Briley's in Repo Barrels

[Joe Graziano]

Gents, I'm a newbie here and soon to be become a PGCA member. After reading the board for a while and a couple Vintagers at Pintail Point, I decided to take the plunge and buy a Parker.

Now before someone's head explodes, I'm not going to put Briley's in a Parker Repo. I'm purchasing a refurbished Parker which has been fitted with a set of Repo barrels in skeet/skeet. How exactly this came to be, or why, I don't know. It is what it is. Obviously, this is not a collector piece but a shooter. I do shoot some skeet but I plan to use this for hunting, clays and all around fun.

That said, does anyone know if these can be fitted with Thin Walls? And has anyone else done this?

Thanks for your assistance and great to be here.

New Parker Guy

[Joe Bernfeld]

Welcome to the forum, Joe!

I had a Lebeau Courally with very thin walled barrels that had Briley choke tubes installed, so I have no doubt that they could put them in a Parker Repro. (by the way, FYI, that's Repro., as in "Reproduction," not Repo, as in "repossession."). You should simply call them and ask. They are very helpful.

[Joe Graziano]

Repro...haha...thanks for the catch, Joe and the info. I will call them. If anyone has done this, I would be interested to hear the results. I have Briley's in my K-80, purchased used this way, and as a result, it's become my all around clays gun. I would love that sort of fun versatility with my Parker.

[Dean Romig]

Have you patterned the skeet/skeet barrels (presuming they are original Q1 & Q2 chokes) to determine if you really need to go the Briley route?

[William Stevenson]

Joe, I've got thin wall Brileys in my Parker 12 ga steel shot special. They work great. Like you, I bought my Repro with the Brileys already installed. I've seen them in other Parker 12 ga Repro's that were not Steel shot specials, just standard guns. When you buy extra thin wall chokes, you need to specify they are for steel shot. The first tubes they sent me said lead shot only, I called, sent them back and got steel shot chokes in return mail. They(Briley) are easy to deal with. Make sure you lube your chokes a couple of times a year(Break free lube). I didn't and had to send a barrel to Briley for them to get it out. I had to buy a new choke cause they had to destroy the choke to get it out. Bill

[timcornish]

The 20/16 combo I posted below has thin walls in the 16 ga set. Quite a convinience.

[Joe Graziano]

Thanks all for your good advice. Very good point, Dean, on patterning. I haven't yet. I will do so and if needed, go with the Briley's.

Happy shooting!

Joe

[Gary Laudermilch]

I purchased a gun of difficult to find features that had Briley thin wall chokes installed. It would not have been my choice but they came with the gun I wanted. After shooting it for a while I have to say that I have no complaints with them. I ordered a light mod. choke from them and they had the guns bore specs on file so it was an easy do. Briley is first rate to deal with.

I always loosen and retighten any screw in choke tube after a session at the range regardless of make. If you shoot any of them for too long without breaking the seal they can essentially weld themselves into place. I also lube them regularly. A stuck tube can be nearly impossible to remove.

[Steve Kleist]

Joe,
William Stevenson is spot on with his advice. Briley can measure and tell you if your gun can indeed be fitted with Thin Wall Chokes. I have them as well, but they were already installed on the 3" Repro I bought used. When you get those chokes for steel, get them all. I use CYL/CYL for skeet and often sporting clays as they pattern perfectly at those ranges, but it is nice to have the flexibility of one gun that can do it all. Lt MOD and MOD is my choice for all waterfowl.
Best Fishes,
Steve Kleist
Ely, MN

[Gerry Addison]

I bought a 28GA with 28" barrels that the previous owner had thin walls installed and it was a super little gun with the longer barrels. Wish I hadn't sold it and I've never been able to bring myself to do it to an original set of barrels. They do make the gun more useful. Briley is great to work with on chokes, not so much on other repairs. They do stand behind their work.

[Billy Gross]

Gerry - What did the Brileys do to the value of the gun? Do you know how close the wall thickness is for the Brileys? Thanx, Billy

[Gerry Addison]

I really don't believe it hurt it at all. The gun showed a little wear to the case coloring so it wasn't an unfired boxed gun. I think it sold for at least as much as if they weren't there. Now, if it was an unfired gun and you had them installed I think it would lower the value by 15-20% but that is just a guess as every one I've seen with choke tubes has been shot.

[Tony Guccioni]

I bought a 2 barrel set in 12 Gauge and wanted more versatility from the 28" barrels than what the factory Mod and Full was going to provide.

I arranged for the entire set to 'enjoy' a stopover with Briley on it's journey from the seller.

Briley advised that thin walls were not an option, due to insufficient barrel wall thickness.

I had them ream the fixed chokes to I/C and Mod.

[Greg Baehman]

Your experience Tony reminds me of a friend that sent his barrels to Briley for Thinwalls. Briley advised against their installation saying the wall thickness in that area was marginal, friend asked that they install them anyway. Now, in the right light, you see ghosting of the thinwall's threads on the exterior of the barrels in that area.

[Chris Travinski]

I talked to Briley about fitting an auto 5 with thin wall tubes a while back, they said they need .031" to do it properly. He said they can do it with less, they have to check them out.

[Michael Murphy]

I have a couple of two-barrel sets and have often considered Brileys for the 28" barrel of one set or another. I'm leaning more towards just having them reamed out to I/c & mod.
Since I plan on keeping them until I die, Who cares about resale?