J. C. Higgins Restoration

When asked if I would have a look at an old shotgun with thoughts of repairing it, I agreed to see it. The man was soon in my shop with a 1949 Model 585.22 J. C. Higgins, bolt action in 20 gauge. The sight of that old shotgun was shocking. The rusted barreled action was taped into the badly broken stock. A large wedgelike splinter of wood was broken out and missing from the right side of the stock at mid pistol grip area six inches diagonally upward and forward.

A huge piece, an inch wide, extended along the bottom of the stock, including the area of the recoil lug mortice. This was all loosely taped in place. The entire recoil lug support was missing and a child could have pulled the gunstock into two halves. Upon examination of the gun, I discouraged any attempt to repair it. We talked awhile and he left with the gun… but it wasn’t over.

The next time I saw him, he said the old gun had sentimental attachment and he would really like to present it to his grandson on his birthday. I weakened and somehow the gun found its way back into my shop. The old shotgun leaned against my shop bench as I walked by it for at least six weeks. Those who came by couldn’t believe I would one day take on the daunting task of attempting to repair it.

The Plan Of Attack In my experience I have learned that things that need to be done can only be put off so long, even the jobs that seem insurmountable, so one cold day I grabbed the old gun with serious intent. I removed the tape holding the barreled action in the stock. This allowed the gun to totally fall Piece with hole in it had to be made and fitted as recoil lug support. apart. Along piece of stock extending from beneath the forend tip clear back through the recoil lug area fell out.

The piece of wood that served to retain and support the recoil lug was missing. The action retaining bolt had no support whatsoever. At that point I felt if I could somehow reposition the large piece of stock wood I would continue on with the project. Total abandonment would be the only option should I fail here. Regrettably, I hadn’t even taken a picture of this shambled section of the stock, which strongly suggested there was much doubt in my mind the job would ever be completed.

I carefully cleaned up the broken wood surfaces and the piece pretty much filled all the cracks as I

The entire lower forend channel had also been broken out and replaced using Pro-Bed 2000 stock bedding material. tried it in place. I used Score High Pro Bed 2000 (ProBed2000.com, with walnut color tone as a bond and sealant. I carefully fitted the piece into position, clamped things together, and set it away. After 24 hours I removed the clamps and The grain and texture would quite closely match on final repair. tape. Things looked quite good so I decided to continue on.

I then made and fitted a special piece of walnut that would serve as a stepped support for the recoil lug, replete with hole for the action screw. This part was attached to the recoil lug and bonded solidly into place as an integral unit, all to be finished later. I then shifted my efforts to the aforementioned chunk of wood missing from the pistol grip diagonally forward. This would require careful fitting of apiece of walnut of similar grain and color.

I keep a few old gunstocks around for this sort of transplant and found one with a fairly close match. I chose not to use a blending wood stain for any subtle change in texture or color. Fact is, I wanted this piece to sort of show off my work if it did, indeed, turn out. An hour later, I precisely fitted and bonded it in place with Pro Bed 2000. It would be shaped after 24 hours. This phase of the work was a blend between wood carving and carpenter work. On to shaping, sizing and sanding the stock.

The attached, oversized side piece, in its rough state, was plain ugly. I had shaped and finished it with a sharp chisel, rasp, pocket knife and varying grit sanding paper. The entire back portion of the round receiver channel required special fitting, as did the safety tang mortice. The specially fitted recoil lug mortice fit perfectly with Pro Bed 2000. The entire stock was later sanded and finished with 300 grit paper.

Final stock finish was applied with two coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and set away to await assembly. Buffing And Cold Bluing Overall, the functionality of the old J. C. Higgins

shotgun appeared OK. The safety worked well. It would be test fired later, however, there is a caveat here that would be pointed out to the owner/shooter. The gun is designed to fire with the safety in the rear-most position. This is opposite to most firearms where working of the safety becomes habit. Shotshells cannot be loaded into the magazine until the bolt is fully withdrawn. Anyway, I would check these things out before buffing and application of gun blue. A soft wire wheel removed the rust well enough.

I then used Brownells Formula 44/40 Instant Cold Blue, which brings out a deep penetrating, fast-action blue. The wipe-on, wipeoff technique is very efficient. The blued metal must be kept oiled for awhile following bluing to prevent further oxidizing, which is essentially what the bluing is. Having completed the metal work, the gun was assembled, this time without tape to hold it together. A single screw passing through the totally rebuilt recoil lug support held everything together.

Selection of matching wood grain is important here. Test Firing Inasmuch as the shotgun would be given to a young hunter, it was particularly important that it would function properly. Loading of standard 2 3/4 inch shells "only" went smoothly. As mentioned, the bolt must be fully withdrawn to feed shells into the tubular magazine which is accomplished from below.

The safety can and should be in the safe position at that point and until such time the gun is fired or un- Far Its walnut tone and excellent bonding qualities were used in the repair of this gunstock. This was shaped and finished after the piece was firmly bonded in place.

loaded. This all went smoothly. One can usually see how overall design of most anything mechanical could have been improved upon, but I guess this is the reason we see and use many different things. In testing, I loaded three Federal shot shells with number six shot. C. Higgins bolt action shotgun was very close to the trash heap.

A few gun repair supplies along with a good measure of courage and ingenuity come in handy too. particularly thankful that it will end up in the hands of a youth— maybe even one of his grandchildren someday. I guess this is what’s meant by mutual satisfaction. AG A close look will be required to see where major repair was made. Firing, rechambering, and extraction went quite well. The 25-inch, full choked barrel produced a very uniform shot pattern.

A feeling of satisfaction came over me in resuscitating the old shotgun back to life. I would have had a less than clear conscience had I given this old shotgun its last rites as it was first presented to me. I’m