And the threads and screw size were not a standard size. Even if a replacement screw could be found, the threads in the lower tang were beyond use. I pulled as many tricks as I could but it just wasn't going to hold. The rear tang screw was all but stripped when I got the gun. The wood immediately behind the action is hardly more than a thick eggshell. The action lock design - springs mounted on trigger plate - takes up a lot of room. I had to do far more stock repairs than I initially thought. The New Baker 10 gauge project is coming along. Today I went to Westlakes and got a spring to make new firing pin springs. Yesterday afternoon I gave up trying to get the firing pin retaining screws out and drilled and tapped them to 6-48 to use small scope base screws. I'll do more checking before pulling the triggers. I'm still going to pursue getting the Baker in shooting condition - being it's in solid shape and a quality gun in its day. It has too many problems and no exceptional value to go to the trouble to fix. It's been my experience that Damascus twist barrels were blatantly obvious. He too was amazed at how hard it was to see the Damascus twist in the barrels. I showed the barrels to a gunshop where the owner has many years of experience with old guns. The rest of the barrels have considerable bluing left and it's very hard to detect any Damascus twist. I took a more critical look at the Baker in good light this morning (instead of florescent I'd been working under) and found under the forend Damascus twist pattern. Repairing the cracked stock on the New Baker will be the goal of the day. I've made substantial progress on the project an will probably continue to work on them again today. My plan is to repair the stock on rhe New Baker and take care of a couple of small problems and shoot it. While the 12 gauge Eclipse Meteor may be repaired to shooting condition, I'll finish cleaning it up and leave it as as a wall hanger for now. I'd appreciate any direction you may have in removing the firing pins. I don't see any way to remove the firing pins. I'm not seeing the same spring action on the other side. One firing pin on the Baker seems to have a rebound spring. The hammer and trigger springs are folded flat springs and appear to be in good condition. Also, I didn't have spring compression clamps to do the job right. I haven't tackled taking the locks apart as I don't see a need to. I was able to disassemble the Baker with a minimum of struggle. The bores on both guns show the expected roughness and light pitting but no heavy pits or dents. The barrels on the 12 gauge are also solid. I found that the 12 gauge was a "Eclipse Meteor" made in Belgium. I found the "New Baker" model name on the left side of action of the Baker 10 gauge. Still at least 25% will be bare metal with gray patina. Surprising, I found a lot of bluing left under the rust. I've put about two hours of elbow grease getting the bulk of the rust off them. Hollenbeck is granted three double gun patents while he is in Batavia and two are assigned to the Baker Gun & Forging Co.I've started a project to restore two old double barrel shotguns that's been in my brother-in-law's family at least 60 years. and the "New Baker" is changed from being underbolted to being bolted by a wedge thru a rib extension. The companies name is soon changed to Baker Gun and Forging Co. Baker is ill with TB and Ellis brings in Frank A. burns and they decide to relocate to Batavia, New York. Baker is back in Syracuse as plant superintendant for his brother. McFarland patented trigger-plate action hammer gun called the "New Baker" and by 1887 W.H. Ellis Baker has a company up in Syracuse called the Syracuse Forging and Gun Co. Baker leaves and forms another gun company with some other members of the Smith family and the Livermores down in Ithaca, New York, using water power from Fall Creek, and making a new Baker designed hammer gun with a conventional top-lever - Ithaca Gun Co. Smith as being the dominant partner as L.C. Baker was making his trigger-break hammer double and three-barrel guns in Lisle, New York, in 1876 and then Syracuse, New York, by 1877, as W.H. Baker was a very prolific gun designer and builder from the Northern War of Aggression to his death in the late 1880s. Baker designed hammer double that Ithaca Gun Co. The "New Baker" is not a "trade brand" gun, that is what the manufacturing company called the gun they made, to differentiate it from the William H.
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