When it comes to restoring heirlooms (and other guns), we work with you to deliver exactly what you want

Are you thinking about having a gun restored? Do you want it restored to its original quality? Do you want it to shoot – or will it be for display only? At Homeland Gunsmithing, we can restore any type of gun, old or new. We start by inspecting your gun and discussing your wants and needs in fine detail. Often, this means we also discuss what’s possible – and what may not be possible.

Most of our restoration work is done on a meaningful piece – perhaps a family heirloom that’s been passed down for generations – or a fascinating antique find. Let’s look at a few examples.

Example #1: Complete restoration on an antique rifle

We just did a total restoration of a Winchester Model 1895, built about 1918. It is a black-powder cartridge rifle. When the owner brought it to us, it was rusted, pitted, and in poor overall condition. After talking with the customer to understand exactly what he wanted, we got underneath all the rust and refinished everything, including a total refinishing of the stock.

Since it was an oddball caliber (40-72), we put a new barrel on it. On older guns, realigning the barrel is necessary to make them shoot accurately and make them safe. In this case, the customer wanted to bring this heirloom rifle back to glory – and in perfect shooting condition.

Example #2: Restoring a lost-and-found derringer

One of our customers likes to scour old, forgotten dumps for antique bottles and other valuables. Recently, he dug two feet down and discovered a derringer! This tiny pistol is in our shop now. We got it back to where it can actually fire and, next, we’re going to re-blue it. When it’s done, it’ll be just like new.

Example #3: Restoring a modern rifle

In this case, we worked on a .22 rifle where the barrel was shot out. We did a barrel lining operation (bore out the entire length of the barrel and put in a new sleeve with rifling), cleaned off the rust to get down to the original metal, did hot caustic bluing, and refinished the stock. Now, rechambered, this straight-shooting rifle looks brand new.