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Pedro Gorosabel 10GA build thread


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I bought an old Spanish double 10 that had been poorly repaired, with the stock broken through at the wrist. It was not repairable, so I decided to restock it.

 

The gun is one of the better Pedro Gorosabels, who is no longer in business. They used to provide guns and actions to several high end English manufacturers, one of whom bought them out in the 1980s.

 

Here's what I started with:

 

Shotgun as-purchased. Dark coloration at the wrist is from a shitty epoxy job. Note the buttstock had been chopped off so Mini-Me could shoulder it. It's so short that you could easily shoulder it while wearing TWO sets of body armor and a winter coat! The forend is chipped up along the barrel too.

 

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It was probably a pretty nice gun before it had the buttstock chopped down and the wrist broken through.

 

I'm resurrecting it. Not as-original, but with a high-grade chunk of walnut made to fit me.

 

Leftover wood from making the new stock. This is old growth English walnut, and has a pretty nice figure. The original piece was about 24"x36"x3.5"

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Shotgun with the new stock roughed out before fitting. It's just sitting on there. Not fastened:

 

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Many hours later, the buttstock has been fitted and given it's 1st coat of oil, dried, sanded, and ready for the 2nd coat:

 

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On the buttstock, I've got about 8 hours of work fitting it to the receiver.

 

I'm working on the forend now. It's being difficult. I figure maybe 8 to 10 hours before it's ready for it's 1st coat of oil.

 

I can't WAIT to get this thing finished! WOO HOO!

Edited by patriot
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I forgot to say I had to re-work the trigger guard. It had been crudely re-shaped to fit the stock after the break. I re-shaped, polished, and re-blued it. Like I said, it was a pretty nice gun before it was so poorly treated. I'd hate to try to buy one like it new today. It's choked 1.83/1.83 or European Full/Full with 32" barrels. OAL will be 50.25" when it's finished. It's a big bastard! Heavy too. I'll have to put it on the scale. I don't think recoil is going to be an issue.

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Well guys, I worked on this thing ALL DAY, and it's FINISHED!!! ...not quite...it needs a final buff and wax, but that's it! It turned out fantastic! Much better than I had hoped.

 

It weighs about 11 pounds, empty.

 

Enjoy the pics. I know I'll enjoy shooting it!

 

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Edited by patriot
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That looks incredible. Great job with the restoration and the hand made stock and forearm. I wish you had a step by step tutorial on how you changed that beautiful piece of walnut into that beautiful furniture. I have several laminated blanks that I want to make into furniture for the AK's in my safe as well as a 700 SPS. Just been too intimidated to get started. Very nice work, and if it's a 10 guage, I would venture you are still going to feel some excessive recoil regardless of the weight :)

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Thanks guys.

 

I bought the wood from a friend for $50. It should have been about $1100 for a piece like that. I told him he was crazy, and wanted to give him more money, but he said no, so I paid the $50 and got out before he changed his mind! I took the wood to Custom Rifle Stocks here in PA. They used to be Kokalis Gun Stocks. It took almost a year to get it back. They did the rough shaping for me using the old stock I had built up into roughly what I wanted as a guide. It took him about 5 hours and cost me $500 for the work. I fit the wood to the metal, (VERY patiently, since you only get one shot at ruining it) final contouring and finishing. The inside is sealed with epoxy to keep it stable and keep the gun oil out of the wood. The outside is hand rubbed oil, 3 coats for now. It need a final coat done with an abrasive finishing pad to finish smoothing up the finish. The only power tools I used were an orbital sander for the heavy stuff, and a Dremel (GASP!! HORROR!!!!...yes, a DREMEL) with various milling bits and sanding drums for the wood to metal fit. The rest was files, small knives, and many hours bending over the B&D Workmate vise holding the wood in place.

 

I'd like to thank the good people at Mountain Dew and Aleve who made this all possible.

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Thanks, Joe, and yes, trees were harmed in the making of these pictures.

 

I'm a TREE MURDERER!!!!

 

Hey now I know I'm a tree hugger...but that's just to throw my diameter tape around them, or to see which way they want to fall.

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It's all about taking your time. I worked on it in mostly 1/2 hour to 2 hour sessions so I wouldn't hurry, except for the 29th. That was an all day stint, with a few breaks when I got frustrated. Take your time, use the right tools, and it'll come out ok.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I shot the 10 in the CAS match on Saturday and it handles beautifully. Having a stock fit you EXACTLY makes all the difference in the world. This thing is a dream to shoot. Yeah, it's heavy, but it mounts, swings and points exactly the way it should. I was shooting light loads this time, only 100gr 1F with 1oz of 7.5 shot, buffered with flour, no shot cup, only a single 1/2" fiber cushion wad. The pattern is crazy tight. I can cover it with my palm at 7 yards, so yes, you can miss with this thing. I am a very happy camper. Joe, you need to come try this thing. You'll fall in love!

 

 

eta:

 

At the match, the flour I used as a buffer made some nice columns of flame that billowed from the barrels, enveloping the poppers as the shot SLAMMED them down!. This thing hits like a truck!

Edited by patriot
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  • 4 weeks later...

The 10 was AMAZING at the night shoot with black loads. Massive fireball, and loads of fun! It makes a huge difference having a gun that fits me perfectly.

 

After some thought, I'll keep it like it is. It looks great!

Edited by patriot
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You might try marine fabrication supplies. They use alloys like copper nickel for plumbing. There's always the option of plating too if you can't find exactly the metal you want.

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 year later...

A little off topic, but this thread kind of inspired me to plan ahead.

 

A friend is taking down a black walnut tree or two, and he promised me a choice slab of the wood. He has a couple of bandsaw mills, and all that sort of thing. I don't have a specific project in mind, but this is a golden opportunity to have a premium blank.

 

I also have access to hobby grade CNC machines, industrial quality planers with up to 20"x20" stock handling, etc. .

 

I can ask for most anything I want, and probably will cut it out myself.  What dimensions would cover most gun projects? i.e. what should I be asking/looking for?

 

I assume quarter sawn would be the most stable, but if something else is more suitable, your input would help.

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You want ~4" thick. flat sawn will give you a nice grain pattern. The best figure will be around the stump, knots and forks. I'd go with 20" plus wide, and 30" long to be sure of getting a stock and forend from the same piece. If you're doing a full stock, go for 48" plus. You're going to lose a few inches on the duplicator. 

 

Get as much of the wood as you can. You'll use it. Pay him. It's worth it. Black walnut is gorgeous. Wear a mask when working it. The dust from black walnut is poisonous to breathe.

 

After you get it, give all surfaces a coat of shellac to prevent checking when drying. Let it age at 50-70 degrees indoors until moisture content is no more than 15%. It'll take over a year. Longer is better. If you stack it, be sure to put wood strips between the layers to allow air to circulate. DON'T dry it in the attic. The thermal cycling will ruin it. You can get a gauge that will measure it pretty cheap.http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=wood+moisture+content+meter&tag=googhydr-20&index=tools&hvadid=31047430765&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17136099660716774096&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2e6gvzqwvr_b

 

Give Custom Rifle Stocks a call, and he'll rough out the stock for you. Tell him the guy with the Spanish double ten told you to call. Great guy, but mine took a year.

Edited by patriot
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Can't stress the drying slowly part enough! I also agree with nothing less than 4" thickness. You don't want the dead middle of the tree. Walnut tends to have a pithy core, so depending on the diameter of the tree I would stay out at least 4-6" from the center. Don't go too far out though, then the wood won't have as much character.

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Any advice on beech? I may some day want to commission a PKM style stock for my Saiga so I'd be needing enough beech for that. 

 

Also, out of sheer stupidity, I bonked my beech handguard with a rubber mallet trying to push up the gas bloc lever and chipped it a bit. Is there a good way to repair a small chip [like if you cut it with toenail clippers] like with putty or whatnot? I'm debating trying to fix it or just sanding the edge down to match the chip.

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1. Beech is a nice hardwood. Mainly a straight[grained wood, but you can find some pieces with some wave to them that are interesting.

2. Repair the chip? Nah. Just shoot it and don't worry about it. You can use wood filler, but you'll see it.

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Yeah, my beech furniture has grain that almost looks metallic/holographic. It was that or walnut and I wanted an orange-ish sort of furniture. 

 

Maybe I'll just sand it down and put some outers oil on it so it'll match [tried it on the rough edge where a piece splintered off and it turned the same color.] I should probably take the remaining bit of splinter off too then if it wouldn't be good to try to fill it. 

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