Barrel sleeving....

[James Palmer]

I am considering sleeving an old hammer gun.

Any recommendation as to who may be able to do it?

James

[Rich Anderson]

You might try Kirk Merrington or Batchelders.

[Brian Dudley]

Better figure on at least $3,000 for labor. If tubes can be had.

[James Palmer]

Thanks. This one may be worth it.

James

[Harry Collins]

I had a 16 gauge Parker that was sleeved to 20 gauge by La Fever I was told. It made the gun heavy. One thing to consider is having Briley make tubes for the next smallest gauge and refinish the barrels. It would, in my opinion, make a much nicer looking gun.

[Dean Romig]

And tubes would keep the gun original and the value would be maintained.

Have you measured wall thickness all along their length?





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[Eric Eis]

James for that job, Merrington.

[Mark Ray]

I had a 16 gauge Parker that was sleeved to 20 gauge by La Fever I was told. It made the gun heavy. One thing to consider is having Briley make tubes for the next smallest gauge and refinish the barrels. It would, in my opinion, make a much nicer looking gun.

I have a couple of guns done like that, and if you spend a tad more for titanium tubes, there is very little change in weight. If the chokes are still present in your gun you might even get my rechambering and doing a tube out about 6", and that will have even less effect on the dynamics of the gun. Briley is topnotch at this kind of work. If you decide to sleeve the gun, then I agree that Merrington is the guy.

[Brian Dudley]

I recently had an early 16g F grade Lefever sleeved down to 20g due to a blown out right tube. The gun was way too nice to throw away. So I made the choice put more into it than it was worth and get it done.
The smith that did it did an amazing job in matching the original contour of the barrels and the balance is perfect even after stepping down a gauge and keeping the same length. The gun is actually a little butt heavy now after putting a pad on it.
It is becoming a hell of a shooter.

[John Davis]

I have a 12 gauge C grade lifter that the barrels had been clipped 2 inches and were badly pitted. I sent the barrels to Teague in England and had them Teague lined. Don't think they still do this work. It's a great gun, still 12 bore and choked IC/Mod.

[Dean Romig]

No, Teague no longer performs or offers this work.
It was successful on the majority of the guns they lined in this manner but by the mere fact that the process necessitated the original barrels to be bored even larger than the nominal .729” or even .750” on earlier guns, the possibility of ruining the original barrels was too great... so great in fact, that a number of customers’ guns were, for all practical purposes, ruined and for Teague financially and the damage to their reputation were both too much to risk doing this work any longer.





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[John Davis]

Guess I got lucky.

[Dean Romig]

On the barrels that were ruined the wall thickness was too thin to begin with.
The vast majority were successful.





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[Rich Anderson]

I think Wesley Richards bought Teague and will still do the work.

[Kevin McCormack]

I had my very rare (2 in the records) AH 16 ga. 0-frame 26" Damascus gun tubed with Briley full-length removable tubes with screw chokes in 28 ga. It is an absolute blast to shoot and bird hunt with, and as Dean points out, kept the gun original as possible. I paid extra for ultralite tubes, which I would not do again, since the weight difference from standard weight tubes was something on the order of 6-8 ounces and is negligible in handling and moving the gun.

[Eric Eis]

I think Wesley Richards bought Teague and will still do the work.

No Rich, they bought Teague for the choke tubes they are not relining barrels. It was found that some of the relined barrels the adhesive let go between the barrels and the lining. And it was more then a few.

[John Davis]

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[charlie cleveland]

brileys and others make full length tubes in small gauges would this help....charlie

[Mike Koneski]

I picked up a 12g lifter a few years ago. Fellow asked $250. Stock needed some tweaking, barrels/receiver were fine. Bores were pitted. Found a second set of barrels w/forend that fit right on the frame with very little fitting. Neither barrel set had bores that I would have shot. So, I sent both bbl sets to Briley after speaking with their bbl guy. They made standard weight tubes to stay in the bbls with fixed chokes. I had one set made for 28g and the second for .410. Both were choked LM right and IM left. Gun shoots like a dream!! Nothing like shooting little shells out of a full size gun and I don't have to even worry about changing tube sets as they only fit these bores. They advised to not have them "glued" in place as they would be ruined if I had to have barrel work done in the future. They told me that they will not loosen or move as they are fit "snug"!! For arount $1800 total I now have 2 sub-gauge guns to shoot!! Now I want a 3rd barrel set for a #1 square frame 12g to have 20g tubes installed.

[Rich Anderson]

Hmm seeing that I'll probably never have a Parker 20ga hammer gun maybe I should send the 30 inch barrels for my 12 out for 20ga tubes. I had Briley sub gauge tubes for a Beretta when I shot registered skeet. Being able to remove the tubes would be a must however.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Rich, Do not ever say never! I Started my search for 20 ga hammer guns several years ago, and finally got the ones I was looking for, including a Parker Steel barrel 20 ga hammer gun. AsI get older, Damn I am older than dirt now! but still love the "Hunt" I will probably part with some. 20 gauge hammer guns are hard to find. I believe they made 15 Lifters, and 35 TL in all. Gary

[Wayne Owens]

Gary, Do you have a letter documenting your steel barreled 20 gauge hammer gun came that way from the factory? If so what grade is it? Thanks!

[Jim DiSpagno]

Wayne see next post brought up from previous posts

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Yes and it is a P grade with Parker Steel barrels, Gary

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Does anybody Mono block barrels any more, I know it would take away from the originality of the gun, but with steel tubes you keep the same gauge and should digest some factory loads? Gary

[Milton C Starr]

Does anybody Mono block barrels any more, I know it would take away from the originality of the gun, but with steel tubes you keep the same gauge and should digest some factory loads? Gary

Merrington does , runs about 3,000$ i think for standard gauges .
I think if its a rare gun or one you are really attached to it might be worth it .

If the barrels have been cut down then you have to get a new rib made which is 500$ , which to me is a little high but I dont think there are many gunsmiths in the states who can do this kind of work .

[Milton C Starr]

Better figure on at least $3,000 for labor. If tubes can be had.

Rice sells barrels from 20 gauge to 8 gauge.

[Michael Moffa]

I had my 59.xxx BH fitted with full length Kolar tubes. They have screw in choke tubes and are removable. The tubes are 20 ga and it is a kick to take to the skeet fields and shoot those dangerous Damascus barrels.

[Milton C Starr]

I had my 59.xxx BH fitted with full length Kolar tubes. They have screw in choke tubes and are removable. The tubes are 20 ga and it is a kick to take to the skeet fields and shoot those dangerous Damascus barrels.

I asked Briley once if they would sleeve one of my 10 gauge hammer guns down to 16 gauge ( Hey whats wrong with wanting a 11lb 16 gauge :rotf:)
They told me they only go down one gauge . 12 gauge has no appeal to me so I just kept my dangerous damascus barrels . I figured they probably have the mentality of swordsmiths , alot of them wont make something thats unbalanced even if its your money to do with . Which is fine but I think a heavy 16 gauge with 32" barrels would be a fun gun to have .

[charlie cleveland]

why not use gauge mates to turn that 10 ga into any ga you want....my 3 frame 10 gahas shot many 12 ga shells in it even some 3 1/2 inch turkey loads took a few turkey this way....i shoot the 12 ga in my 8 ga s pretty often...it has always amazed me how good the chokes work shooting a smaller shell in a larger bore and it pattern the same as the large bore....charlie

[Milton C Starr]

why not use gauge mates to turn that 10 ga into any ga you want....my 3 frame 10 gahas shot many 12 ga shells in it even some 3 1/2 inch turkey loads took a few turkey this way....i shoot the 12 ga in my 8 ga s pretty often...it has always amazed me how good the chokes work shooting a smaller shell in a larger bore and it pattern the same as the large bore....charlie

I had a set of the gaugemate golds I think they were called that went from 10 ga to 16 gauge . My Bonehill didnt like them all that much ,perhaps the chambers were a bit oversized . But the rubber o rings broke after not even 1 box of shells and they were suppose to work with the extractors which they never did . The recoil was a bit more with the 16 ga shells but thats probably because they were 300fps or so faster than the 10 ga rst shells .

The 12 gauge through the 8 gauge bore reminds me of Mossbergs overbored barrels on their 835 that have the bore dimensions of a 10 gauge or so im told .