I just got back from the gunsmith and he said the dreaded 'salt' word. I was hoping what little rust we saw on the outside around the wood was just a little weather damage. But he first showed me a buttstock screw. Red rusty. Then a little while later after some stories with the business owner and browsing this cool gun shop he came out and showed me the rust inside the action. He still to work on getting the forearm stock screw out. Praying it comes out... Anyway I guess I am to post this here. This is about a Superposed. They read me a little of the history of the salt issue. From around '65-70 or so, Browning salt treated some of the wood to speed in the drying process. I guess not considering that some salt would be left and eventually damage the gun They said they had seen much worse than mine. Hopefully he can get it back in good shape. It is a glorious gun. I'm never gonna sell it, so I'm not worried about the value too much. Just hoping to stop the rust in its tracks.
Skitter, don't worry, your gun can be salvaged; it just takes time and money. First thing, without any doubt, you MUST destroy the wood, both stock and forearm. D-E-S-T-R-O-Y it on the burn pile, I don't care how pretty it is. Then, have a competent gun smith repair the metal damage, and then get a new stock, pretty as you please (and can afford) on the wood. Watch the Salt gun video on Art's Gunshop webpage, where he repairs a RUSTY 28 ga Pigeon grade. But Art busts up the wood right on camera. Most Salt guns occurred from '67 to '70, but there were some in 1966. Generally speaking, it is accepted as fact that long tang guns from 1966 are salt free. I have a 66 Pigeon Long Tang that is just fine. I would expect 8-12 months to repair metal damage and fit a new stock, but YMMV. Good luck and keep us posted.
He said he would probably have it ready Monday, as in tomorrow. Boy, I hope you are wrong Scotty. No offense. I'm not sure, but I am hoping it isn't that bad. I certainly don't want to spend a ton of money on it. I had one gunsmith tell me a forearm stock alone cost $700. I have a Browning Superposed trap also. It was bought by dad in 1967 new also. And it still looks brand new. It wasn't used very much. So, idk. Will keep y'all posted.
I cannot stress enough, if you have a salt gun, you must destroy the wood. Anything else is fool-hardy and you will waste your time and money. Watch the Saltwood video on Art's website. http://www.artsgunshop.com/site_map_MediaCenter_Video.htm
Got my Superposed Skeet back. Cleaned up and ready to go. Not good as new, but not bad at all. All I wanted was maintenance, not total refurbishing. Cost me $40 Btw Scotty I watched all 22 of those videos. Very interesting process. Looks like a very talented man. My question is, what in the world would all of that cost? I talked with my gunsmith about those videos and that option. But he knew that I was just looking for it not to get any worse. He suggested I bring it in every couple of years for the same treatment he gave it this time. I can handle that.
Well, I have given you the best advice I can, it is up to you on how to decide to spend your money, but the salt wood will eventually ruin your gun metal. A Superposed will last 150 years if properly cared for.
That was a real question. How much would that cost. I may be foolhardy, but " a fool and his money are soon parted"
Skitter, of course, "it depends." Again, Art will destroy your salt wood, so you'll need a new buttstock and forearm. How much it costs depends on how nice of a Blank you want to use for the new stock. Range is $250 to $2,000 and up. Part of the fun though is picking the new Blank if you want to do so. How much metal repair needs to be done?...only Art's or Midwest Guns can give you that estimate. Plus labor...I don't think you can get it all done for less than $1500, but I could be wrong. If you send pics to Art, he may be able to give an estimate. Remember, a brand new Superposed from the Custom Shop will cost in excess of $15K, so if you spend $2K with Arts, you'll receive a basically brand new Superposed, with your custom stock dimensions (LOP, Cast, DAH, etc), the checkering style YOU want, etc, and you're still $10K ahead of a custom shop Grade 1 gun. In my book, it's a no-brainer, but it does cost money, and it will take 6-8 mos if not longer. Give or take. Your gunsmith, being a good business man, would prefer you bring it to him every 2-3 years until the rust just eats it up. Hope this helps, good luck.
Shew, I don't really have the kind of money to have that much fun, but thanks for the answer. I heard somewhere that the custom shop got $80,000 for a custom Superposed. Maybe that was the high end. Bought a Superposed book today for my dad for Christmas. I thought it was the book I had seen refernced here. But now I believe that was the A5 book. Turns out this book I found is a collectible. Prices range from $200-1350, most around the 350 range. I gave $50. Will be an interesting story at Christmas time before dad takes the plastic cover off.
I still think about Arts from time to time. I sent an email to him. Also called Browning. Still not sure what to do.. With Art's the price seems scarey. With Browning, I have to ship them the gun, let them evaluate the situation, and then go from there. They did say if it was salt damage that it would still be honored. Just to be sure dad's name is on the order. But I am not sure how thorough they would be and or if they will decide to warranty it. I guess I could contact Art again and send pics and see if he can give me a ballpark from that.
If you have the original sales sheet with your (family) name on it, Browning will replace the stock and return it to factory spec at no charge. It is really one of the rare "great deals" left in the world. Superposed were built so well they were GUARANTEED FOR LIFE if it stayed with the original owner. So I recommend you ship it to Browning with all the paperwork and hopefully they will replace the wood. Definitely worth a shot, and please let us know how it goes!
Update. My '67 Superposed is at Browning now. Been there a couple months now. It passed the original owner check,, according to the online tracker. Step 2 listed the repairs, which included replacing all the wood, barrel and reblueing We are at step 3 now. Waiting on a gunsmith. All zeros in the cost column..
I had a salt gun and still had my lifetime guarantee card and made a copy and sent it back to them. About 2 months later it came back good as new. But I don't know beneath the wood how the metal looked. I had them apply a new butt pad for the pull I needed 14 1/2". Now since I have gone to 20 gauge I have not shot my repaired gun. Glad they stood by their word. I sent it by Fedex and got it back the same. I didn't trust it bouncing around the Brown truck and day in the summer so I picked it up at the central location here in Houston.
Many prospective owners will not touch a Superposed from the "Salt Era". But in 1998 I purchased an all original 1969 26.5" Superposed knowing that it was "Salt" verified from a seller who hunted with it for many years. I hunted with it for many years and sold it in 2012 also as a verified "Salt" firearm. There is still a market for a "Salt Era" Superposed if the evidence/damage is limited and not causing any safety issues providing you have identified it up front.
