# Restoring an old friend



## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

So, I inherited my Dad's old 20 Gauge Savage/Stevens 311 and since it holds so many good memories of us shooting rabbits and clay pigeons, I decided to restore it and keep it alive for many years to come.

Turned out to be a very involved process, but well worth it. It received full refinish of all wood (2 coats of special walnut stain, 3 coats of clear), high temp enamel on all metal surfaces (3 coats followed by a 3 stage baking process), and while I was at it I installed a brand new spring kit from Brownell's to keep it functioning like new.

Here are a few of the pics I took along the way...what do ya think?

Old stock condition during sanding:


















Metal bluing showing it's age:









First coat of stain:









Finished product:


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Looks like it turned out great! I bet that made you feel good. I love old guns like that. You should look up the serial number and see when it was made.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Sweet job- like that stuff. There is a site that I was able to get some great info on many of the aspects of restoring fire arms- so very knwoledgable individuals there.
http://www.uplandjournal.com


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

I tried to find the manufacture date but the resources are all fairly vague. Because it has a serial number at all tells me it is post 1968. And because that number is preceded by the letter B it tells me that it was one of the 2nd million produced between '68 and '88. 

They used letters A-E starting in 1968 and made 999,999 of each letter. So, this one tells me it was # 926,532 of Series B. Not sure how many they pumped out each year.

Because of the mass amount of these produced, and similar "copies" of them made afterwards it is a fairly common shotgun and monetary values are fairly low...no reason to keep it all original to me, just keep it in the family and functioning properly. My son has already used it for bunnies, as have I, just like my father did.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

That's pretty good info. Is there some kind of web site that has information like that? Or do you go to each manufacture's site?


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

No particular website. In this day and age, I rarely find that I am the first person to have asked a particular question so a simple google search typically turns up all the info I need.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Love this thread, I "restored" almost the exact same gun a while back. Mine is a double barrel .410 I got when I was 11 yrs old. Let me dig it out and take some pictures tonight and post them. My wood had a nice natural red look to it, I use minor stain and sealed it with polyurethane. It looks beautiful.


-DallanC


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Did you also replace the springs?

I'm going to have to start going to church and repent for my sins after the swearing fest I went on trying to get the hammer springs re-installed...it's done now though and should last at least another 50 years. If you haven't taken the hammers out, DON'T !

As you can see the stock on this one was a nice walnut or hardwood with a really sweet tiger striped grain, but the foregrip is a lighter plain hardwood that I actually had to stain an extra coat to get it as dark a the stock section...I left the stain a little heavy in spots intentionally to mimic the tiger striping.

Couple more pics:


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

No my springs are fine. 

TIP: I learned years ago though when dealing with strong springs to run tie-wire through a spring and twist it with pliers to compress it for removal / installations. Once in place, clip the wire and remove it. That trick has saved me years of frustration.

BTW, I looked on my phone and had a picture of my 11 year old shooting my restored .410 and getting his first dove. Doesn't quite show too much detail on the gun but you can see the lovely warm natural red stock. What a pity they painted over that wood with dull brown paint.


-DallanC


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

The wire trick would not have worked in this case...no room to get the wire back out once the hammer is installed. 

This shotgun was firing fine but not "hanging open" all the way to reload. The kit they sell actually comes with springs that are 15% less strong (reduced pressure) I guess they found they work better? 15% was not enough to keep me from doing battle with the hammer springs though. It does hang open perfectly now and everything got a good cleaning and polishing...time to go do some lead burning.


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

Nice project! Well done!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Way2go! That is nice.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

Looks good. I also restored one of those a few years ago. I can't see the buttplate from the pics but if you need one reproductions are out there.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Glad others are restoring their too... they are cool guns. Amazing how pretty they can be, but are all covered up by that butt ugly mud colored paint. Took some better pictures of my .410





































-DallanC


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