Vent hole

[Bruce A Lyons]

Have seen a vent hole drilled in the bottom rib when rebluing barrels. Why is this done? If no hole was necessary the first time they were blued why is it necessary the second?

[B. Dudley]

It was done so that water from boiling has a place to drain from if it happens to find its way into the barrels.
This was not done originally by all manufacturers.
On Parkers, it is generally accepted that Remington drill weep holes in their barrels and on barrels sent back to them for re bluing.
By some, when weep holes are drilled, they are then plugged up after the bluing is done.

[Dean Romig]

Unfortunately not all drilled weep holes are plugged - some are left open or poorly plugged. I think they are ugly and should never have been drilled. They eliminate originality on Parker Bros. guns and leave serious questions about a gun.

[Bruce A Lyons]

Thanks for the response and the help. But my question still remains. With less than a perfect solder water and air will enter the barrels. I assume Parker boiled . Does anyone know a manufacturer that installed weep holes? I question this procedure. I am, however, the first to admit I dont know much.

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by bruce a lyons

Thanks for the response and the help. But my question still remains. With less than a perfect solder water and air will enter the barrels. I assume Parker boiled . Does anyone know a manufacturer that installed weep holes? I question this procedure. I am, however, the first to admit I dont know much.

Ithaca had them,

[Dean Romig]

And as stated, Remington did as well.

[Ruff Hunter]

From what I can tell, Parker is about the only US manufacturer that did not use a vent hole in their bottom barrel rib. I am under the belief that vent holes were drilled at those factories to relieve the pressure from the rapidly expanding air in the void between the tubes when the sets were dropped into boiling water time after time during the bluing process. I suspect that too many barrel ribs popped loose, even when the guns were new, so venting was adopted by most manufacturers. Older LC Smiths filled their vent hole with a headless plug. Winchester filled their 21s with what looks like a lead BB smashed into the hole. Others simply left them open. I myself prefer a vent hole that's open or can be opened easily. Of all the vintage barrels I've boiled, only one set was still air tight, and it was not a Parker. That means that damp and maybe salty air got under all those barrel ribs for many years with no practical way to oil those hidden barrel surfaces. That can't be good. After a season of wet weather hunting, I tip the barrels up and fill the space between the ribs with my favorite gun oil. I then let them sit like that for hours before draining the oil out through the vent hole. As for the look of a small, well centered vent hole that's concealed under the forestock, it doesn't bother me at all. Had Parker Brothers used vent holes like everybody else, we would now be discussing how bad a Parker without one would look.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Justin Julian

Had Parker Brothers used vent holes like everybody else, we would now be discussing how bad a Parker without one would look.

But they didn't... and we don't.

[Parker Bachelder (Brad's Profile)]

The use of drain "weep holes' is common in barrel manufacture. It is not always a bad thing. Many refinishers add holes to prevent trapped solutions in the rib space. We leak test all of the barrels that we run. With Parker barrels, slight rib gaps are common. When we need to vent barrels we try to avoid drilling any holes that are visible. We fixture the muzzle and remove the top and bottom keels and deep drill into the open rib space. Barrels run muzzle down throughout the entire process. When the barrels are finished we reinstall the keels, solder and finish the muzzle. Parker may have done the same thing, thus avoiding additional drain holes. Properly fixtured the keels can be resoldered without disturbing the finish.

Brad

[Bruce A Lyons]

Thanks everyone for all your input. Im doing my first set of barrels, an english cape gun, and was curious about this procedeure.