Old Shotgun Barrel Replacement/Repair

[Troutslayer]

Hey guys. I'm visiting family for the holidays. There is a shotgun that my parents want me to take off their hands, as well as a bunch of other guns, horray! Anyway, this gun is a double barrel side by side. It is labeled A. Francotte, London. It's a beautiful gun with nickel reciever, walnut stock, and dasmacus steel barrels, lithiographed all the way. Research tells me this gun is probably worth about $1500 in good condition. Can't find an age but I'd say it's probably from the 1930s or so.

Now the bad part. At some point in this gun's history, someone probably tried to shoot steel through one of the barrels, which is evidenced by a slight bulge at about the halfway point in the barrel. This bulge may well have affected the other barrel too. The reciever is tight, everything looks good except for this bulge.

What are my options on this? I think that maybe inserts could convert it to a 16GA, but I would prefer a repair to make it function as a 12GA. Is this kind of thing possible?

It's a really cool gun and I would really like to hunt with it sometime. Anything can be fixed but is this kind of fix reasonable and worth it to save the gun?

Thanks for any advice and opinions. If you know someone that does this kind of work please refer me to them.

[swebb38]

Hey HT,
You might try Numrich Gun parts. They have barrels and such for many guns. I think their website is www.egunparts.com

The barrels you have can be repaired by a good shotgun man. Not cheap by no means as anyone good at double gun repair won't be cheap. With those barrels being demascus I doubt that the gun was made in the 30's as most shotgun barrels were already being made of steel by that time. Probably closer to 1900. Do a search on Keith Kirtchner (?SP) and see what comes up. It might be that the cost of repair will far outweigh the value of the gun and probably will. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[Mountainsheep]

Troutslayer,

That is a fine shotgun, IMO, Damascus barreled guns are some of the most beautiful ever made. But, the bulge was most likely not caused by steel shot, but by modern shot shell propellant. Damascus steel shotgun barrels were usually made by heating and hammer forging separate pieces of wire together to form the sheet steel, and then rolled into the barrel tube. This method creates the intricate cosmetic character of the steel’s appearance, but it lacks the integrity of modern mill-extruded tubing used in modern shotgun barrels. Damascus barrels usually worked fine , with the powder available in their day, but today’s modern propellants create far too much heat and pressure to be used SAFELY. If you want to hunt with this gun, have the receiver checked-out by a competent smith and consider buying a new set of modern barrels for field use. You might also consider loading your own shells with appropriate propellants & lead shot, or you can contact Westley Richards & Co., Ltd (www.westleyrichards,com or 11(406) 586-1946) to see if they might provide you with the appropriate ammo.

Please be wise & protect yourself & this valuable firearm by not risking a very dangerous & destructive situation.

Best of luck,
Dave