16 Gauge Shotgun question? Damascus Steel.?

'Special cleaning solvent'..... at the end of the day.... this classic cleans up like any other. A soft rag moistened with Hoppes 9 will take all the dirt and nicotine off the exterior and cause no damage to the finish. Rubbing alcohol lifts nicotine from wood too.

I took a very nice M1 carbine in similar condition the other day....40 years of closet lint and smoke. Ended up washing this one down in simple green on the wood.... and washed the action in acetone. Your double likely wont need that much atention.

After the crud comes off... take another soft cloth and rub all the metal with a coat of light oil... .break the action open and wipe out those surfaces also.... including the bore.

If you want....apply a little pastewax to the wood and lighly buff that off.

Soft cotton, 'gun solvents' and hand power are what I'm going to charge you for. The junk will come of , patina stays.

Shooting Damascus at this point is pretty risky.... those hammer welds were never meant for smokless pressures and have been known to fail. No body shot those old guns past the 40's because of the dangers.

You have a beautiful firearm, and contrary to what many are saying here, it is NOT going to explode if you shoot it BUT BUT, you MUST use only ammunition made for Damascus barrels.

Modern barrels are drilled from solid steel bar. Damascus shotgun barrels were made by heating flat steel and wrapping it around a rod of the needed diameter like a candy cane, then essentially beating it to seal the seams.

I would take it to a professional with Damascus experience to clean and inspect it. Perhaps do some correct restore on it? Then personally, If it is safe to shoot, I'd get some safe ammo and go grouse hunting with it. But that's just me.

Don't fire it. A gunsmith can clean it for you and he will tell you that the Damascus barrel could explode using today's gunpowders. It's a wall hanger.

Take it to a professional to get cleaned since it is quite old

You doing a amateur cleaning could damage the sheen resulting in hundreds / thousands of dollars down the drain

This is a mantle piece and not to be used with modern cartridges. As to the nicotine on it this will take some special cleaning solvent to strip it off. IF you can remove the wood pieces then the steel can be cleaned and the nicotine removed. What it will take is not in my knowledge any longer but I saw it done to a cash register from a bar about 50 years ago. It looked like brass when it went in the bath and was bright chrome when it came out 2 days later. Search the wood working sights for how to remove Nicotine from wood material.

Agree with Jin, take to a shop that specializes in restorations