Catastrophic Failure...

[Ruff Hunter]

Perhaps a top notch sleeve of the burst barrel would be the best option for bringing that gun back to life.

[Labowner]

What I want to know is did you keep hunting with the other barrel?

[Don Kaas]

Actually, I had the bird boy call the lodge and they drove out 15 miles to the blind with my custom 30" Winchester M21 20 gauge 3" magnum. I watched my buddy, Tom bang them with his Sterligworth "El Zorro" and retrieved the ducks for him until the gun arrived in about 30 minutes. Even with only 25 grams of #5s, a 20 gauge is adequate for most Argentinian duck shooting.

[Blind Dog]

Don, I had a similar experience a few years ago with a cut barrel VH 12 I bought for $600. Never measured wall thickness. I was using 1&1/2oz mags on released pheasants to "fill in" the pattern of the cylinder bores. The first shot of the day, I failed to bring the bird down and used the left barrel, also failing to stop the bird; but, the report sounded strange. I took the gun down to reload and saw the 5" split in the left barrel starting at the tip of the forend. I looked at my left hand and the finger count came out right. Kirk Merrington sleeved in a couple skeet choked tubes for $1600 and it is now my go to gun for anything except South Dakota pheasants. Also, a little more expensive than I had anticipated when I bought it.

[Ruff Hunter]

Fred,
Was there a reason why both barrels had to be replaced (sleeved) as opposed to just the one that burst, or was that just a choice you made?

[Kevin McCormack]

I was killing time yesterday, thinking about "all things Meriden" when I decided to Google the "Cherry Street Warehouse Fire." (As TPS pointed out on p. 60, Vol. 1, no mention was made of the Parker Gun Works in the media after reporting the event, one of the biggest fires in Meriden history). At the time, the building was being used as a warehouse by the International Silver Company.

After a few false hits under the sidebars, I came upon this spectacular and frightening photo. Go to the website; www.CtCameriaEye.com and hit the toggle at the top of the page titled "The Fire Service." The run your vertical cursor slide down your screen to about the middle of the page of selected photos until you come to "Meriden CT - International Silver Company - Feb. 26, 1980."

If I have my bearings correct, the people watching the fire are standing on the railroad tracks looking through the fence past what would have been the location of the forge shop, past the engineering shed and are looking at the side wing of the factory where it joins the mainstem of the building. At 50 feet wide and 300 feet long, the mainstem and this wing must have made for quite a sight when they became, as firemen like to report, "fully engaged."

The apartment building just visible to the right is a fair distance behind the gunworks, and apparently sustained no damage. The lone remaining building of the Parker Gun Works stands to the left of this photo field, down along the railroad tracks. What a meager legacy to the wonderful things that went on there!

[Captain Bob]

this link will get you to the fire service page, then scroll down

http://www.ctcameraeye.com/?page_id=2212

[Blind Dog]

Justin, I asked Kirk if just the left barrel could be replaced as I wouldn't mind the right being cylinder bored. He said it wouldn't work, but he did use the ribs as I had them and the barrels wound up at 25&7/8".

[Don Kaas]

Here are photos of the damaged right barrel

[Angel Cruz Ortiz]

Wow... Mr. Kass, did it damage the forend?