Since this is an H&R shotgun forum I thought some of you guys might appreciate this.
I bought a H&R "Gamester" back in 1984 at a police auction for $10. It was a bit rough and has been sitting in my basement ever since.
The "Gamester" AKA Model 349 is a bolt action 12 ga with a two shot tube mag. It featured an adjustable choke and a "dome" rear sight/bead front sight and a walnut stock. According to what I could find on the internet they were made from 1949-1954
The one I bought was missing the choke and dome sight...
In fact someone had apparently tried to remove the choke and had screwed up the end of the barrel. Obviously they ended up just cutting it off.
And of course the butt pad was rotted
The barrel was a bit rusty and the stock was banged up from being mishandled so I wasn't sure what to do with it all these years. I finally read about someone refinishing their beat up guns using high temp engine paint. I had also just refinished a couple stocks from .22 rifles and was happy how they turned out. I decided to see it I could refurbish the old "Gamester" and make it usable again.
First thing I did was cut the barrel to 18". The stock was sanded and coated with a light polyurethane stain. The barreled action was then stripped. Like some of the expensive gun coat products the engine paint needs to be baked on. I fired up my gas grill, lined it with aluminum foil to keep grease from getting on the gun and paint from getting on the grilling surfaces. I heated, sprayed, heated, sprayed, heated sprayed then baked for about 40 minutes.
I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamal w/ceramic, Low Gloss Black DE1634. The result was a nice evenly coated low gloss black finish. paint says it takes about a week to set up. Reports from others says it really makes a durable hard finish after about a month.
I finally got it out in the field last weekend. It patterns pretty well, functions well and is pretty fun to shoot. Of course I replaced the rubber butt pad as well. Still needs a bead or maybe a front fiber optic sight. I may put sling studs on it as well to make it easier to carry. Over all I am pretty pleased with it.
