top of page

W.R. PAPE 20GA SxS Restoration and Gun Fitting - Part 1


Hi, this is Bryan at Brubaker Arms Manufacturing. Today I have a WR Pape 20 GA SxS shotgun in for a client who is using our Assisted Acquisitions service. Our Assisted Acquisition Service is so popular because we can find these fine guns that are still very mechanically sound, still great functioning guns, but they need a little bit of work on the exterior. Pape was known as the London of the North because his gun making quality was equivalent to that of any of the London gun making houses. This is certainly one of their best quality guns. The figure of the stock is just beautiful. For that timeframe, this is a beautiful, beautiful piece of wood.

The inletting from the top tang all the way around the receiver and down to the bottom tang of the trigger bow is absolutely flawless. The action has beautiful floral engraving across the top, very nice English scrollwork on the sides and bottom on the receiver. This engraving pattern is not as tight as some English scrollwork but it is extremely beautiful. The stock checkering is a very fine point pattern that wraps all the way around - very traditional to English shotguns! - surrounding the bottom of the wrist and meets at the top. Some of the points of the checkering have either been worn off or filled up with gunk.

The forend has a matching point pattern, again, with very fine lines per inch. But it certainly had seen some use; this is certainly a nicely used gun. The checkering is very fine. Overall, this is a beautiful little dainty gun. This gun has a very robust lockup system, which allows it to be so slim and dainty. It has two lumps, where each have their own locking engagement and a greener crossbolt in the rib extension. Note the through hole of the rib extension there. It's round, which is a stronger design than the square greener crossbolt, which creates a weak spot the bottom corner of the rib extension. Additionally, the corner between the water table and the breech face has been radiused both on the barrels and on the receiver – again, eliminating the weak spot which would be prone to cracking if there weren't radiused.

We found this little beauty for a client of ours out of Arizona. She herself is also rather sleight of frame with a little bit longer limbs - kind of like me - so she has a little bit longer length of pull.


We are going to do a full restoration on this gun, completely restore the woodwork; we're going to add a leather covered recoil pad, recut the checkering and put on a nice oil finish. We’re going to brighten up the receiver and re-black the barrels. The barrels have some wear to the bluing but inside the bore both of the barrels are pristine. And again, we're going to do a few little tweaks to the gun while we have it in for restoration, just to fit it to our client a little bit more than it currently fits her. This is one of the great benefits of our assisted acquisitions service: we can fit the gun for you even better than it fits when it comes in.


Watch part 2 here: Get the update on the W.R.Pape Restoration and Fitting – How it’s made, at Brubaker Arms Manufacturing, LLC: https://youtu.be/ihk1tIcnC4I


STATIONED IN WASHINGTON STATE, YAKIMA VALLEY - SERVING NATIONWIDE Brubaker Arms offers the finest of custom made firearms. Built from scratch - not only personalized - our firearms rank high end in exhibitions and among connoisseurs. We stand behind our services offering maintenance, gunsmithing and general repairs for our custom built firearms and any other brand available on the market. Whether you are inquiring about your custom made firearm, need restoration services for your antique firearm or work on the newest model available on the market, we at Brubaker Arms will exceed your expectations!


Find out more at:

www.brubakerrestorations.com

bottom of page