Need advice on a dent repair
 

Good evening everyone,

I would appreciate any advice on this:

I purchased a gun that arrived this week that was advertised as pristine barrels

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1151148634

It arrived with the dent in the attached photos. Could anyone please offer advice on how I can potentially fix this? Or maybe purchase replacement barrels? It’s on the chamber end and can be seen in the bore. If these pictures don’t work I can try to take more.

The seller referred me to the $100 insurance he purchased from usps, which isn’t an actual solution. I tried Kevin’s In Thomasville GA and called BRiley about potentially adding tubes with no luck so far.

Are there before shipping photos of that area?

That is NOT a serious dent. It is cosmetic at worst and can be lifted by an expert like Jon Hosford. The exterrion can be lightly filed and be refinished so it will be hard to see.





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Breck Gorman in South Carolina

Definitely repairable.

Trevor Rice did a nice job on mine.
rice.trevorj@gmail.com

Thank you all so much for the advice. I only have before pics from the listing.

Where do I find the gunsmith contacts on the forum?

Breck Gorman s info is in the members list at the top of the page

Here…


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Thank you!

Breck did mine.. Undetectable.........

How is the Post Office responsible for the dent??? I do recommend Breck Gorman, have many of his barrels.

Seller told me dent had to have happened during shipping because it’s not in the listing photos and specifically states pristine barrels. The gun arrived with the dent. However it happened, I want to bring it back to life if possible.

I will get in touch with Breck next week.

Dan Cullity. Sandwich Mass. Master gunsmith

And just for clarity, your seller did not purchase the $100 insurance that he claims he did. Every package shipped USPS comes with $100 of insurance, and if you want more then your have to pay for the additional.

Yes. Agreed. It didn’t make any sense. At the end of the day, it’s my fault for not over clarifying. The $100 won’t even cover the shipping to a repair shop. I’ve had great gunbroker experiences over the years until this one. It was going to happen one day I guess.

This will give me a project and I’ll learn from it…

Did the damage miraculously happen inside a properly packed box or is there evidence of something striking the box from outside? The PO doesn't cover the former event.

The listing says the bores are pristine, although I could not see the ding in the seller's pictures. Unless the shipping box had a hole in it from damage during shipping, I would guess the seller dinged the barrels while preparing to package the gun.

I posted this before..so take heed...A couple years ago I sent Breck a pair of VHE 16/32" barrels for blue..Had no dents. VHE 32"16s are kind of scarce..so...I wrapped barrels in Bubble wrap..put them inside a schedule 40 PVC pipe..and securely fastened both ends. Breck did his magic..and sent the barrels back in PVC with $1000 insurance. They arrived with a dent in the left tube.. FEDEX reply ??...We won't pay because the tube should have been in cardboard too..I beat on the scrap piece with a ball peen hammer..and never scratched it..Breck fixed the dent..absolutely perfect..I recently bought an Italian O/U..and asked about insurance.. This is a large dealer..and was told they hold $$$ in escrow because it's a waste of time and money to deal with shipper insurance...because they never pay..Just my 2 cents worth...........

The box has a few puncture spots that may have caused it. It is plausible either way. I will never know what actually happened. Seller washed his hands of it and told me I didn’t ask for fully insured shipping. Nothing that I would have said after that would have been productive so I said nothing. I moved on and came here for repair advice.

I want to get it back up and running and in the field where it belongs. I may use 16 or 20 ga tubes in it after the repair.

I wouldn’t tube it. Why would you think that was necessary?… except to give yourself the option of switching back and forth between the different gauges…?





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Does it add a layer of safety with the dent being repaired? I could use it for quail still.

The only thing it will add is weight. Completely unnecessary.

For a dent in that area to show inside the bore, it took a very hard hit! That is a lot of material to move.

I would just send the gun back for a refund and let it be the sellers problem. If he cannot properly advertise a gun or properly pack a gun to avoid damage, then maybe he will learn for next time.

I agree. However, I’m afraid that approach would require small claims court to end up in the same place I am now. If I sent the gun back, he’d have the money and the gun. I’m going to focus forward and fix it rather than have a stroke fighting to get blood from a turnip.

Talked to Breck and the barrels are on the way to him. Thanks again for all of the advice.

The barrels just made it back to Tallahassee and they look like it’s 1902 again. Thank you all again to the advice. I wouldn’t have know what to do without this forum.

Dang that was quick. Glad he was able to fix that dent so fast. Did he have to refinish the barrels?

He didn’t need to refinish. Crazy fast.

I sold and shipped a very small milling machine several years ago. Several thousand dollars. Shipped it through UPS in a heavy cardboard container with internal wood framework, bracing and packing. Buyer called complaining that the machine was butchard. It had been pristine when shipped. He had them return it. When I got it, inspection showed an Acme shaft sheared of with the handwheel still mounted, the motor damaged and several other components bent. UPS started the standard "substandard packing, no protection, yada yada". I told them that I didn't believe them and showed them the hole on one side and it's mate on the other that exactly matched the forks on their forklift in the terminal and had both sharp fresh holes (one in, one out) coated with fresh grease completely around the perimeter. A dowel pushed through both holes contacted all the damaged components. I also showed them pictures of the undamaged box on the day of shipping. A letter sent to their regional office along with before and after pictures of everything. They agreed to ship the machine to the manufacturer for a complete rebuild.The factory sent it on to the buyer in a new factory original packing box.

It takes a lot of effort and documentation but you can beat these shipping issues if you push hard enough.