative of how good he is. It has fooled everyone including the consignor, our staff and everyone that had previewed it, as well as the judges who made the two prestigious awards when this was exhibited at show."
There were similar revised descriptions for Parker shotguns with Turnbull metal refinishing that sold in the $10,000 to $30,000 range. This is a delightful display of honesty and integrity by both Turnbull and Julia.
If you come across a gun in "much better than normal" condition and imagine it may have been through the Turnbull shop, the firm will research the serial numbers and give you an answer to the best of its ability.
Although Turnbull works on a variety of firearms, he clearly states that American-made guns are his specialty. Besides vintage shotguns, Turnbull is well known for restoring and upgrading Winchester and Marlin lever-action rifles, single-action revolvers and Colt Auto pistols. The firm offers a variety of retro-style versions of United States Firearms single-action revolvers with a DT serial-number range and reproduction Winchester and Browning lever rifles in larger calibers, retro styling or as upgrades. In conjunction with the NRA, Turnbull is offering a series of 25 Winchester 1876 rifles replicating Teddy Roosevelt's favorite. These use original Winchester actions, and nearly half of the edition has been commissioned. When I interviewed Turnbull, he was preparing for a Cape buffalo hunt in Africa with an 1886 Winchester chambered for a new wildcat: the .475 Turnbull.
Virtually all major American firearms manufacturers in the pre-war era used charcoal bluing, but the process largely died out during World War II when the quicker, less-labor-intensive caustic, or "hot-dip," bluing was developed. Turnbull had to redevelop the archaic process to truly restore these old guns to their original appearance. He began experimenting in the early 1990s and contacted a former employee of the American Gas Furnace Co., which had built the heat-treating furnaces used in the process. Through discussions with this gentleman and extensive experimentation, Turnbull refined charcoal bluing to the point that he could reliably reproduce the color and finish and began offering it both as a stand-alone service to gunsmiths and as part of his restoration work.
Charcoal bluing was-and is-produced with very concentrated heat, resulting in a nearly translucent deep-blue color, unlike the almost-black color of hot-dip bluing. To achieve the best results, the metal had to be prepared with the proper polishing for the intended part-be it 100 grit or 1,200. All items to be blued were completely disassembled, then cleaned and degreased to near-surgical sterility. The parts were packed in tubes with a charge of proprietary oil and charcoal. They were placed on racks in a heat-treating furnace, brought slowly up to temperature-about 800 degrees-and heated for five to six hours. During the process the parts were removed from the furnace and scrubbed with whiting (calcium carbonate) to ensure there was no spotting or streaking. When the appropriate color was achieved, the parts were quenched in the proprietary oil to help "set" the color. Because of the relatively low temperature, there was no chance of warpage, and the gun parts had a unique look that couldn't be improved upon by other methods.
Custom gunmakers and engravers particularly like charcoal bluing, because when pre-polished to 600 grit, the engraving can be seen very clearly, as if you are looking right through the bluing. Charcoal bluing greatly enhances the look of engraving, unlike case coloring, which can mask engraving, or rust bluing, which can degrade engraving, because even the finest rust bluing is a corrosive process that minutely etches the metal surfaces. Charcoal bluing is a heat bluing and does not etch or corrode the metal in any way. Charcoal bluing also wears extremely well and does not suffer the relatively quick deterioration that case colors are prone to.
Turnbull also offers his version of French gray, another metal finish that I mentioned in Part I. The sidelock parts I recently had him gray came out so nicely that it's noteworthy. He first case-hardened the parts, because they need hardening for wear and corrosion resistance; then the colors were removed by wire-wheel brushing with soft and very fine .004"-thick wires and lubricating oil. This leaves a trace of color in the bottom of engraving cuts so they stand out prominently on the soft gray-toned base metal. (Turnbull calls it pew-ter.) In the past I have French-grayed by removing case colors with very mild acid, which leaves the base metal with a brighter, shinier appearance and largely removes the colors from the engraving cuts as well. To my eye, this pewter tone provides the best-looking French gray I have seen.
From the gunshop couch to the "pig pen" to the 7,000 square-foot business with more than a dozen employees, Doug Turnbull certainly has carved a presence in this new Golden Age of fine firearms. His company has done it through extensive research, re-development of archaic processes, wise business practices, savvy marketing and, most importantly, a high degree of consistent quality. Turnbull also is giving back, with involvement in community activities in his hometown of Bloomfield, New York, and more noticeably with the NRA. In 2002 he set up an endowment with the NRA National Firearms Museum, pledging $250,000 to establish the Doug Turnbull Firearms Conservation Laboratory.
In conjunction with his pledge, Turnbull wrote: "It is extremely rewarding to see my passion for firearms restoration benefit the Conservation Lab, because it goes hand in hand with restoring guns. Every time we complete a restoration project, we are helping to preserve not only a piece of American history, but also a piece of family history. Many of the firearms we restore are family heirlooms handed down from generation to generation. The ability to restore and preserve firearms and the subsequent success of my business has allowed me to give back to the industry in which I make my living."

Author's Note: For more information on coloring and restoration services and products (e.g., DVDs), contact Doug Turnbull Restoration, Inc., 585-657-6338; www.turnbullrestoration.com.

Autographed copies of Steven Dodd Hughes's new book, Double Guns and Custom Gunsmithing, are available for $48 postpaid from the author, PO Box 545, Livingtson, MT 59047.