[Mark Kircher]

Many years back I purchased a 20 bore Ithaca Flues 4E with Damascus barrels. I bought it unseen along with a Parker from a Florida gun dealer. I had bought many guns from him in the past and took his word on the gun (it was priced as almost a gift)
The gun fit me perfectly and was in better than expected condition (it weighs 5 1/4 lbs). I fired it a few times and witnessed smoke returning through the ejector slide on one barrel. The ejector appeared to have been reworked and I was not comfortable.
I sought counsel from a gunsmith friend. I explained the issues and when he test fired it the first time The Barrel split (at the edge of the chamber) in his hand. The forend cracked and broke into two pieces. Luckily not real harm was done to him. His hand did sting for a bit. Scary stuff. His determination was the forcing cones had been lengthened incorrectly causing the barrel wall to become to thin.
Anyway - we have spent years searching for a set of Damascus flues 20 bore barrels. No luck.

My question to all is - Has anyone had experience with barrel inserts for making this 20 a 28 gauge? I have no experience in this area. I am not afraid to spend some money on the gun as I would really like to hunt quail with it.

Any experience and direction on ways to bring this beauty back to life would be greatly appreciated.