Superposed Refinishing

Probably covered before, but I'm a newbie looking for personal experiences from members on refinishing Superposed shotguns. I have 3 early 60's built field grade 12 gauge models, 2 Lightning and one Magnum, I still use hunting and occasionally on clay birds. All are mechanically very sound but have worn bluing, wood finish, and checkering consistent with 60 years of use. No rust and no gouges, wood or metal. These were my father's guns and I have used them for decades, so there is deep sentimental value here. I understand the issues with silver soldered barrels and would compromise on the bluing if necessary, but the old high gloss finish typical from that era, as well as the checkering, looks rough.

Do any current members of this forum have experience in this?

Thanks!!!

William,

.....experience with what?........having guns like this.......deciding what course of action to pursue......doing it yourself........ or hiring others?

Sorry to say I have not re-done any wood or checkering, myself.

I would love to learn and become adept at both disciplines to my own satisfaction - checkering and French polish finishes. But I would have to learn patience, first.

I build gun cases from scratch........maybe wood finishing/checkering is my next endeavor.

If you look on Auto 5 section there is lot of older posts there where Win7 has done numerous stock re finishes and re checkering. Hi gives lots of useful information on techniques from his experiences.
I can tell you from my experiences with checkering apart from patience you need good quality sharp tooling a decent headset loupe and an adjustable cradle to have a hope of decent work. It is achievable depending on your skill sets and attention to detail. There is some YouTube with Mark Novak on Anvil where he explains what's involved.

I bought a Brownells checkering kit way back when & have used it to freshen up dents & dings on several rifles & shotguns over the years. I’ve also oil finished a few that came out rather well. I just looked at all 3 again & there’s no dents I can’t steam out, but the checkering being completely recut is something I fear would look like an amateur did it, which would be true. I’m asking if anyone has used a service to refinish and recut the stock $ forearm. If you did, who, when, & how did it turn out? Thanks in advance!!!