Barrel Info

[ArtS]

Just a note about barrel work.

A few months back I bought a lifter on auction at a pretty good price. It was a transition new model lifter with the one piece lifter and no pin but with the wedge fore end. It looked decent but needed a little work. It appeared to have never been apart and a weeks work couldn't get the top screw out, so I had to drill it. I have totally stripped it, boiled and sonic cleaned it, replaced a 1/2" section of the lock rim that was missing. The gun is back together and seems in good shape now, with the exception of profiling and indexing the new screw.

The reason I bought the gun was that it had Parker Laminate barrels. The gun was an L2 grade (lettered and marked) and had the P indication Parker barrels. The barrels had no finish at all left but were smooth outside with no dents. The bores were the 11 gauge originals and measured to be the correct diameter. The interiors were very pitted but none deep. I contacted Breck to refinish the barrels (to to go to him the first of April).

I wanted to get the bores redone before sending so I called around and ended up sending them to Skeet's. He bored and honed bothe barrels to a mirror finish while adjusting the chokes to allow for the removal. He did a really nice job (look like new barrels). His TAR was about 5 weeks and he charged $125/barrel plus shipping. By my measurements he removed about 0.010" from the bores (.005/wall) and the barrels went from looking to terrible to new looking. The MWT went down to .045. Just goes to show that often pitting looks much worse than it seems. These barrels were a field of pits and now they look great. I think we often over-react to the whole boring issue. Even from a collector standpoint I think the gun has more value bored than pitted, and it is a completely useful gun now. Can't wait to get the gun back together after the barrels are finished.

I wrote this to mention the barrel work source. Skeets has always been well known but they don't have any real online presense. If someone needs to contact them, send me a note. There are some bad addresses floating around for them.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

Just a note about barrel work.

A few months back I bought a lifter on auction at a pretty good price. It was a transition new model lifter with the one piece lifter and no pin but with the wedge fore end. It looked decent but needed a little work. It appeared to have never been apart and a weeks work couldn't get the top screw out, so I had to drill it. I have totally stripped it, boiled and sonic cleaned it, replaced a 1/2" section of the lock rim that was missing. The gun is back together and seems in good shape now, with the exception of profiling and indexing the new screw.

The reason I bought the gun was that it had Parker Laminate barrels. The gun was an L2 grade (lettered and marked) and had the P indication Parker barrels. The barrels had no finish at all left but were smooth outside with no dents. The bores were the 11 gauge originals and measured to be the correct diameter. The interiors were very pitted but none deep. I contacted Breck to refinish the barrels (to to go to him the first of April).

I wanted to get the bores redone before sending so I called around and ended up sending them to Skeet's. He bored and honed bothe barrels to a mirror finish while adjusting the chokes to allow for the removal. He did a really nice job (look like new barrels). His TAR was about 5 weeks and he charged $125/barrel plus shipping. By my measurements he removed about 0.010" from the bores (.005/wall) and the barrels went from looking to terrible to new looking. The MWT went down to .045. Just goes to show that often pitting looks much worse than it seems. These barrels were a field of pits and now they look great. I think we often over-react to the whole boring issue. Even from a collector standpoint I think the gun has more value bored than pitted, and it is a completely useful gun now. Can't wait to get the gun back together after the barrels are finished.

I wrote this to mention the barrel work source. Skeets has always been well known but they don't have any real online presense. If someone needs to contact them, send me a note. There are some bad addresses floating around for them.

Good to know, and thank you. I am toying with the idea of having an 1891 (or so) twist 16g on 0 frame put into order with a new stock to boot. I keep telling myself I don't need to put good money into an old gun that may be not worth the investment. But for some reason I seem to keep coming back to this. There are a few very small pits and Dave Fjeline had cleared the barrels as they are for low pressure shells. I'd appreciate the Skeets contact info.

[ArtS]

I've had several questions alreadey so I'll just post it here.

Skeet's Gun Shop
14007 HWY 62
Tahlequah OK 74464

918-456-4749

Skeet's was always well known. The original owner passed about 8 years ago and the gunsmith bought the business and moved it to his home property across town. He has no internet presense but told me the shops address is constantly reported in internet posts as the original address after all these years. Be sure the address above is what you use.

His main clientele is the trapshooting group, and he said he usually gets swamped by trap gun work in early spring through early summer.

[J. Scott Hanes]

The original owner, Hal Sammons, was a great gunsmith and if the current owner worked for Hal, he learned from one of the best. Apparently, he passed with flying colors.