32" Titanic Steel Barrel for a #3 Frame

Larry the Gun Guy · 06-12-2011, 09:43 PM

Brother n;

I found a 12ga DH #3 frame with 32" Titanic steel barrels the other day and was lucky enough to pick it up. Problem is there is a bulge 4-1/2" up from the receiver in the right barrel and it's somewhat noticeable from the outside and of course from the inside. Gun was made in 1902. I've been warned by a gunsmith not to shoot it, but the guy I bought it from had shot it in the past.

I would really like to find a barrel to replace this one and if someone out there has one please contact me. But my guess is finding a #3 32" steel barrel is wishing for something that won't ever happen.

Course of action #1, hang it on the wall.

Course of action #2, sleeve the right barrel; by who?

Course of action #3, now here's where you guys come in...

Autumn Daze · 06-12-2011, 10:10 PM

Larry, Kirk Merrington in Texas would be my first choice to have a look at it. A 3 frame 32" D grade gun would be worth a least a good honest opinion to get her back in shooting condition I would think.

Bill Murphy · 06-13-2011, 08:47 AM

I would find someone to pound it back into place. The best possibility for someone who would attempt that would be Keith Kearcher. I know he hates me for recommending him for jobs like this, but he has done it for me. Second possibility is to sell the gun to me.

Pittypatdugan · 06-13-2011, 10:38 AM

Keith took out a bulge in a 1926 DHE 20 gauge for me and you cannot tell it was fixed, great work.

PDD

AmarilloMike · 06-13-2011, 10:57 AM

I assume the top and bottom rib would have to be removed. How do they get to the area between the barrels to ping or compress the bulge there?

Thanks,

Mike

Bill Murphy · 06-13-2011, 11:09 AM

Mr. K. knows how to get in there. He takes the whole mess apart. Fear not.

AmarilloMike · 06-13-2011, 11:22 AM

Thank you Bill.

Best,

Mike

Brent Francis · 06-13-2011, 01:21 PM

I had a trojan with a bulge in a similar spot. I ended up finding some barrels that fit but my plan b was getting some 20 or 28 gauge inserts which would allow it to be a shooter. If you go the pound out the bulge route Im wondering if you would have confidence in the barrel repair since that is pretty close to fingers and face. Im not a gunsmith but I have a physics background since the barrel diameter is greater at the buldge the pressue against the buldged barrel wall is lower since pressure = Force/unit area. You restore the barrel to its original diameter the shot pressure agains the barrel wall at the repair would increase (less barrel area same force) but the stressed metal would seem to be the same at the repair. In other words it seems to me that if it was unsafe to shoot in the bulged condition it would be less safe to shoot after it was repaired unless there is some change in the metal that occurs post repair .

Bill Murphy · 06-13-2011, 01:29 PM

Look, Brent, we're men here. We don't read maps, we don't read instructions. Load intelligent shells, put them in chambers, pull trigger. I'll let you guess who the gunsmith was who asked me if I was really going to shoot the gun he had unbent the barrels on. I told him I certainly was going to shoot it. That was the end of that conversation. Of course, he knew the answer before I gave it to him.

Brent Francis · 06-13-2011, 01:49 PM

Bill, I hear you and have done the same stuff. Im just saying if you dont want to shoot it with the bulge Im not sure why you would want to shoot it with the repair because I cant see why it would be stronger after you fatigued the barrel one more time by pounding it back to normal It just looks better after the bulge is gone.